Day or night?

I will be in DC for the first time in 2 weeks%26#39; time with my husband. I am planning my itinerary, and am not sure if I should spend one day a the National mall, or take the moonlight tour, or do both? If I spend the day there, and take the moonlight tour, would I be repeating the same views? Any ideas would be very much appreciated. We are coming from Singapore, after 26 hours flight so we want to make full use of our time there!

I also plan to go to Alexandria, Dupont Circle, Potomac Mills and Georgetown. Am I being too ambitious? We only have 3 full days there!

Is it safe to roam around and take the metro at night? We are staying at Days Inn, which is supposed to be near Van Nesse-UDC.

Thanks so much for your help!

Day or night?

The moonlight tour will focus mainly on views of the monuments, while a day at the Mall would be spend usually visiting the museums or government buildings. So it%26#39;s really a matter of personal preference, you won%26#39;t be seeing the inside of any museums on the moonlight tour.

I%26#39;d say that%26#39;s a pretty ambitious itinerary for a 3 day visit. Personally I wouldn%26#39;t spend time at Potomac Mills if I only had 3 days. I%26#39;m gathering that you don%26#39;t have a car? Getting to and from Potomac Mills will eat up a a full day of your schedule.

Day or night?

-With the tours as stated before, you don%26#39;t go into any of the museums. During the day, you have all of the choices for museums and they are all pretty much in walking distance from each other. I would do the mall and the moonlight tour in ONE Day. And then use the other 2 days for whatever else you wanted to do.

-DON%26#39;T WAIST YOUR TIME AT POTOMAC MILLS! I go here frequently only for one store and maybe a few others. But they aren%26#39;t great anymore and the time and money you save on shopping there will be spent on getting there. It%26#39;s not metro accessible. Eventhough there are shuttle buses (park and rides) that take you near there, it isn%26#39;t worth it.

-Georgetown is good. Really not much to do, mainly just seeing the streets, and do a little upscale shopping.

-Dupont Circle is mainly for dining and a little shopping. Not much to do there or to see. The Phillips Collection is there and is nice. It isn%26#39;t one of the free museums by the Smithsonia. It%26#39;s about $10.00 p/p

-Alexandria doesn%26#39;t have much to see and do. You could go to Mt. Vernon (George Washington%26#39; s Home). It%26#39;s always nice to see. It%26#39;s not ';Metro'; accessible. You would have to get on a bus that will take you there.

-Metro is very safe and you can roam around at night without a problem. Just use common sense. No walking around with money in hand or just the obvious things that would make someone want to target you. The area where you will be staying is mainly residential not many tourist in that area. Van Ness is on the Red Line which you would take all the way to Metro Center then get on the Orange/Blue line to Smithsonian Station for the Museums. Also, the moonlight tours I believe depart from Union Station which is on the Red Line.

Noosnoos:

There is so much to see on and near the National Mall, depending on your interests. Do you want to visit the museums or just see the monuments? The museums are free, so that makes it easy (and guilt-free) to just pop in and make a quick visit, but there is so much to see. There%26#39;s the National Gallery, the Museum of Natural History, the Air and Space Museum, the National Archives, the Holocaust Museum, just to name a few. Then there are all the monuments and memorials. If you do wish to go in the many museums, then I%26#39;d say do that during the day and do the monuments by moonlight tour.

I also say skip Potomac Mills. It%26#39;s far and really not worth a day trip. There are definitely things to see in Alexandria, depending on your interests. There are many historic homes there, the Torpedo Factory (for local arts and crafts) and a few good restaurants. Same with Georgetown. There are a some lovely places to visit, including Dumbarton Oaks. Of course, you have such a short time, you will really need to narrow down what you want to see and do according to your personal tastes and interests.

Metro is safe and easy to use, day or night.

Good luck wiht your planning and have a fun trip!

Thank you all so much for your help! I think i will spend the whole day at the Mall, visiting Capitol Hill and the museums, and go for the moonlight tour.

I planned for Potomac Mills because I had wanted to visit one of the factory outlets that%26#39;s so famous. Is there any other outlet you would recommend?

Thanks again!

noosnoos,

Don%26#39;t worry about missing Potomac Mills. It%26#39;s really no different from any mall with all the stores having a sale. It really isn%26#39;t that much of a bargain, especially considering how far you have to go to get there. In my opinion, it%26#39;s a waste of time. I get better bargains at a store called Marshall%26#39;s.

Don%26#39;t know which outlet you were talking about. But the only one in Potomac Mills that find worth the drive is Nordstrom Rack and maybe Off 5th Avenue (Saks Fifth Avenue). You do find some excellent bargains.

Try going to:

-TJ Maxx: several locations in the area. A few are metro accessible.

-Marshals: several in the area can%26#39;t think of any that are metro accessible might be some.

-Ross: several in the area.

-Stein Mart: Friendship Heights Location (Red Line metro station)

-Filene%26#39;s Basement (just across the street from Stein Mart) and another location on Connecticut Avenue on the Red Line Faragut North.

There%26#39;s a Marshall%26#39;s in Pentagon City and a Ross%26#39;s in Old Towne Alexandria on So. Washington st. and I think a Stein Mart up on Connecticut Ave.

Great. I will check these places out and choose one. Will try to post my trip report after I am back.

Thank you all!