Washington, DC Trip?

Question

I am taking the kids next friday to DC for the week. We also plan on visiting Baltimore and the surrounding areas as well. I live in the PA and have been there a few years ago for a weekend, and am looking for something different that I have been to before? Anyone know any cool little places to visit in the area?

Answer 1

Two of the unknown treasures in the D.C. area are the C&O Canal
http://canal.mcmullans.org/ virtual tour
http://www.nps.gov/choh/ description of the canal
http://www.nps.gov/choh/pphtml/planyourvisit.html Plan your visit
http://www.nps.gov/choh/pphtml/planyourvisit.html Map of the park.
There's so much to do there! http://www.nps.gov/choh/Recreation/index.html You can hike, rent bikes (the towpath is flat, so it's an easy ride), rent a canoe and paddle along the canal, walk down to Great Falls (short walk from the Great Falls Visitor Center) which are wonderful and never mentioned in any guide book.
If you start at the Georgetown Visitor Center, 1057 Thomas Jefferson St., NW. you can take a canal ride with a Park Naturalist dressed in period clothes who'll give you the history of the park.

and the Great Falls of the Potomac. You can see them from the Maryland side, (see above) or the Virginia side.
http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/grfa/
Here are the driving directions
http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/grfa/faqs/directions.htm
THis is a wonderful thing to do since the falls are amazing, there's a museum. There's a Junior Ranger Program for your kids http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/grfa/pphtml/forkids.html, and a great place to take a picnic.

You can do both in a day. Have a great time!

Answer 2

the kids may like the paddle boats at the tidal basin. While you're there you can also check out the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR memorial which are both at the basin.

If you're trying to get off the beaten path, you'd take them somewhere like the National Arboretum (go when the offer the tram tours) or Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (for the lotus and lillies). And there's the Nature Center at Rock Creek Park. That park also has a horse stable where the kids could go for a horse back ride.

there's soooo much more....

Answer 3

I will have to agree that the National Zoo with the 1 year old panda cub is great. The Air & Space Museum is wonderful. Go to their IMAX theater and it feels as though you are flying. Kids would like the Spy Museum. No visit is complete without going to the Vietnam Memorial. It is sad but an important part of our Nation's history and something to teach the kids about.

Answer 4

The aquarium in Baltimore is worth seeing. In DC the Smithsonian museums are all excellent and a lot of them are good for kids too. They all have changing exhibits too in addition to the permanent collections, so if you were there years ago there will be new stuff to see. The Air and Space museum is always good for kids and my favorite is the American History museum. And also the National Zoo is good as well. All of the Smithsonian museums and the zoo are all free as well.

Answer 5

I live in DC area...

Go to the free museums in the mall ... such as Air & Space museum, International Spy Museum, National Gallery of Art, etc.... and the National Zoo.
If you like night life (without the kids), go to Adams Morgan and Georgetown!

Baltimore - visit the Baltimore aquarium, you can also take the water taxi or the cruise.

Answer 6

Go to the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, walk by the White House, try and visit the Library of Congress, the Capitol, the Mall ((and all of the Smithsonian Museums)) and the Washington Memorial ((AMAZING VIEW!))

I went there for a class trip about 4 months ago and I loved it. It reminded me of home because I am from Madison, WI.

Enjoy your trip!

Answer 7

I grew up close to DC so we in no way had a visit in simple terms common field journeys..in any case examine out the mall, holocaust museum, secret agent museum, capital bldg, white residing house, lincoln memorial and ascertain you consume a crab cake while you're on the city! close by stable point!!! maximum heavily have good walking shoes, a digicam and function a blast!

Answer 8

Take a duck Tour. It is an amphibious vehicle that will take you on a tour of DC by road, and then go into the Potomac and you can see the city from the water.

http://www.historictours.com/washington/dcducks.htm

Answer 9

if you only visited DC a few years back, then you've likely not seen either the WWII memorial or the Spy Museum.

Or the panda cub at the national zoo.

Answer 10

may i suggest the book "off the beaten path", the one for DC of course. It has allot of out of the way, neat places to visit in DC. Also, there is a Maryland off the beaten path.

both i highly recommend