Seeing it all in Washington, D.C. (Frugal Family Trips series)

2/19/2015

Okay, I'll admit it. It's impossible to see everything in Washington, D.C. in seven days. You could spend months in Washington, D.C., and not see it all.

But we certainly did our best!

We knew that our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington, D.C. as a family was an amazing opportunity, so we didn't want to waste any time at all - and we were determined to see as much of the area as we could.

Here are my tips and our family's schedule so we were able to see more than most people see in seven days' time:

Realize that you won't be able to see every display or object in every museum, so plan ahead and figure out which floors and exhibits you'll want to explore at different Smithsonian museums
To save a lot of time, eat at restaurants that are more like "fast food" but still very good (like many of those at Union Station)
Use the Metrorail instead of driving a car and spending hours trying to find a place to park
Walk a bit more on the brisk side instead of meandering slowly from place to place. It's great exercise!
Plan your trip out ahead of time, knowing that you may need some flexibility in case your Metrorail car is delayed due to power outages or breakdowns
If you have more money to spend, consider a tour of the National Mall on a rented bicycle or a Segway

Here is my family's schedule that we followed during our week in Washington, D.C. Keep in mind that our children were ages 16 and 14 at the time. One of them loves history and museums, and the other one likes them but also enjoys other activities when traveling (shopping, American Girl Dolls store, etc.). We did our best to accommodate both of them. ☺

Day One:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Alexandria, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Ride the Metro from the hotel to Reagan International Airport to rent a car for the next two days
*Drive to George Washington's vast estate, Mt. Vernon Memorial, in Mt. Vernon, Virginia for the remainder of the daylight hours (this was my family's most favorite part of the week!)
*Dinner in the Mt. Vernon area
*Drive back to Washington, D.C. and view the National Mall memorials at night

Day Two:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Drive to Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, Virginia (allow about 1 hour for your visit)
*Chick-fil-A for lunch in Charlottesville, Virginia (trust me, if you've never eaten at Chik-Fillet, it's a neat experience!)
*Drive to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate, located in Charlottesville, Virginia (allow yourself at least 2 hours to visit)
*Dinner in Charlottesville, Virginia

Day Three:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Return car rental to Reagan International Airport
*Tour Arlington National Cemetery and view Changing of the Guard
*Tour Arlington/Lee House
*National Museum of the American Indian (eat lunch in cafeteria there for a wide variety of Native American foods)
*Tour the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center
*Tour the Library of Congress
*Walk around the White House area
*Dinner at Union Station (inexpensive and moderately priced dining options, many international)

Day Four:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Ride Metro to visit the Pentagon and 9-11 Memorial
*Ride Metro to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima)
*Take Metro to the Rosslyn stop to go up extremely long escalator!
*Coffee at Panera Bread
*Ride Metro to Fords Theater and Petersen House where President Lincoln died
*Lunch at the National Gallery of Art
*National Archives Museum
*Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
*Metro to Kennedy Center for a FREE performance! (and walk past Watergate)
*Dinner at Union Station (inexpensive and moderately priced dining options, many international)

Day Five:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Smithsonian Castle (This was our one disappointment. It's just an administrative building, best viewed from the outside. No tours are provided. I would recommend not visiting this castle.)
*Crime & Punishment Museum
*Lunch at Union Station (inexpensive and moderately priced dining options, many international)
*National Cathedral
*Dinner at Whole Foods near Metro stop

Day Six:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Bureau of Engraving and Printing
*United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
*The National Museum of American History (lunch in cafeteria)
*Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
*Dinner at Union Station (inexpensive and moderately priced dining options, many international)

Day Seven:

*Breakfast in our hotel in Arlington, Virginia (to save time and money)
*Metro to Union Station for Starbucks ☺
*Smithsonian National Postal Museum
*Back to hotel to check out
*Airport and fly home

Questions? Helpful tips?

If you've traveled to Washington, D.C. in the past and have suggestions or tips, please let us know! And if you have a question, please ask. Thanks!

Read my other "Frugal Family Tips for a Visit to Washington, D.C." here!

14 Comments

Joanne Wilson

2/20/2015 11:08:27 am

For those reading this, I was along for this trip and was the unofficial tour guide for the Miller family. Julieanne did a great job summarizing our trip, and I thank you, Julieanne, for this blog post. Julieanne and I did a lot of study before we went, and I appreciate all she did to find the best price for airfare, and we both investigated motels, and ended up staying at the same motel I had stayed at for 2 of my other previous 5 trips to DC. I will stay there again if I ever go to DC in the future, and I strongly recommend this motel. Choosing it will save you hours of online research!

It is important for any of the readers of the blog to understand that one of reasons we were able to see as much as we did was that we had a schedule of the hours the attractions were open, and visited attractions that were open all the time when the museums were closed. So if you want to see as much as we did, I would recommend following the itinerary as closely as possible.

In addition, Day 1 was Sunday, and Mt. Vernon is open every day of the year, if I remember correctly, although it might be closed on Christmas Day. The museums in DC are closed on weekends.

If you fly into Reagan National Airport, you can take the Metro to a stop close to your motel if you plan it that way, and you won't have to hire a taxi, or rent a car unless you visit places outside the Metro area. The motel we stayed at was the best for the best price, while still allowing us to use the Metro.

I would as also recommend contacting your Senator to have him or her set up a tour for you of the Capitol Building, because you will get a better tour than if you set it up on your own. But you have to do it at least 3 months before your trip. We weren't able to do this since we didn't have that much prior notice of our trip. Your Senator will also be able to set up other tours for you, but you are not obligated to attend any or all of them.

Washington DC is a great place to visit, but if you want to see a lot, sleeping in will not be an option, and your feet will get really sore by the end of the day, but it is completely worth it!

Julieanne link

3/4/2015 08:27:12 am

Joanne, you did such a wonderful job helping us plan our trip and having a fantastic visit to the Washington, D.C. area! :) We are so thankful you came along with us.

Joanne is correct; the reason we were able to see so much was because Joanne had arranged the stops on our trip to fit in well with its location and the days/times they were open. It was an amazing itinerary that kept us moving but not running or feeling exhausted. We loved it!

Joanne

3/6/2015 05:35:48 am

It was a group effort, and I feel that we all had a part in making this a trip that was fun, frugal and a good use of time.

Donna Gause

5/14/2015 09:26:00 pm

What was the name of your hotel? How much did you budget or spend on your trip?

Joanne

5/15/2015 12:09:12 am

Donna, please see Julieanne's link to the motel on her narrative on Day 7. One thing I would add to the Day 7 narrative, is that we actually checked out of the motel in the morning before starting our day, but because our flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon, the motel graciously locked up our luggage for us after we checked out, so we could do some sight-seeing before our flight home. We returned to the motel, got our luggage out of jail and took the free motel shuttle to the Metro, which took us to the airport (If you want to avoid taxi fees and utilize the Metro subway system, be sure to make your reservations to and from Ronald Reagan National Airport when traveling to D.C., since it is the only airport in the area that the Metro services.).

Joanne

5/15/2015 12:22:08 am

On further review of Julieanne's blog, I see that there is a link to the motel on every day at the breakfast comment. I also must add that the bed was extremely comfortable! Probably the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on at a motel. This is so important, because the days of sight-seeing were exhausting, due to trying to cram as much as possible into every day! One suggestion I made to someone at the motel was to have a masseuse there to provide foot massages at the end of a long day of sight-seeing/walking! I don't know if they will take it to heart, but it could be another money-maker!

Alisha

2/28/2017 12:20:35 am

Thank you so much for posting this! It is a game changer for our trip! It makes planning so much easier!

Joanne

2/28/2017 09:58:39 pm

I hope you enjoy your trip! Get ready to be exhausted, but it is worth it!

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