Guidebook advice for Maryland, Virginia & Washington DC

Murphy_The_Cat

In late Springtime I'm taking a touring holiday to Maryland, Virginia, Delaware & Washington DC.

Has anyone got any experience of good, relevant tour guides (e.g Frommers, AAA, Fodors) that helped them with their planning ?

We'll be a family group of 4 with a 4 year old and a 7 year old and we're looking for a mix of touring, history, recreation, water park, museums, beach etc etc.

nw_man

I only have experience of DC.... we bought the book ' eyewitness travel Washington DC ' and found it very good indeed.

Anything specific I can help you on, just ask.

One thing I would HIGHLY recommend is DC by Foot.. its a totally FREE ( well this is moneySaving expert :rotfl:) short walking guided tour.

I realise you have 2 small children, but it only took about an hour and is do-able, the guide was superb, took in a lot of the major monuments and worked for tips only.

Murphy_The_Cat

nw_man wrote: »

I only have experience of DC.... we bought the book ' eyewitness travel Washington DC ' and found it very good indeed.

Anything specific I can help you on, just ask.

One thing I would HIGHLY recommend is DC by Foot.. its a totally FREE ( well this is moneySaving expert :rotfl:) short walking guided tour.

I realise you have 2 small children, but it only took about an hour and is do-able, the guide was superb, took in a lot of the major monuments and worked for tips only.

thanks for that.

The last time I went to DC was pre-terrorism and I imagine that a lot of the freedoms that I enjoyed will have been severely curtailed e.g tours of the Hoover Building, tours of the Pentagon).
Our plan for Washington was for staying outside the city, driving to the outskirts after rushhour, using the Metro, going home before evening rushhour and then driving in at night to see the Statue & Monuments lit up (remembering the Korean War Memorial at night still sends a shiver down my spine).

The walking tour idea sounds ideal - we took a walking tour of Annapolis a few years ago and it was great fun.

Chocolate_Cookie_Monster

One place to visit if you want history is Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. Very enjoyable and educational. But might be a bit boring for young children. But there was lots of outdoor space, a river, railroad and old shops and museums.

Murphy_The_Cat

that looks like a place thats worth a mooch around, cheers cookie monster.

jackieblack

:j Oh goody, Murphy has another holiday thread going

Always worth following for future reference (I've still got your Texas thread tucked away somewhere safe, and the Arizona/California one was invaluable to us :T )

Murphy_The_Cat

hmm, in the end, my book choices were fairly restricted, but I got Fodors Maryland, Virginia & Washington DC which seems to be very good and Moon Maryland & Delaware which is nowhere near as good.

Alan_Bowen

I suggest if you want to stay outside Washington, have a look at hotels in Alexandria, its on two metro lines and you can be in the centre of DC within 30 minutes or so. It also has a great waterfront, nice small shops and I seem to recall a good few art galleries. We spent four nights in Washington, took the train to Baltimore for the day, not sure I would do that again, but then drove south to Colonial Williamsburg which is a re creation of America before the Americans ruined it. We stayed 2 nights and could have spent longer, it really is worth investigating. We stopped for a couple of hours at the home of Washington himself, Mount Vernonon the way. We then drove inland through Charlottesville to the Blue Ridge Mountains and as noted above stopped at Harpers Ferry, by sheer chance it was the anniversary of one the great North vs South battles and the reinactment was fascinating. Apart from Washington itself, we took whatever road we faniced and found somewhere to stay each night. Sometimes luxury, sometimes a Hampton Inn but overall a really enjoyable holiday and a realisation that the 'South' starts much further north than I ever imagined

Murphy_The_Cat

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

I suggest if you want to stay outside Washington, have a look at hotels in Alexandria, its on two metro lines and you can be in the centre of DC within 30 minutes or so. It also has a great waterfront, nice small shops and I seem to recall a good few art galleries. We spent four nights in Washington, took the train to Baltimore for the day, not sure I would do that again, but then drove south to Colonial Williamsburg which is a re creation of America before the Americans ruined it. We stayed 2 nights and could have spent longer, it really is worth investigating. We stopped for a couple of hours at the home of Washington himself, Mount Vernonon the way. We then drove inland through Charlottesville to the Blue Ridge Mountains and as noted above stopped at Harpers Ferry, by sheer chance it was the anniversary of one the great North vs South battles and the reinactment was fascinating. Apart from Washington itself, we took whatever road we faniced and found somewhere to stay each night. Sometimes luxury, sometimes a Hampton Inn but overall a really enjoyable holiday and a realisation that the 'South' starts much further north than I ever imagined

Alan, thank you form your help and suggestions.
With less than 12 weeks to go, I've currently got more 'spaces' in my itinerary, than places.
To date, I've got
arr IAD lunchtime on Sunday
collect car
start on a route via
Annapolis
Baltimore
Dover
Ocean City
Norfolk
harbour trip around Norfolk Naval Base
Richmond
perhaps inland via Charlottesville &
Washington DC (via Alexandria)
leaving IAD late in the evening, 15 days after arriving.

I fancy visiting Dover AFB, Annapolis Naval Academy, several Smithsonian Museums, walking tour of DC, battleship Wisconsin. relaxing on the beach, playing mini golf, Baltimore Aquarium, a baseball game (BOOKED) , an Amtrak trip (from somewhere to somewhere) and that so far is about it. I need to spend a LOT more time with my planning head on -- I like your idea of visiting a battle reenactment, if I can fit one in.

neilbond007

Hey MTC

My holiday to Savannah has been canceled due to it fact it's forecast to be pi$$ing it down the whole week we were due to be there!

Now going to Virginia Beach (Well, Homewood (of course) Chesapeake) for 5 nights and DC for 3 nights.

What were your highlights / lowlights? Bear in mind I'll have a 12 1/2 month old and a 6 week old

Thanks in advance

Murphy_The_Cat

neilbond007 wrote: »

Hey MTC

My holiday to Savannah has been canceled due to it fact it's forecast to be pi$$ing it down the whole week we were due to be there!

Now going to Virginia Beach (Well, Homewood (of course) Chesapeake) for 5 nights and DC for 3 nights.

What were your highlights / lowlights? Bear in mind I'll have a 12 1/2 month old and a 6 week old

Thanks in advance

Hi Neil
Having the tiddlers with you might just clip your wings a bit, but from our trip, the highlights in the area that you are going to were --
going to watch the Orioles
Baltimore Aquirium
Battleship Wisconsin
Amtrak from Williamsburg to Richmond
Waterpark USA at Williamsburg
Driving Skyline Drive
The Smithsoniam Museums in DC
The Monuments in DC (& at night)
The Marine Corp Museum at Quantico
Most, if not all, you could do with babes in arms/strollers, whilst you and Moneypenny enjoy yourselves.

BTW. the Homewood at Washington Dulles, was very good, well up to the standards that you/we/I enjoy

Have a great time with yor folks.

Murph

p.s. the best thing that I did was spending time with the children. Enjoy every minute whilst they are tiny, as its as precious as you can get:D