Good touristy places to visit in Washington DC??

Question

Is tours of White House worth while

If so how do I go about it?

Answer 1

The most obvious place to start is the National Mall Downtown. The Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam, Korean, WWII Memorials and several of the Smithsonian Museum buildings are all right there. Many of these don't have a lot of parking or are not all easily accessible from a car so plan on utilizing the Tourmobile, a rented bike or rented segway. Otherwise, plan on doing a whole lot of walking.

Museums not on the Mall but still worth seeing are:
The Spy Museum (very cool).
National Building Museum (particularly with young kids on the weekends)
Air and Space Campus at Dulles

Arguably the most beautiful building in town is The National Cathedral. It is awesome inside and out. The Bishop's garden adjacent is pretty cool too and if the weather is good, there is not a better spot on the east coast.

Going Beyond the "main monuments":
The Awakening at Hains Point
Albert Einstein
The Air Force Memorial (it's new)
The Titanic Memorial
Bartholdi Fountain (Statue of Liberty Sculptor)
Navy Memorial
TR Memorial at Roosevelt Island

The National Arboretum is unknown to many locals. It has a great bonsai garden, large Koi ponds, and acres of others gardens and forested areas. It is up NY Ave across from the Washington Times Building.

Great Falls Maryland is very cool too.

Answer 2

First...park your car and take the Metro or cabs everywhere...they are plentiful and inexpensive modes of transportation in DC.

Start at The Mall which has the Lincoln Memorial at one end and the Capitol Building at the other. On the mall are the majority of the museums....Smithsonian, Air & Space, the arts and cultural museum and other free or small fee places to visit. You can also see the Washington Monument on the 5 mile circut of The Mall (I worked on Pennsylvania Ave for 3 years and ran the The Mall every day...hence the 5 miles). The Jefferson Memorial is also close by. Also the Cochran Gallery has excellent exhibits.
There are also tours (or were) available at The White House and The Pentagon. The Iowo Jima US Marine Memorial and Arlington Cemetery should be on you list.

Before you go you can also contact your congress man/womans office and visit them if you want. They can give you free passes to visit the visitor's gallery to watch some of the procedings in the House or Senate.

Also there are dozens of old churches to see and there is even a hugh Mormon Temple that can be seen from the Washington monument that is open to visitors and a large mosque open to those carrying to visit.

You might want to concentrate you visit in the NE section of the city...it has the highest number of police per capita in the Capital....it can be a dangerous city in some areas.

Also there is Georgetown to visit....and not just the uuniversity. And there is embassry row on...Kalomora Drive. I am sure I don't have the spelling correct but any one can tell you where it is. The National Zoo...I found that a bit lacking.

Have fun.

Answer 3

I agree with the suggestions listed here. To answer your question about the White House, I think it's an interesting place to visit but difficult to arrange. Evidently you need a group of 10 or more people and you must make a request through your Member of Congress at least one month in advance. You can still walk around it, which is worthwhile.

I would recommend visiting the Capitol instead (I think you must contact your member of Congress for this as well). Other great options include the Library of Congress, Arlington Cemetary, the various museums, monuments, and memorials on the mall, and the Archives (which is just on the other side of Constitution Ave. at 9th St.). I also recommend the Holocaust Museum and the Mint.

The zoo is nice if you're interested in the pandas, but it's fairly small compared to many zoos. The aquarium is not worth your time.

Answer 4

Living very close to D.C theres a lot of good touristy places. I would go to the Monument and also muesums. Mainly all the museums are free except for the Spy Museum which I think has a charge og 8-10$ (maybe a bit more). If you have time, I would also recommend dining at Cafe Milano, Its a D.C hotspot where many celebrites tend to go and you might even spot some senators or officials. I would stroll along the potomoc and maybe picnic at the mall. Have fun.

Answer 5

There are really too many to list! it depends on your interests. We recently visited Ford's Theater and found it very interesting, but also enjoyed all the monuments and Memorials, a tour of the White House and the Capital (contact your congressman way in advance to do that), the Library of Congress, the National Archives, US Botanical Gardens, all the Smithsonians, the Bureau of Engraving, visiting sessions of the Congress and the Senate while they are in session, a boat ride on the Potomac, and visiting Mount Vernon. And more, and more!!

Answer 6

in case you have a motor vehicle, force half-hour to super Falls, VA on the Potomac. it quite is the place the Potomac River gets wild and uneven because it is going downhill over rocks. in case you have in no way been to Mount Vernon, it quite is very well worth the force. interior of DC: walk alongside the C&O Canal in Georgetown, see a custom at area point, bypass to the Air stress Memorial in Arlington, see the FDR memorial close to the Lincoln Memorial, see the recent Lincoln Museum opposite Ford's Theater, bypass to the Philips Gallery artwork museum close to Dupont Circle, bypass to Hillwood domicile and Gardens, see Dunbarton o.ok. Museum and Gardens, on Saturday's bypass to Anderson domicile, bypass around the river and bypass to old city Alexandria for the figuring out to purchase, background, and eating places, then bypass up King highway and excursion the Masonic Memorial, take the water taxi from Alexandria to national Harbor in Maryland, get a a million/2-smoke at Ben's Chili Bowl, hike around Teddy Roosevelt Island in the Potomac, see a overall performance on the Kennedy midsection, take the excursion on the Library of Congress, and that's basically the beginning up of the checklist....

Answer 7

The Smithsonian museums in DC http://www.si.edu/museums/ are great.

Answer 8

The Smithsonian museums are a must!