DC is one of my favorite places in the world, so when I sat down to create our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary, I knew exactly where I wanted to take the kids. Before this trip, I had spent about 3 weeks exploring DC on my own, over the years. I’ve spent hours perusing the incredible masterpieces in the countless art museums in the District, visited almost every single memorial and monument, and seen pretty much everything I’ve wanted to see.
Because of this, I had a pretty good idea of what we would do on our first family trip to Washington DC. I wanted to include their interests with places that are important to our nation’s history. I also wanted to sprinkle in a few things that I hadn’t done yet.
The kids interests include:
- Art
- Space
- Dinosaurs
Additionally, I wanted to squeeze in something Ashley enjoys (reading) with one of my interests, history.
Table of Contents
Planning for our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary
Step One: The Hotel
On my past trips to DC, I have stayed in Arlington, Virginia and Alexandria, Virginia. Both are just outside of the District of Columbia. These are popular choices with travelers because the hotels are cheaper and they nearby the District. If you’re arriving by car, both cities offer an easy drive into the District. If you’re arriving by plane and will be using the Metro, the Orange Line and Silver Line both service Arlington and the Yellow Line and Blue Line service Alexandria.
Since we were traveling with young kids, I wanted to find a hotel that was near the National Mall, that way we could run back to the hotel quickly if someone needed a nap or if we needed to access the hotel during the middle of the day. I’m glad we did this because we actually found ourselves going back to the hotel twice.
To find our hotel, I hopped on Google Maps and looked to see what was near the National Mall. I found a Hyatt Place that was between the National Mall and The District Wharf. The Mall is where you’ll find many of the monuments and museums and The Wharf has a ton of restaurants, shops, and bars. To top it off, it was a couple of blocks away from two different Metro stops on the Orange, Blue, and Silver lines, which were the ones we would be predominately be using. The location couldn’t have been more perfect!
Step Two: Mapping Out our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary
Once we booked our hotel, I jotted down a list of places I wanted to visit on our trip. The list included places that would interest all of the kids. When traveling with kids, it’s important to keep your itineraries to a minimum. I planned on visiting about 4 things a day- knowing that we’d be doing a ton of walking (even with us using the Metro), that we’d be skipping our usual nap, and not wanting to over do it. Overdoing it would only lead to meltdowns and tantrums- by not only the kids, but also by us grown ups.
After figuring out where we would be visiting, I hopped on Google Maps again to cluster places that were close together. This helped cut down on unnecessary walking- since we’d already be walking around so much.
Step Three: Getting Around
On this trip, we were arriving by airplane and weren’t going to rent a car. Honestly, you don’t need a car in Washington, DC. It’s so easy to get around using the Metro or on foot. In my experience, it’s actually easier to use the Metro or walk than it is to deal with finding parking in many places in DC.
I did lots of research on the DC Metro, since it’s been about a decade since my last trip to Washington, DC. There are several different options for paying your fares.
Originally, I planned on purchasing a 3 day Unlimited Pass and a 1 Day Unlimited Pass to cover all 4 days. Kids 5 and up need a Metro pass, which meant the boys would ride for free.
All of this went out the window, however when I purchased our passes. The great thing about the DC Metro is that each of them is manned by employees that are happy to help you get the most bang for your buck. There is Metro station within the airport, so as soon as we got off the plane, we headed to the Metro to catch a ride to the hotel.
As I approached the machine to get our passes, an employee offered to help. He asked me what our plan was, and I told him I was going to buy us the unlimited passes. He explained to me that this was a waste of money and suggested I load some money onto a card instead and reload it as needed. We got 2 cards, loaded $20 on each and it was plenty for us to get around all weekend- even with us using the Metro several times a day.
1-, 3-, and 7-Day Unlimited Pass
- Pass is activated the first time SmarTrip is tapped at a fare gate or bus farebox
- Pass expires at the end of the last consecutive operating day
- No time restrictions
- Cost of passes: 1 Day $13, 3 Day $28, 7 Day $58
Pre-Loaded Card
Another option is to get a Metro card, put some money on it and reload it as necessary.
The cost to ride the Metro is based on service, ride length, day, and time you ride.
- Peak Fare: $2.25 – $6.00
- Off-Peak Fare: $2 – $3.85
- Weekend Metro one-way fare: $2 flat fee
- Late Night Flat Fee (M-F after 9:30): $2
How to Purchase SmarTrip Pass
- Mobile: SmarTrip app + SmarTrip in Apple Wallet and Google Pay – Learn more
- Online: Purchase new cards in the SmarTrip store or add fare to your registered card by logging in to your account
- Rail Stations: Fare Vending Machines located in Metrorail stations
- Retail Outlets: Commuter stores and retail outlets
Finalizing our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary
Once we figured out our lodging, our transportation, what we wanted to see, and the logistics, it was time to finalize our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary. I’m kind of old school so I wrote it all down on paper, but I also typed it in as a note on my phone so I could refer to it. Going into the trip, I knew that the 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary would have to be fluid because there was a good chance we wouldn’t be able to see and do everything I wanted to.
Several places in DC required timed ticket reservations, so I planned those for 10 and 4 each day to give us ample time in between reservations to do other things.
Day One
The Plan
- Lincoln Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- MLK Monument
- WWII Memorial
- Washington Monument
- Constitution Garden
- Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial
We arrived at DC in the early afternoon, checked in to our hotel, stowed away our luggage and headed to the National Mall. The concierge suggested that we walk, rather than take the Metro. I should have stuck to my gut and taken the Metro because we totally got lost and walked about 2.5 miles out of the way. My wife was hot, irritable, and tired from a long day of travel so, our afternoon didn’t go as planned. Rather than doing the monuments and memorials, we ducked into a museum instead.
The National American History Museum was a great introduction to our nation’s capital. It’s filled with relics from American history and American culture. We were able to give the kids some insight on some of the places we’d be visiting while in town.
What We Actually Did
- Washington Monument
- Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Day Two
The Plan
- Lafayette Park/Hamilton Statue at the Department of Treasury
- White House Tour
- National Museum of Natural History
- Library of Congress
- US Botanical Garden* Time Pending
What We Actually Did
- White House Visitor’s Center
- Benjamin Franklin Statue
- Lafayette Park/Hamilton Statue
- President’s Park
- White House Tour
- National Museum of Natural History
- Library of Congress
We woke up early and had breakfast at our hotel before hopping on the Metro over to The White House. We made a pitstop in the White House Visitor’s Center, which I’m so glad we did. It gave an insight as to what life is like inside the White House. It was a super impressive exhibit and well worth a visit!
While we waited for our 10 AM tour of the White House to start, we saw the Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton statues and walked to the park to see the southside of the White House. It was a nice way to kill time before our tour began.
The White House tour was remarkable. It was so cool being able to step inside the White House and see all of the relics from our nation’s history. It’s something everyone should do at least once.
Pro-Tip: The best views of the White House are from the South Lawn. Take 15th Street, pass the US Treasury Building, walk along E Street to the back of the White House.
Next, we took the Metro to the National Museum of Natural History, where we had lunch and then spent a couple of hours exploring the collections. It’s very different visiting the museum with kids, it was fun to see it through their eyes. We spent a lot of time checking out the dinosaur fossils in the Bone Hall and the Hall of Fossils. We also spent quite a bit of time gazing at the gems and space rocks.
In the past, I’ve concentrated more on the gems and the Egyptian artifacts, so it was interesting to see how that changed when visiting with kids.
Lastly, we had 4:00 reservations to see the Library of Congress– the World’ Largest Library! Ashley is a huge reader, so I wanted to include something should we enjoy. My goodness, the library is stunning! Dare I say it was even more ornate than the White House? We visited the Young Readers Center, perused the special exhibits and even got to check out Thomas Jefferson’s personal library collection. Next time, I’d love to get into the Reading Room!
Day Three
The Plan
- Ford’s Theater
- National Portrait Gallery
- National Air and Space Museum
What We Actually Did
We started our morning off with a tour of Ford’s Theater. Our pass covered the Ford’s Theater Museum, the theater itself, The Petersen House, and the Aftermath Exhibits. We spent probably two hours learning all about the life and death of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. Part of the presentation was a lengthy (probably 45 minutes to an hour) Park Ranger talk.
Needless to say, it was emotionally exhausting and kind of boring of the kids. While we were at lunch at the nearby Hard Rock, we discussed changing up our original plan to visit the National Portrait Gallery. When we got off the Metro, we saw the National Children’s Museum and decided that would be a better fit for the kids after a heavy morning. This turned out to be one of the best things we did the entire trip!
The National Children’s Museum is a STEAM inspired play space where kids can learn about the world around them through hands on activities. They had an absolute blast playing in the super futuristic play space! They also got to race cars down ramps, express themselves artistically, combine science and sports, and build with massive blocks. They enjoyed this much more than they would have enjoyed the National Portrait Gallery. It gave them a chance to get some energy out and decompress from such an emotionally exhausting morning retracing Abraham Lincoln’s last steps.
The weekend that we visited was the grand re-opening of the National Air and Space Museum. We had a timed entry ticket for 4:00. Even with only 40% of the museum open, it was still incredibly massive and impressive. There were lots of hands-on elements to the exhibit that allowed the kids to fully immerse themselves in the experience. Our middle kiddo is super into space so this was right up his alley!
We got to see the Wright Brother’s glider, go inside an airplane, see space rovers, antique sports cars, and much more. It will be interesting to see the remaining exhibits once the museum is completely opened.
Lastly, we headed to Chinatown to meet some friends for dinner. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, rather than take the Metro, so we could see the monuments lit up at night.
Day Four
The Plan
- Lincoln Memorial
- Fly out of DC
Our plan for day four was to get up and go to the Lincoln Memorial, since we missed it on day one. The plan was to eat breakfast, hop on the Metro to see it, head back to the hotel, get our stuff, get back on the Metro and head to the airport. While it was totally feasible time wise, since we had a 2 o’clock flight, we opted to stay at the hotel instead.
Even though we used the Metro a majority of the time, we still managed to walk about 25 miles. Adding on the Lincoln Memorial would add on about another 1.5 miles of walking to our day. We stayed at the hotel until check out time, 11:00, and took the Metro one last time to the airport.
Our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary- Condensed
Day One
- Arrival
- National Mall
- National Museum of American History
Day Two
- White House Visitor’s Center
- Benjamin Franklin Statue
- Lafayette Park/Hamilton Statue
- President’s Park
- White House Tour
- National Museum of Natural History
- Library of Congress
Day Three
Day Four
- National Mall/Lincoln Memorial
- Depart DC
Reflecting on our 4 Day Washington DC Itinerary
While we didn’t get to see everything we planned on seeing, we got to see and experience so much during our time in the nation’s capital. I’m extremely glad we decided to swap out the National Portrait Gallery for the National Children’s Museum. It ended up being the kids favorite memory of the trip!
I’m glad our itinerary was loose and not concrete. The last-minute changes we made to our itinerary were great additions! The White House Visitor’s Center, the National Museum of American History and National Children’s Museum were not on our original itinerary, yet they ended up being some of the most memorable places!
Had we not gotten lost on the first day, we would have been able to see the Lincoln Memorial and several other monuments and memorials during the National Mall. Although it’s disappointing we didn’t get to see those, we did make it to the National Museum of American History, which was probably more enjoyable for the kids, anyway. We’ll catch the monuments and memorials when they are a little older.
All in all, it was a great trip. Despite having spend nearly 25 days exploring the city, there is still so much I’d love to see. Looks like we’ll have to make a return trip when the kids are older!
FAQ About DC
Is 4 Days Washington, DC enough?
Honestly, Washington, DC has a ton to offer. When planning a trip to DC, you want at least 3 full days…and even then, you won’t be able to see everything you want to.
Our itinerary takes into account our young kids- we could have squeezed in more sites, but wanted to be mindful of their limitations.
What is the cheapest month to visit Washington, DC?
February is the most affordable month to visit Washington, DC. At this time the hotel rates drop down and the crowds tend to die down. Be sure to pack lots of layers though, it tends to be cold during this month!
What months are the worst time to visit DC?
DC is absolutely insane in the summers, and it’s also ridiculously hot. The general rule of thumb is to avoid DC during early spring through the end of summer.
It also gets busy during Presidential Inaugurations and the holidays.
Do you need a car in DC?
I’ve experienced DC both with a car and without. Honestly, it’s much easier to forget the rental car and just use the Metro. That way, you don’t have to deal with finding parking. The Metro is very user-friendly.
What part of Washington, DC should I stay in?
The best areas to stay in Washington DC are Downtown DC/National Mall, Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Penn Quarter, Foggy Bottom, Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, and Woodley Park. These areas are popular for tourists, include lots of attractions and amenities, and are serviced by the Metro.
If you’re looking for a more affordable option, consider staying just outside of DC in Alexandria or Arlington. The Metro services both towns.
Save a Pin and Start Planning Your Adventure
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If you’re planning a trip to Washington, DC, be sure to check out Guide to the National mall and our list of 15 Must See Places in Washington, DC. You can also learn how to visit the White House.
