20 Reasons Why You Need to Visit Washington DC
Everybody loves New York City, I love Washington DC and you should too. It's the polar opposite of New York, it's small, clean and fresh, not gritty, loud or the hustle and bustle that you get when you visit Manhattan. This is a great city to visit, with children or not. Why would you want to go there? Well for starters the monuments and buildings that you can visit are amazing, there's just so much to see and do. Here's just some of the places that you can visit:
The White House
The Lincoln Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
The National Mall
The Reflecting Pool
Memorials to the Korean, Vietnam wars
US Capitol Building
Washington Monument
Martin Luther King Jr, Memorial
National World War II Memorial
And on top of that you've got a large number of museums that you can visit, which the majority of them are all free to enter. Take a look at some of the museums that you can visit, let's start with a topical one at the moment, The International Spy Museum, The National Museum of American History, I've been into this one and it's absolutely brilliant, it's just not what you expect the museum to be about; definitely one for your list when you visit. There's the National Museum of Natural History, and so many others and the great thing is that they're in close proximity to each other. While you're in DC, you can visit Arlington Cemetery, where you can visit the graves of John F Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The cemetery is looked after incredibly well and is pristine. From the top of the Cemetery you can see the centre of DC and many of the sites including The White House.
Getting Around Washington DC
This is super easy, there's little need to use public transportation when you're visiting the White House and other sites most of the things you'll going to want to see are in walking distance of each other, but take a good pair of walking shoes with you, because like most things in America, its big. If you visit Arlington Cemetery, you can walk, but when we did it we underestimated the size of the bridge that you cross, it was in the middle of summer and it nearly killed us. I would suggest using the subway, this takes you right to the Cemetery. The subway system in DC is much easier than the New York one, it's cleaner and a bit 'Space 1999', if you're old enough to remember that TV show. Another great place to visit and this again is on the subway route and easy to access is the National Zoological Park, which children would love.
When Should You Visit Washington DC?
Like New York City, Washington DC gets some heavy weather, so I would advise visiting from March through to June, mainly because you'll get to see the cherry blossoms (March/April), which against the white marble monuments and buildings, which makes DC look incredible amazing sight for your eyes. Also visiting in the early Autumn is great too, because the heat of the summer has subsided and you get to see the turning leaves, which like the cherry blossom of the Spring makes incredible viewing. The second reason I would suggest going from this time is that because you're visiting a lot of sites that are outside, there's nothing worse than walking around wet and cold, DC is definitely a Spring onwards destination.
What's Washington DC like?
Obviously Washington DC is the the political centre of the country, but when you go to the outskirts, it seems very European and the housing looks almost Dutch. In fact you could be in England too. Washington DC is so different to the other parts of the USA that I've visited and it's a place where I could actually live. On the occasions that I've stayed in Washington, I've stayed north of the centre and it's been great, just caught the subway in and you're there. I have tended to stay outside the main part of the capital because hotels get booked pretty early on, so if you want to stay in the centre, this is something to consider.
How Long Should You Go For?
If you are planning to add Washington DC into your itinerary with another city, I would suggest three days, there's so much to see and you'll never get through it all otherwise. You also have to factor in that if you're walking everywhere getting to places is going to be that bit slower.
Have a great trip.