Washington DC Holiday

ukbill69

Hello,

After not having a holiday this year after many things going on. Im going to book me and the mrs and holiday to Washington DC, as we love the USA and I think this would be a great for us. I would like to know what people think to the hotel and flight and best time to go. We dont have a great deal, but will pay for a nice time.

I really thank you for your time reading this and replying if you do.

neilbond007

ukbill69 wrote: »

Hello,

After not having a holiday this year after many things going on. Im going to book me and the mrs and holiday to Washington DC, as we love the USA and I think this would be a great for us. I would like to know what people think to the hotel and flight and best time to go. We dont have a great deal, but will pay for a nice time.

I really thank you for your time reading this and replying if you do.

What do you mean by "best time"?
The cheapest time? The best weather?

I hear DC is a great city. It's one of the cities I plan to visit sooner rather than later.

Murphy_The_Cat

Hello Bill

Mrs cat & I went to Washington DC and had a great time, exploring all the things that seemed very familliar from Tv & Film, plus the monuments/museums etc. In short it was a great break.
Washington DC is relatively small and is very easy to get around, so, you may get away with not needing a car whilst you are their and put the money that you have saved towards a more central hotel.
We went in June time and the weather was just about perfect.

happy hunting.



p.s. we went just before the Twin Towers atrocity in 2001, I would imagine that some of the things that we were able to very freely do, may no longer be just as easy to do.

ukbill69

neilbond007 wrote: »

What do you mean by "best time"?
The cheapest time? The best weather?

I hear DC is a great city. It's one of the cities I plan to visit sooner rather than later.

Im not sure I put "best time"

Im looking for good weather and a ok price.

dmg24

Hi Bill,

I was in Washington in March/ April this year - a little on the cool side but still nice enough that you can walk around. There is so much to do, and most of it is free! If you Google 'Smithsonian museums' you will get lots of ideas, and that is without even starting on the White House, the Capitol Building etc!

I got a very good price on the Marriott Metro Center, which is very central for walking and on top of a metro centre, so very convenient. I got it through Priceline (there is a good thread on here that explains PL).

BA have some low fares for Washington at the mo, around £300 each, or you could wait until around Christmas to see what fares you can get in the sales.

Have a great trip - it is a very friendly place!

nw_man

dmg24 wrote: »

Hi Bill,

I was in Washington in March/ April this year - a little on the cool side but still nice enough that you can walk around. There is so much to do, and most of it is free! If you Google 'Smithsonian museums' you will get lots of ideas, and that is without even starting on the White House, the Capitol Building etc!

I got a very good price on the Marriott Metro Center, which is very central for walking and on top of a metro centre, so very convenient. I got it through Priceline (there is a good thread on here that explains PL).

BA have some low fares for Washington at the mo, around £300 each, or you could wait until around Christmas to see what fares you can get in the sales.

Have a great trip - it is a very friendly place!

We go for the first time to DC in January.. yes we know its going to be freezing !

Can I ask you, what did you think of your hotel, was it near shops and restaurants etc ? Also if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for it ?

Finally, I am new to Priceline.... do you remember its description ?

Thanks.

torbrex

I was in DC the first 2 weeks in September this year, I stayed in a hotel in Arlington less than a 5 minute walk from a metro station, I payed about £730 for the package of flight & hotel using Expedia.
The weather was great with only one rainy day and not humid at all as some had said it might be.
As others have said, most of the museums are free and only a couple of the sights need to be pre-booked (whitehouse, holocost, Washington monument) but that just entails standing in line for the limited tickets then you stand in another line to actually get in.

If you are interested, I did a sort of diary & picture thread of my trip Here.
Any other questions, just ask but as I travelled alone, group stuff I wont be able to help with.

Murphy_The_Cat

Kenny_Powers wrote: »

I loved DC, but i didn't find it as friendly as some on here. The general public was great and very friendly. But the officials were a different story. Every official in DC seems to assume to are a terrorist and the laws/rules they have in some places are ridiculous. For instance, i went to a shopping centre for my kids to use the toilet, i was stood outside waiting and i was asked to leave the building. I said my kids were inside and was waiting for them, i was told apparently the shopping centre is beneath a federal building and loitering is an offence - I kid you not.

Anyway, its a great city and there is millions of stuff to do.

I thought that might have happened since our visit. IIRC, there are quite a few combinations of Federal buildings & civillian buinesses in DC and I could imagine just how much of a pain in in 'Arris it could be.

One place that I enjoyed touring around enormously was the Pentagon, OP, if you like military thrillers, or military history, its well worth a visit. Just remember to take your passport with you for ID (American just need to produce photo ID) & book ahead.

malkie76

I used to live in DC, so if you have any highly specific questions then please ask or send me a PM. More or less everything most people have said is accurate, but please don't limit yourself to the National Mall and memorials as there is so much more to see.

The National Zoo is worth a visit - a large open zoo with many interesting animals and walking distance from the metro.

Adam's Morgan is a fun area to head at night - very nice places to eat and drink, but it's slightly out of the way.

There's no decent shopping downtown (save for Crystal City), so if shopping interests you then make the short trip to Tysons Corner - again it's metro linked.

Taxi's from IAD (assuming you are flying into there) are about $75 into downtown. It's cheaper to get the washington flyer bus to west falls church metro and get into town that way (it's also free from any traffic worries).

While I've mentioned IAD, you may wish to consider BWI as an entry point. It's roughly the same time journey to get into town, and can also access the metro via a bus ride. There are certain advantages to BWI - often the flights are cheaper, but my understanding is that it's only an international airport with the UK (ie no other international flights), meaning the immigration line is usually short (whereas IAD can be crazy)

However, it's worth using IAD just to see the 'people-eaters' used at the airport!

Good time of year to go is 'cherry blossom' - very pretty and just when the nicer weather starts! Avoid high summer as although it's only in the low 30s the humidity is an absolute killer!

Any questions ?

ukbill69

Thanks for all your replies. Really helping me.

dmg24

nw_man wrote: »

We go for the first time to DC in January.. yes we know its going to be freezing !

Can I ask you, what did you think of your hotel, was it near shops and restaurants etc ? Also if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for it ?

Finally, I am new to Priceline.... do you remember its description ?

Thanks.

The hotel was lovely - it is a big hotel but the staff still knew who I was, except the odd doorman who was insistent that I had a child with me the day before - I didn't!

Just checked my booking and I paid £45 per night plus taxes - it was £160 in total for three nights. Remember that is per room, not per person!

Priceline does not give a hotel description, that is Hotwire. If you have a look at Betterbidding, or blindman's guide on here, you'll get a good idea of where to start. Any probs and post on either of the above and we'll help you work it out!

I honestly don't think you will find a better location. It was less than ten mins walk from the White House, but still far enough out that you were not limited to the tourist eateries (cheaper, and usually better value to eat with the locals! ).