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Me and a friend are currently planning a trip to the US. Or rather I am planning it he's just telling me what he wants out of the trip and I try to make it work. What I've got so far is a 2 week trip in Feb. and we're gonna spend atleast one of those weeks in New York.
The problem is that my friend is a huge hockey fan and since he's russian born he really wants to see the Capitals play, and they're plaing the penguins during feb which is perfect. I'm trying to make it work and as it looks now we're gonna spend a week in DC aswell.
Thing is I'm sure we can spend a week in NYC without running out of things to do/see but what about DC? Is there stuff to do as a tourist for one week in DC, and could you reccomend some nice things? Or is it just a boring politician town that you dont need to spend more then 2-3 days in?
edit:
Oh and I forgot to mention: we're VERY flexible when it comes to what we want to see. Just reccommend us stuff and we'll have a look at it
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Smithsonian Museums, the Memorials... are the only two main things that pop to mine at the moment, sorry :/
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Imo a week is pushing it. I'd say you could get 3-4 days of good tourism. After a bit it's gunna get old, but ofc it all depends on both your personalities.
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I was in DC for 3 days, there was plenty more I could've done.
A week? Depends how much you like museums. 4-5 days at most IMO.
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There's a ton of stuff to do in DC, provided you're interested in American history 
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DC can be nice if you know where to go. I live around 30 minutes outside the city. There's good food in Chinatown, which is 2 blocks down from the Verizon center (where the Capitals play). There are the national memorials and monuments and stuff which are nice, and the Smithsonian museums can be quite interesting as well. There is also the Spy Museum which I found fascinating, and the Newseum, which is all about the history of the media. Also, be sure to check out the Georgetown area of DC for cool architecture and cool places to do some shopping and get good food.
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I like the woodley park zoo, been there many times before ... you can take the metro there.
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There are innumerable museums. Enough historic, art, and miscellaneous exhibits to take well over a week to fully digest. There are as many famous buildings and locations to photograph and visit as NYC has to offer - building architecture isn't as tall as NYC but makes up for height in rotunda and columns. Famous documents, statues, blah blah blah.
If you're looking for good local food, head uptown to Columbia Heights and get some soul food or something greasy. Chinatown (near the Mall) is relatively small (compared to other northeastern Chinatowns).
tbh, I don't think a week in NYC is well spent either (there isn't that much to do in NYC unless you count Broadway shows and esoteric music/politics)- maybe 1 week split between the two would make more sense.
For what it's worth, there are cheap bus lines that run between DC, NYC, and Boston for only a few bucks.
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On July 18 2010 09:41 mmp wrote:
For what it's worth, there are cheap bus lines that run between DC, NYC, and Boston for only a few bucks.
Oh really? that's fucking awesome because I've always wanted to visit Boston aswell. Maybe a few days in NYC, a few in Boston and ending the trip in DC
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I've lived in DC for over a year now, you could easily spend 4 days just in the mall looking at the close monuments and museums. The notable memorials that everyone sees and are all close to each other are:
Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, WW2, Korean, Vietnam. White house is relatively close as well, but boring as you can only really see it from the front lawn, but its only a 10min walk from the washington.
Museums of note:
Air and Space ofc, natural history, art (there are numerous art museumsand galleries, any of the smithsonian ones are free, most people do the big building which i think is just called 'art' and then the newer ones are the modern art) Archives is cool, too.
Dont think you can blow throw a museum in an hour, ive easily spent 3hrs per floor in some of these, they are pretty fucking epic. Use and abuse the metro rail system, no one drives in downtown DC really. I always get off at La Enfant place metro station and walk the rest of the way.
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What the above guy said is pretty true. I live about 45 minutes out of DC and frequently visit. There are innumerable museums (history, art, science, etc) and they're free admission which is sweet. You can take a visit to the old post office pavilion (it's on any of those "Visit these locations!" maps you'll find) for a bunch of food and overpriced electronics (mostly i just grab a gyro from the greek place). If you've got an interest in history, art, and science you can EASILY spend more than a week just visiting museums.
I'm pretty sure each time I get off at L'Enfant plaza as well (from suitland, green line i think) and it's pretty central to all of the museums in DC. Take a visit to the various war memorials as well if you're interested, they're definitely a worthwhile experience.
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On July 18 2010 09:52 LumberJack wrote:
Museums of note:
Air and Space ofc, natural history, art (there are numerous art museumsand galleries, any of the smithsonian ones are free, most people do the big building which i think is just called 'art' and then the newer ones are the modern art) Archives is cool, too.
Dont think you can blow throw a museum in an hour, ive easily spent 3hrs per floor in some of these, they are pretty fucking epic. Use and abuse the metro rail system, no one drives in downtown DC really. I always get off at La Enfant place metro station and walk the rest of the way.
Heed this man's advice. Take the train into DC. Don't drive. (assuming you're coming from NYC) there are a ton of park an ride metro stops in Maryland...driving around here is a NIGHTMARE. Plus the roads are shitty quality and bumpy and obnoxious as hell. Rofl. Walking is good exercise! You'll get anywhere in DC faster by walking/train than driving anyways.
Little addition/change to the bit about the Smithsonian, the museum of art is the main exhibit, and all of the newer museums around it are different "themes". Natural History, Native American, Modern, Agriculture, etc. etc. I'm sure it's all listed on their web page. The Holocaust Museum is pretty cool, they've got a pretty slick section on WW2 Propaganda in there. One of my favorites to visit.
Send me a PM if you want any more info on the DC area. I live about 20 minutes outside of DC. 
Also, in return for DC advice, when my GF and I come to visit Sweden, I expect you to give me info on places to see in your country!
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There's a lot of touristy stuff to do in DC, national mall, all the museums, etc. its pretty chill i guess
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DO NOT DRIVE!!!!
I don't know where you're staying in the area, but metro/taxi's are gonna be better for navigating around the city. I live just outside of DC and driving around here is nightmarish.
As for stuff to do... well of course there's all the national museums and monuments and stuff. Winter + zoo doesn't mix well as far as I know. Georgetown has some nice stuff if you wanna hang around there.
I strongly suggest also visiting Old Town Alexandria. It's a cool place and there's lots of little shops and great food.
In DC check out the 930 club for live music - it's probably the most well known music venue in the city.
I won't be around, but there's lots of TLers from the area so maybe you can even get them to take you somewhere if you ask politely =P
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If you're in DC on a Saturday night, lately there's been weekly Teamliquid korean buffet meet-ups. Not going to predict the future in determining whether they'll still be around by February, but just something to watch out for.
As for things to do in DC (i live here, derp)- Museums, Monuments and Smithsonians as mentioned before, and they're usually all free. I personally can't be bothered with that stuff for a whole week, but there's' also Six Flags not far away and.. I dont know, medival times if you're in to that stuff, which I guess is something I also can't be bothered with but oh well!
Oh, and the capitals as you said.
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As a note I think Caps games are pretty full usually. So if you don't want to get screwed by scalpers get them ahead of time .
Personally I think the American History and Air and Space museums are the best. I think around the beginning of 2011 the American History museum is having a coin op exhibit based around the history of various arcade machines! So that'll probably interest you fellas.
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come to the dc lan dinners for the tl nerds
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16982 Posts
Unless you really happen to care for colonial American history, Boston probably won't do it for you.
Good seafood, though.
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i go to american university (yeah that's the name) so i sorta know my way around dc.
it's pretty much what everyone said about museums. if you guys are actually interested in looking through the museums thoroughly and enjoy that kind of stuff, going through the museums could take a week lol. there is a LOT of stuff to go through. if you guys just wanna walk around and take a quick glance at stuff and then head on, you could probably do it in 1 or 2 days. other than that, it's looking at the different monuments (REALLY boring for me).
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16982 Posts
On July 18 2010 11:54 ieatkids5 wrote:
i go to american university (yeah that's the name) so i sorta know my way around dc.
it's pretty much what everyone said about museums. if you guys are actually interested in looking through the museums thoroughly and enjoy that kind of stuff, going through the museums could take a week lol. there is a LOT of stuff to go through. if you guys just wanna walk around and take a quick glance at stuff and then head on, you could probably do it in 1 or 2 days. other than that, it's looking at the different monuments (REALLY boring for me).
I really like the sciency museums (Natural History, Air and Space, etc.). So I'd definitely recommend those if you're into museums.
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EPT
