Independence Day is one of the best days to spend in the nation's capital. In this video
I'm gonna give you my top five tips for enjoying your time here on the Fourth.
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 anything. And if you're interested in having me personally show you around when you come, head on over
to my website TripHacksDC.com
afterwards, to see the tours that I offer. As the capital of the United States you will find no shortage of fun and
patriotic things to do here on
Independence Day. If you live here or been to Washington DC on the Fourth leave a comment on this video and
let me know what your favorite activity is. Otherwise, let's get started...
1. Stay downtown
This is a tip
that's good any time of the year, but it's especially so on Independence Day. Most of the patriotic activities
I'm going to talk about in this video happen right downtown and you're going to have the best
experience with them if you're staying within close walking distance. There are a lot of road closures on the Fourth,
the Circulator bus and other bus routes on the National Mall don't operate and generally speaking
it's just a lot harder to get around than on your average day.
And if you've watched my Washington DC weather video you'll know that July is the hottest month of the year and it can feel a
oppressively hot and humid here on some days.
You will have a much better experience if you could take a few hours during the middle of the day,
walk back to your hotel room, sit around in the air conditioning, and just relax and recharge for a few hours
before heading back out for your evening
activities. If you're staying too far away from the city this isn't really a viable option. So after this is over make sure to click
over and watch my video on how to get an awesome deal on a DC hotel
so you can take advantage of this hack. A lot of people just assume
they can't afford to stay downtown because there are so many tourists coming in for the holiday, right?
But the other thing is that because it's a holiday
there's very little business travel happening, and you might be surprised at just how great of a rate you can actually get.
2. Watch the fireworks from the National Mall
I cringe a little bit every time I hear people telling visitors not to go down to the National Mall on the 4th of July
It's too crowded, they say.
It's too hard to find a spot to sit, they say
You have to get there ridiculously early, they say.
Now there's some truth to this. Of course it's going to be crowded. It's Independence Day in Washington DC
and it would be silly to think otherwise,
but I really don't think this should deter you from going down to the National Mall for the fireworks.
It's important to know that a large section of the National Mall actually gets fenced off
and you can only enter it through a limited number of security checkpoints.
That means that if you want to sit at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument or the Jefferson Memorial
you have to figure out in advance how you're going to get inside. My personal favorite is somewhere between the Washington Monument and the Capitol
and in between the museums. The view is solid. This is a picture that I took from about 3rd St a few years ago
just in case you don't believe me. And in my experience
you don't have to show up ridiculously early if you want to sit on this part of the National Mall, an hour or two should be
more than sufficient.
3. Avoid the Metro after the fireworks.
This is another reason why it's so critical to pick a hotel downtown. After the fireworks Metro is absolutely miserable.
I've actually had people tell me in the past that they leave the fireworks show
early just so that they can beat the Metro rush, which sounds terrible to me
I mean the grand finale is the best part!
Most hotels downtown will be within easy walking distance of the National Mall
so afterwards you can just pick up and walk back to your room. But if you do have to get on Metro
just wait around for a little bit and let the crowds thin out
before you start heading back. If you're not traveling with kids you can head north of the National Mall up 7th St or you can
head east up past the capitol and check out some of our bars, and grab a drink before you head back.
4. Attend the dress rehearsal for A Capital Fourth
If you've ever watched the Independence Day fireworks on PBS
you've probably also seen the concert that they show before and during the show. This is a really popular event so you do have to
arrive pretty early if you want to get a good view.
What I actually recommend doing is instead of going to the show on Independence
Day, go to the full dress rehearsal that they usually have on July 3rd.
It's the same show, minus the fireworks of course, and with a lot smaller crowds
so you don't have to arrive nearly as early and you'll still have a lot of fun seeing the show. The dress rehearsal usually isn't widely
advertised so make sure you're following Trip Hacks DC on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
as I'll post details about these events as they come up. Links to my social media handles are in the video description.
5. Do some patriotic daytime activities.
One of the most unique things that you can do an Independence Day in DC
is to see a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence
from the steps of the National Archives. The
Archives is where the original version of the Declaration is kept, you might know it if you've seen National Treasure with Nicolas Cage. Right after that
the National Independence Day Parade begins. The Parade route is about a mile down Constitution Avenue just to the north of the National Mall.
It's obviously very patriotic with floats, marching bands,
military units, and of course a ton of red white and blue. My
personal favorite thing to do is to go to see the Nationals play on Independence Day.
What's more American than seeing the national pastime in the Nation's Capital? And historically it's started bright and early at 11:00 a.m.
Which means that if you do go to the game
you still have plenty of time in the afternoon for other fun patriotic activities before the fireworks start.
This is only a small flavor. There are many many things to do on Independence Day in DC,
so make sure you're following Trip Hacks DC on social media so you can keep up with everything.
And that's it!
Thank you for watching this video, if you found it helpful
you can subscribe to the 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 have me show you around when you get here
go ahead and click on the Capitol dome which is popping up on the left side of my head, that will take you over to
My website TripHacksDC.com where you can see the tours that I offer.
Enjoy your trip!