<p>If either the Spy Museum or Air and Space are on your agenda - both get very crowded. The ideal time to visit is when the first open on a Sunday morning. Maybe first thing Monday am as well.
Also - if you want to see an IMax at A&S get your tickets right away when you get there.</p>
<p>I was in Washington last month and stayed at One Washington Circle Hotel. Nice location for catching the metro, so you might check their rates. It’s in walking distance of Dupont Circle and Georgetown and their restaurants. My daughter and I really liked the Spy Museum. We went on Monday and had no trouble getting tickets in the a.m. to visit in the p.m… The National Portrait Gallery (free) had some nice exhibits, and it stayed open later than the other museums and wasn’t crowded.</p>
<p>If you are interested in art, the Phillips Collection is absolutely fabulous-- my favorite museum, plus it has a cute little cafe. In any case, I would definitely make a point of visiting the National Cathedral-- beautiful & historical. If you go, be sure to make a visit to the crypt and the below-ground chapels. There are tours throughout the day.</p>
<p>Has anyone here been to the air and space museum by Dulles (Udvar-Hazy Center)? How is it? </p>
<p>Also, I believe the American History museum is closed for refurb throughout the summer.</p>
<p>I used to give tours at the National Cathedral. It’s beautiful and interesting, but a long ways from everything else. I would save it for a longer trip.</p>
<p>My S and I saw the National Cathedral on our Old Town Trolley tour. It’s the outer most part of the loop that also goes down Embassy Row, past Cheney’s house (which you can’t see), thru Georgetown, Foggy Bottom and back to start. We got off the trolley and spent about an hour at the Cathedral, including the underground chapels, crypt, etc. then got on another trolley (they hit each stop every 30 min.) and off we went. One of the stops is that shopping street in Georgetown, but we didn’t do that. The South loop stops at the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln, the Newseum, other places (Union Station, for one). You can get on and off as often as you want. If you get off at Lincoln, you can catch the third loop and go to the Arlington Cemetery. If you start at 9 am and go to 5:30pm when it ends you can see everything imaginable; maybe not getting off everywhere, but you’ll “see” it. Then go back the next day to what interests you the most.</p>
<p>The wonderful thing about a trip to DC is how so much is free. You can get off the trolley and run in the Archives, see the Declaration of Independence, run out, catch the next trolley, and it was free to spend maybe 30 minutes in the Archives (obviously you can spend more). But you can just hop in the museums all day and you don’t have to feel like, oh, I need at least 2 hours or I’ve wasted my entrance fee, cause there isn’t any. It’s really a wonderful family vacation.</p>
<p>I must add that the most moving part of this is the war memorials. When you experience the presence of the veterans who are at the Vietnam or Korean memorials, and/or family members, it has a subduing effect on you.</p>
<p>We have had success staying in nearby suburbs and taking the subway in, find a hotel with easy access. Plenty to do for free in the Mall area, Union Station had great food. You won’t have time to do it all, do your homework and decide priorities. We have had luck in arriving at places at the right time, such as not waiting very long for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetary.</p>
<p>“Has anyone here been to the air and space museum by Dulles (Udvar-Hazy Center)? How is it?”</p>
<p>It is very good. It is huge, and has huge things, like a Space Shuttle, and the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima). You pretty much need to drive there (although there is probably a bus), and you have to pay for parking. Admission is free. This will take a chunk of time though, and I wouldn’t recommend it for a short visit unless you are highly interested in the subject matter.</p>
<p>Went to Udvar-Hazy with some work colleagues after flying into Dulles. Two of us really enjoyed it. One of us really, really, really, REALLY enjoyed it. My other colleague and I discovered that there should be more benches :)</p>
<p>If you’re one of the people who will really, really, really, REALLY enjoy it, you already know who you are.</p>
<p>But the real question is, does it sell the “astronaut ice cream”?</p>
<p>I’ve seen the astronaut ice cream at the main Air and Space Museum, so I suspect they have it at Udvar-Hazy as well. I’ve even tasted it. Blecch.</p>
<p>Many many years ago, we stayed at a Best Western in Rosslyn. It was very convenient (1 block from the metro), inexpensive by DC standards, AND had free parking with in-out privileges. It is also walkable to Georgetown (a distant walk across the FSKey bridge. It has since changed ownership, and I don’t know the quality level. Rosslyn is (was?) primarily an office area. It was very dead on the weekend, but that was rather nice after a full day on the Mall. Let us know how the trip goes.</p>