r/visitingdc

Visiting the Capitol for the first time. What the hell happened here?

There's so many neighborhoods overrun with crime and drugs. There's bums tweaking from meth outside of the white house. There's shootings and stolen cars everyday.

Every. Single. Day.

This is quite possibly the worst place I've ever visited. And the people living in these neighborhoods do not give a single fuck. There's so nice areas but those are far and few in-between.

I can't leave the main strip without feeling like I'm going to get robbed

How did this happen and how do we fix it?

My husband and I will be there tomorrow through Wednesday before heading to Gaylord National for a conference.

Looking for dining and bakery recommendations around the area... and any good thrifting opportunities those areas.

Thank you for your help

hello! im a virginia local visiting d.c. soon. ive been several times but all previous visits were with multiple people well into adulthood. this time, i’m visiting with my fiancé. we are not 21. we’re looking for a hotel for ONE night. preferably under $200. every hotel that says “18+” i have called and they then say 21. i know there has to be SOME exception. if it was winter, i’d car camp. however, it’s summer and thats not an option.

tia!

Hello! We are planning to be in DC as a bit of a side quest on our next camping road trip. After researching the options, it would appear like the best way to get from our campsite in Prince William Forest Park down to the National Mall and Smithsonians would be to drive to and park at the Fraconia-Springfield station and then ride the blue line of the Metro.

Would that be a good plan? I checked the distances to the other stations that are further out and this one is the least miles. However, I would prefer the least scary busy drive to get to whatever station the experts recommend!

We plan to leave maybe around 7am, drive to the Metro station, then ride to wherever would be the closest station to the Jefferson Memorial, where I was planning to start the day. Then we'll do a few monuments for a couple hours, take a look around the Museum of American History for a couple hours, and the Air and Space Museum for maybe an hour or two. (Planning for Udvar-Hazy the next day, as well as the Air Force Museum in Dayton later in the trip, so this stop will just be to visit some planes we have not seen in other air museums, plus the Wrght Brothers gallery.) We will be there on a day when the Botanical Garden is open late with music, so that's how we were thinking of ending the first day. Then we will ride the Metro back to where we parked the car, and then back to our campground.

The next day, we want to visit the National Zoo and Udvar-Hazy…and if there is anything we didn't have time to do the day before, we will do that in between those two. What should my strategy be to get to the zoo? I had been thinking drive there and pay the $30 parking in advance, and then drive to Udvar-Hazy, which has another $15 parking. We will be headed to Catoctin Mountain to camp at Owens Creek Campground that night, so I think we probably want to drive to there…but do we want to drive to the zoo or ride the Metro from the Franconia-Springfield Station again?

Bottom line here would be driving routes with the least amount of crazy traffic. I've driven in Minneapolis, which is pretty easygoing city traffic, and I have driven through Denver in the midday, which is scary, but we lived to tell the tale. We also ended up in rush hour there one time and that was a mess that did not move. I avoid Denver as much as possible…but can't avoid DC if we actually want to visit! So anyway…not used to a lot of city driving, so any suggestions for routes to take and routes to avoid would be super helpful!

And one last question…what would be the best deal for the Metro? There are three of us and two of us have pretty old phones so I am not sure if we are able to do any apps. I saw that there are unlimited passes for one day that are $13.50 per person. For where we are going, would that be the best bang for our buck?

Thank you in advance for any assistance and words of wisdom you're able to provide!

I would love your “must see” recommendations for a first time DC visitor. I have no problem being touristy, but I just can’t fit everything in. I’ll be there 3 full days. Thank you!

I'm staying at the Washington Hilton. Please give me any recommendations you have, mostly in walking distance or 30/45 minute walk or ride share. I like art, coffee shops, small museums, small business boutiques and stores, bookstores, etc.

Hi all!

I 25M am visiting from Colorado. I need to get out of my hotel and go see some sights and enjoy the city. Any recommendations for hidden gems OR just recommendations for places with a good atmosphere?

It’s be nice to be able to go and grab some food, read my book, but also have the opportunity to socialize if that’s what I end up being in the mood for. I’m completely lost out here 😅