I live close enough to DC to take day trips down on the Metro. The main tourist sites are concentrated within walking distance of each other. Next time you make the trip, skip the bus tour and walk to save yourself a little dough. Just about all the sites are free.

Seriously, I’m sorry that was such a bust. I remember taking the train down from Philly and meeting up with a friend’s uncle who worked for the Capitol police. I didn’t have his cell phone number, but all I had to do was stop any Capitol policeman and ask him to radio in a request for him to come out.

It was pretty awesome as Congress wasn’t in session and he could take me almost anywhere in Capitol Hill, narrating the whole way. The tour we did take together was the DC Ducks tour and that was hilarious because the driver let me take over in amphibious mode. I’m sure it helped that I seemed like a little kid. ;)

Since the Jefferson Memorial and FDR Memorial are hard to walk/drive to, it was the best way for us to visit there. The Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial & WWII Memorial are fairly close together, so we walked between them, and then got back on Tourmobile at the WWII Memorial.

The White House tour was lame in 1994, so I’m sure it’s worse since 9/11.

My dad lives about an hour away from DC, so we frequently go to the city when we visit him. We’ve been to most of the museums/famous sites now, and my favorites are National Gallery of Art East Building, US Botanic Gardens, and the FDR Memorial. The kids’ favorites are Natural History, the sculpture gardens near the Hirshorn Museum, and the Library of Congress.

We all love the Museum of the American Indian–it’s one of the newest additions. We’ve been twice now, and we still haven’t seen everything. There are lots of touchscreens to learn more, and we haven’t scratched the surface of everything to read.

If you are limited on time and can only see a few places, Metro is definitely the way to go.

As far as tours of these sites, we (DC area residents) have even struck out when we weren’t aware congress was in session, but we have been in the White House and Capitol. I agree you should have checked out the Jefferson Memorial, but that’s definitely a hike on foot. For the Washington Monument, you can order tickets online so you can select your time. The tix are free, but there’s a $1-2 fee for reserving them.

Not sure what you mean about the White House. I think you just didn’t go south enough because from E Street (closed to vehicles) you can see the entire south lawn. We’ve seen Bush and his dog Barney on the lawn one time. You can also see the north side just fine (and be much closer to the actual house), but the south view is the more classic one.

Next time you’re here, hit me up and we’ll show you the sites! They’re even better at night (on a nice summer night, that is). They’re lit up beautifully.

My favorite starting point is the Lincoln memorial, because down the hill is the Vietnam mem, across the street is the Korean mem, the reflecting pool, a good sturdy walk to the capital, washington memorial, smithsonian, and the metro is your friend.

Hope you can get back there again and see more.

I would recommend you definitely take the walk over to the Jefferson Memorial, especially at night! Gorgeous!

Also, if you have time, check out Chinatown (use the fine metro system you mentioned). I wish I knew the name of the place where we ate…it was wonderful!

Happy travels!