Washington DC in one day, what do I HAVE to do?

Skip the White House tour. Its a waste of time

Smithsonian museums during the day. Catch a night tour of the monuments. Changing of the guard in Arlington Cemetery is a MUST.

Capitol building is awesome but the line is going to take 3 hours. Not sure if you want to waste that much time.

Lincoln memorial and Ford's theater are pretty cool.

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Newsuem

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It's ok but not worth going to if you only have one day

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Capitol building is awesome but the line is going to take 3 hours. Not sure if you want to waste that much time.

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Not this time of year. In the spring and summer that's very true. You can also get through the lines much quicker by talking to your elected Senators or Representative.

ETA: as for the things I would suggest. Reading room @ library of Congress and Arlington would be atop my list. Followed by each of the major monuments.

I really enjoyed the National Air and Space museum. Definitely check out as many monuments as you can, but the White House tour isn't worth it in my opinion.

If you want a good view of the city, don't wait in line for the Washington Monument. Go to the tower in the old Post Office building. You get a better/more open view of everything, and it's very non-crowded.

Other than that, walk the National Mall. You can go from the Capitol (not including a tour of it; I'd either start or end this little streak with that) to the Lincoln Memorial and see the WWII, Korean and Vietnam War Memorials + the Washington Monument in a 45 minute time span. You also pass the majority of the Smithsonians. As someone who has never been, pick your favorite of the 'big' museums and take your time in it. The American History and Natural Sciences museums are probably my two favorite. I've been told that I am really missing out on the Art museum, but it is slightly off the beaten path, thus a little less "touristy" (but you're kind of going for touristy...I've been a few times, and some friends who live there suggested some slightly less popular stuff for my last day in town).

On the opposite side of that walk (with the Capitol in the middle), you've got the Supreme Court building, Library of Congress, and a bunch of other famous buildings where your/our Reps and Sens work. If you call ahead, you can actually go in and see them/say "hi," take a picture, etc, usually. If not, you can typically see their office and tell their staff "hello." Security everywhere is a minor pain, though, so don't take anything beloved like a pocket knife with you, or it's gone for good.

If you can time it right, seeing the Changing of the Guard in Arlington National Cemetery is something I will not forget. Most people have a similar memory of it. You'll have to take the metro out there, though. The metro is very on time, as is the changing of the guard. I don't remember how long it takes to get to the Cemetery from the Hill, nor the metro stop to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but that should be fairly easy to look up and time.


That's how I would "top point" the city in an afternoon. You're also fairly close to the National's stadium if you're on the Hill, and you can get a pretty good peak at the inside from street level, but that's something you're either into, or you're not.

As far as restaurants/pubs in the Hill area, I liked The Ugly Mug. Pretty good food, good drink specials/varieties. Plan on not eating at any of the Smithsonian restaurants/cafeterias/McDonald's (air and space), as they are expensive.

Definitely call your congressional/senate office for a tour, they'll likely hook you up.

I've spent most of my Christmases here and lived here for over 5 years. I still have not seen everything

You could see the top points in 4-5 days.

NRA has an awesome museum that is free.. But that is out in Fairfax

If y'all do come Facebook me and I'll set you up with whatever I can.

shite on Obama's lawn.