I'm going to tell you what it's like to visit Washington, DC during February.
Hello!
Welcome to Trip Hacks DC, my name is Rob.
I'm a tour guide here in the nation's capital.
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This video is part of my month-by-month series, where I tell you what it's like to visit Washington,
DC each month of the year.
Including information like weather, special events, things to do and other month-specific
information.
If you have visited DC during February before, leave a comment on this video and let everyone
know whether you thought it was a good month to visit.
Otherwise, let's get started...
In my experience as a tour guide, I can tell you that February is definitely, by far, the
slowest, deadest month of the year, which you can totally use to your advantage if you
want to see DC with a fraction of the crowds that you would get the rest of the year.
Washington, DC has four seasons, and February is that part of winter where everybody is
sick of the cold and ready for spring to come.
It's actually the second coldest month of the year, with average daily highs of 47 degrees
and average daily lows of 27 degrees.
So on an average February day it will be comfortably above freezing, but remember, this is an average,
which means it could very well be warmer or colder when you visit.
To pack for February I recommend a coat.
This is the one that I wear.
And a hat, kind of like this one.
Gloves are a good idea too.
I like these simple gloves that you can just stuff into your pocket when you don't need
them.
As far as footwear, you can bring boots, if you like to wear boots, or if the forecast
is calling for a lot of snow.
Just remember that I always recommend a comfortable pair of walking shoes and boots don't always
fit the bill.
When you visit DC you are probably going to be doing a lot more walking then you do back
home.
There is one government holiday during February, President's Day which can be a great time
for a weekend trip if you have the day off work or your kids have the day off school.
And even though it seems like the kind of holiday we might do something for in DC, it's
really just a bonus day where people get an extra day off.
Although I suppose if you wanted to celebrate the presidents there are plenty of presidential
memorials and historic sites that you can check out.
Valentine's Day is not a government holiday but a popular one nonetheless.
This may be a controversial opinion, but if you come to DC on Valentine's Day, I recommend
skipping the fancy restaurants.
On Valentine's Day most of them switch over to a fixed price menu that can often be more
expensive than the regular menu and the food is often cooked in bulk.
If you do want to celebrate a nice Valentine's meal you can go the day before or the day
after and order off of the regular menu.
Even though February is t he month when I give the fewest number of tours it's actually
not a bad month to be outdoors.
You can do a tour of the monuments on the National Mall or go ice skating at one of
the rinks around town.
Most visitors prefer the ice skating rink on the National Mall, but there also rinks
in Georgetown, the Navy Yard and the Wharf.
Speaking of the Wharf, this is actually a pretty cool place to be during the winter
months.
There are big open fire pits where you can stop and cook smores over the open flame.
There are also coffee and dessert places where you can stop for a hot beverage and a sugar
break.
February is, on average, the second snowiest month of the year.
I'm not going to go in depth into snow in this video, but if you are curious about what
happens in DC when it snows I have an entire video on that topic.
So look for a link in the video description.
Even though outdoor activities are perfectly plausible, a lot of people are just sick of
winter at this point and really focused on indoor activities.
A few great indoor things you can do include, touring the Capitol, the Library of Congress
and the U.S. Botanic Gardens.
February is also African American History Month.
And I highly recommend checking out the website www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov to see
all of the special events spanning the Smithsonian, the National Archives, and other institutions.
You can also see a play at the Kennedy Center or an NBA game or a NHL game.
Or if you're feeling a little more adventurous check out one of the shows at the smaller
theaters around town.
For last minute tickets, a little hack is that you can use the website Goldstar and
it might even save you a little money.
And that's it!
Thank you for watching this video, if you found it helpful you can subscribe to this
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Enjoy your trip!