Guided Tour or Self Tour?

I am staying at the Madison with my wife and have been debating if I should just pick out a few of my ';must see'; stops and do them by myself or should I book a tour. I like to take my time so I am always a little weary of tours. What do you guys think. I also was wondering if the walk from The Madison to the Mall area is safe at night and how long of walk is it?

Thank you.

Guided Tour or Self Tour?

I think it depends on how long you are going to be in town. For example, if you just have 2 days, I would recommend a tour or using The Tourmobile or Old Town Trolley. I%26#39;ve found that when I%26#39;m in a new city for that short a duration, a guided tour is good in that you see all the highlights. If I%26#39;m in town longer than that, then I%26#39;ll explore on my own and at my own pace. Yes--walking from the Madison to the Mall is a safe walk at night. As for distance--if you go down 15th St., you will come across the White House in 5 blocks and the Mall is about another 3 or so blocks south.

Guided Tour or Self Tour?

-Well it%26#39;s paying vs. no paying

-Also, if you like to take your time, the tours generally are about 1.5 hours or so.

-Good thing about the tours, they go almost everywhere and even places you wouldn%26#39;t have known about.

-Bad thing about tours, they don%26#39;t go into the museums, just mainly the monuments. But you can get tour guide and some buses that will take you all over town for a whole day for a ';SMALL'; fee.

Yes it is walking distance, a nice ';little walk';. A little further depending on what part of the mall you are going to.

Thanks Folks, I am going to be in town for 5 days. I am really excited because I have never been. I am a graduate in History and should have done this years ago but never got the opportunity. The money isnt the issue it is the time constraints that I worry about with the tours. Is there any night tours of Washington? I have been thinking that I might be leaning on taking a tour of Washington at night. Have you done this and I assume it is amazing.

Look into the ';monuments by moonlight'; tour. Go to--http://www.historictours.com/washington/--for more info.

A recent thread with more info for you :-)

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28970-i40-k747195鈥?/a>

If you think you might like a more specialized kind of guided tour, take a look at the variety to be found at Washington Walks%26#39; and Cutlural Tourism DC%26#39;s web sites:

http://www.washingtonwalks.com

culturaltourismdc.org/information2546/inform鈥?/a>

The Tours %26amp; Trails page at Cultural Tourism DC also includes a number of links to self-guided itineraries; the ';Insider%26#39;s Insights'; one of the Dupont/Kalorama neighborhood is especially good.