If you're a first-time visitor to Washington DC. I'm going to tell you about the things that you absolutely shouldn't miss.
HELLO! welcome to Trip Hacks DC. My name is Rob,
I'm a tour guide here in the nation's capital. If you're coming to Washington DC
and you're looking for the best tips, tricks, and hacks for exploring the city, make sure to subscribe to this channel and hit the bell
notification icon so that you don't miss any new videos.
And if you're interested in having me personally show you around when you come, head on over to TripHacksDC.com
afterwards, to see the tours that I offer. If you live in or been to DC before,
leave a comment on this video and let me know what your can't miss sight is. Otherwise,
let's get started... The first thing on the list is the National Mall. The National Mall is actually split into two
distinct sections. Between the Capitol and the Washington Monument are the many Smithsonian museums and
National Gallery of Art. On the other side of the Washington Monument is West Potomac Park,
which most people still colloquially call the National Mall.
That's actually where most of the monuments and memorials are located. Of course you'll absolutely want to come and see the Lincoln Memorial,
stand on the top step and get that postcard view of the city. The Vietnam and Korean War Memorials are very powerful
remembrances from those two wars. And the World War II Memorial
is a big celebration of the Allied victory. The are of course a few other major and lesser-known
monuments and memorials on the National Mall. On my Monuments at Twilight tour we see about ten of them over the course of three hours.
Whether you come on tour with me or see them on your own, the best trip hack that I can give you is to make
sure to see them in the evening or after dark.
They are absolutely beautiful lit up
and it is a very powerful experience. On the museum side of the Mall the most popular museums are the big three: Air and Space,
Natural History and American History.
The African American History and Culture Museum is also very popular and
absolutely worth a visit. Right now you do need a free timed ticket
which you can get every morning on the website,
and I'll leave some information about that in the video description. And hopefully in the future
you won't need a ticket at all. If you're into art, the National Gallery of Art is not a Smithsonian affiliated museum,
but it is a fantastic Art Museum and
completely free. my advice for museums are to see the ones that actually
interest you, rather than the ones that are just the most popular. So if you're not really into space stuff, skip the Air and Space
Museum. If you're a huge art lover,
spend your time in the art
museums! The most important thing to appreciate about the museums on the National Mall is that they are absolutely huge,
and you could spend an entire day in
just one museum if you are really into it. On the other hand, the fact that they are free means that you can leave,
guilt free, if you decide that it's not for you. If you haven't seen them yet, make sure to click over
afterwards and watch the videos I made with my top tips for visiting the museums and
the monuments. I'll leave a link to those in the video description. The next thing on my can't miss list is a tour of the
Capitol. If you're coming to the capital of the United States
then just make sense that you should sign up to tour the Capitol building.
It's a free tour, and it's one that I personally think is particularly good.
You can either book this tour in advance through your Congress member, or the Capitol Visitor Center,
or you can just do a walk up once you're here. However. I do strongly recommend an advance reservation
especially during peak season in the summer.
I have a video about the logistics of how to make this happen,
you can check that out in the video description. On the tour you start with a quick orientation
video, then your tour guide will take you around the building to
places like the Crypt, the National Hall of Statues and the Rotunda. The tour takes about an hour
and it is completely free. After the National Mall and the Capitol
I don't really believe in basing your trip around a list that someone else has developed.
I've learned over the years as a tour guide
that people have different interests and some things that might fascinate one person could easily put another person to sleep. With these videos
my hope is that I can give you a flavor of the many things to see and do here in Washington DC
and then you can develop your own list of can't-miss sights. That said, a few of my personal can't-miss sights
include the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the U.S.
Botanic Gardens. Of course we also have plenty of great places to eat, drink
and shop, if you want to get away from some of the standard tourist sights. In my video about how many days to spend in
DC when you come, I recommend at least a weekend trip for domestic visitors,
and five days or more for international visitors. The worst feeling is leaving from your trip and going home
disappointed because you simply didn't have enough time to do everything that you wanted. And that's it!
Thank you for watching this video. If you found it helpful you can subscribe to this channel by clicking on the Trip Hacks DC logo
which is popping up right now at the bottom of the screen. And if you're coming to DC
and you want to take a tour with me, you can click on the Capitol dome on the left side of my head,
That'll take you over to TripHacksDC.com where you can see the tours that I offer. Enjoy your trip!