Related Sponsors

Washington, DC in Three Days

Home » Washington, D.C. » Washington, DC Vacations: One to Three Days » Washington, DC in Three Days

With a third day, you will be able to do the major downtown sights and get away from downtown for a day. Do the days in whatever order you want, but for two of the days use our two-day itinerary, focusing your energies downtown. For your third day, we’ll give you two options:

Option One: After breakfast at your hotel, ride the Metro or drive to Arlington National Cemetery. Spend the morning strolling the grounds, visiting the graves of loved ones or famous Americans such as John Kennedy, and observing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then, around noon, drive or take a cab down the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway to Mount Vernon. You can tour the home and view Washington’s grave, the Slave Memorial, and the majestic Potomac River. You’ll spend the entire afternoon there and then drive back to Alexandria, Virginia. Walk the streets of quaint Old Town Alexandria and have dinner at one of its many excellent restaurants.

Option Two: Instead of the above, stay in the city and head to the zoo first thing in the morning; hopefully, the main attraction, the pandas, will be awake and active. Leaving the zoo, walk southwest through Rock Creek Park and then along Embassy Row, where majestic trees and most of the foreign embassies line Massachusetts Avenue. Follow Massachusetts Avenue southeast to Dupont Circle, where you can grab an ethnic dinner at Zorba’s or elsewhere and shop at some of the character-filled stores.

Pick between these two days based on your and your family’s interests. If you have small children, for example, the zoo might be especially entertaining, but older children might really appreciate the history of Mount Vernon.

Next Page: Washington, DC: Lodging and Accommodations Overview

Related Washington, DC Vacations: One to Three Days Articles