I am thinking to take my family and drive to washington dc from chicago in the next couple of weeks. Also I am interested to go to NYC from washington. I have never been to these places and hence need your help in planning. I will have at the most a week at my disposal for this trip. do you think that will be sufficient?
Please let me know where should I stay and should I go to NYC first and then DC or vice-versa.
Thanks for your help.
Reply to this Hello sam2012! How about trying an UrbanQuest while in New York or Washington? It'll just take you an hour or two. It's like Amazing Race, you know, solving clues and puzzles to unlock your final answer. You can do your Quest for fun and learn about the city along the way. Or, you can choose to end your Quest at a mystery restaurant, where a reservation has been made for you or your family. What do you think? For more details check out the website at <snip> . You'll surely enjoy it like I did. 😊
[Edited: 2012 Oct 22 09:37 - The Travel Camel:11053 - No dropping links on this thread, thanks.]
Reply to this Sam,
Welcome to Travelblog. Travel is always an adventure.
With a single week, the schedule is really pushing it. You will need to pick one city or the other as a practical matter. Chicago to DC is over 700 miles (and New York is longer) which will require at least two days each way. That leaves only three days to sight see. Both New York and Washington DC require at least as much time to tour as Chicago.
I would pick DC over New York, because DC has more unusual attractions. Kids can see the government in action (or not....) and learn civics first hand. Congress and the Supreme Court both have tours. White House tours are now hard to get thanks to security concerns. The Bureau of Engraving (where money gets printed), the International Spy Museum, and the Smithsonian Museums are hugely popular too. After that, there are numerous memorials and much else.
For where to stay, DC has accomodation ranging from high-priced luxury to flea pits. The best deal is to stay outside the city within walking distance of a Metro stop and take the subway to town. Parking within DC makes Chicago look easy and cheap. On my last trip I did this; I found the hotel through tripadvisor ratings. If price is no object, book a room at a luxury hotel like the Mayflower; inaguaral balls and other important meetings get held here.
[Edited: 2012 Oct 22 09:37 - The Travel Camel:11053 ]
Reply to this Heya, i used to live in Harrisburg Pennsylvania so we used to do heaps of long weekends to NYC or to DC. Both you can easily do 'lots' in a couple of days so you could easily use up your week in either location i think, or both 😊
Perhaps go to DC first as DC has a lot of free stuff and NYC will be where you spend all your money 😊 In NYC i would try and stay somewhere in the main CBD area near the theatre district or rockefella centre. THen you can use the subway to get around or the doubel decker bus to do all the tourist stuff in one go. Or if youre worried about money i think one time we stayed at the HOliday Inn at Hobeken in Jersey then caught the train across to the Word Trade Centre and its only a 10 minute train ride.
I cant quite remember but there is a 'bad' part of DC. I think it is the bottom two quadrants but woudl need someone from there to update you. i remember we used to stay somewhere near the smithsonian zoo in a small apartment hotel that was quite cheap, then catch the subway to the other smithsonian museums. Near the zoo was a great little restaraunt area full of the politicians etc so it had a great vibe. But i do remember a friend saying not to get off the subway or speak to anyone if we did go past the main stop...sorry, wish i could remember.
There is so much to do in both locations from tourist stuff to arty to museums to historic so it should be good for everyone!
Reply to this In response to: Msg #162220
Unfortunately, DC has lots of bad parts. Basically, anywhere in the NE or SE quadrants (the quadrant is included on all city addresses) you need to be pretty cautious. The main tourist areas, thankfully, are safe. This is one of the reasons all the good low-rate hotels are outside the city near Metro stops.
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