Having never been to Washington D.C. I did not know what to expect. The City is beautiful, with wonderful architecture, museums and great restaurants. We stayed at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel; centrally located and we could walk to the White House. The hotel was beautiful and the service was great; better than I could have hoped for. Stayed seven nights and still did not see everything. Rode the Metro the whole time were there and it was very simple to figure out. I am proud to call this the capitol of our country.

We did a whirlwind tour of DC and had a great time. Our boys are age 7, 8, 9 and 11... and the air and space museum was a perfect fit. Although it was crowded, all enjoyed the hands on displays and the granduar of the museum.

Traveling by the Metro was a lot of fun for the kids and a great way to get around the city. We purchased the day ticket for $6.50 for the day, and we easily could jump from red line to green line without any trouble.

We also took part in the Monument by Moonlight tour run by the Historic Tours of America. The 2.5 hour tour gave us all a history lesson. Not only did we drive by the Capitol, and the White House (as the presidential helicopter was landing!), we stopped and got out at the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean Memorial & the FDR Memorial. All beautiful at night. Our tour guide was fantastic.. he took us over to Virginia where we saw Arlington Cementary and could see the eternal flame from a distance. Even with the temperture outside being close to 90 degree's, everyone enjoyed the tour. Purchase your tickets on line and you'll save some money too!

The following day we drove into DC and parked along the street. Meter parking by the Capitol was .25 for 90 minutes. It cost me .75 to park for 4 hours and there was pleanty of parking. The hidden gem of our trip was the Library of Congress... the largest library in the world and a feast for the eyes. Our littlest enjoyed the kids brochure that showed a small picture and you had to find it in the artwork. Our kids spent over an hour in this hidden gem, and it is something all should see.

Enjoy your time in DC, we will definatly go back for a second look!

My husband and I spent Thanksgiving 2004 in DC...and absolutely loved it. Here is a basic breakdown of our trip. Grabbed a taxi at dawn and headed for the Lincoln Memorial. Walked by and took photos of the Korean, the Vietnam, the WWII, the Jefferson memorials. Got caught in a brief rain shower while looking at the Washington monument so ran to a cafe for hot tea. Then toured the Holocaust Museum, then the Museum of American History.
Jumped on the Metro and went to Union Station where we dined at B.Smith. Union Station is a fun place to eat, shop, or just enjoy watching the people.
The next day we walked all through Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle, stopping at Caribou Coffee and at the Post Pub. Then we walked around the White House and the Reagan building. We loved the comedy of the Capitol Steps, then went to Kramerbooks and AfterWords Cafe for snacks and martinis. Finally we did some club hopping, ending up at about 1am at a gay Latino bar where there was a decent performance by drag queens.
This was quite a wonderful trip and I would highly recommend DC to everyone.

We did a Globus trip of America's Historic East including 2 days prior and 2 days after tour in Washington DC. We loved the trip and loved Washington DC. There is so much to see in DC that you need about 10 days to cover most of the sights. The Metro is the way to get around. $1.35 covers most areas around the City. We syayed at the Wyndham Washington DC Hotel and found the double room large very comfortable and the staff very friendly. We will be back as there is so much more to see but it is an expensive trip from Australia and about 19 hours in the air.

Ashley Burns