7 hours in Washington - what would you do?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

DH and I are flying in/out of Washington in October, we're heading to another State but on the way back will have a few hours in Washinton.

We will arrive in Washington by car on a Friday evening, and need to be at the airport by 5pm on the Saturday to fly home. DH has been to Washington several times, but I never have. Apart from The Mall, what else would you suggest we do given the time constraint? Our hotel is central. I like museums and art galleries but there are loads and I've only got time to do one.

Any suggestions?

It's years since I was In Washington but the museum that really stayed with me was the holocaust one.

National Gallery of Art
U S Botanic Garden

If the weather is lovely, which it can be in DC in October, I'd spend the day outside seeing all the monuments and memorials, because they are beautiful pieces of art in themselves and so moving. The area around the reflecting pool is gorgeous and it's a lovely way to see the nation's capital.

If it's pouring with rain and you'd rather be indoors, my favourite museums are the Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum and the National Gallery of Art.

Map of monuments and memorials in Washington DC

American History Museum.

Not sure if you would have time but you could get a free limited tour of the Capitol building. The beautiful Library of Congress nearby is worth a visit. It's possible to do a Segway or bike tour around the monuments, which might be fun particularly if your DH has been there before, or hire a bike or scooter to maximise time.

www.bigbustours.com/en/washington-dc/black-loop-washington-dc

Do the bus tour in the evening, it will be spectacular all lit up, then on the Saturday morning cherry-pick the monuments and museums you'd like to see more of.

I’d see the memorials - the Korean War one really stuck with me, but there are lots. The Museum of American History was closed when I was in DC but I’d put that high on my list. The Museum of the American Indian was excellent, and I walked around Georgetown and had a short boat ride on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal.

I loved the memorials, especially those for FDR.

The Museum of American History is superb. It encapsulates everything “American”. Capitol Building is worth going to. National Space snd Air museum reopens 14 Oct. it’s brilliant.

100% the Museum of African American history & culture.

I second the botanic gardens. It's absolutely lovely

National Space and Air museum reopens 14 Oct. it’s brilliant.

FWIW if aviation floats anybody's boat the Udvar-Hazy Center (annex to the Air and Space) is stunningly good and contains a large number of complete aircraft, up to and including airliner size all under one roof..

It is however out of town out of town on the perimeter of Dulles airport and is pretty much a day's visit in itself.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center

@notimagain
Yrs! That’s brilliant but takes more than 7 hours. The one in central Washington is handy and excellent too. There’s so much to see in Washington. The memorials to Presidents and wars are outstanding. As is Arlington Cemetry.

The spy museum is awesome.

I initially read that as '7 hours in Warrington' 😂

Thanks for all the suggestions. I know it's a ridiculously short time, but we need to be back at work on the Monday so have no choice.

If the weather is good, I'm tending towards hiring bikes and doing the memorials. Thanks for the link @maranella .

DH took DS1 to Washington a few years ago, they had 3 days there on the way back from visiting grandparents, and they did the Space museum and a couple of other museums, but DS' favourite thing was going to Congress and getting into the public gallery to watch a debate. DH has also been there for work a few times.