Tips for Touring Washington DC during Cherry Blossom Season

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Many tourists visit Washington, DC, during cherry blossom season each year. The beginning of April is a prime time for people to travel to the capital.  Washington’s weather is usually mild, colder in the mornings and warm in the afternoon. The rising temperatures and the fragrant abundance of cherry blossoms bring 1.5 tourists to the nation’s capital during this time. Many of the tourists congregate around the monuments and the Tidal Basin where hundreds of cherry trees show off their fancy new blooms.  After a recent visit, I’d love to share a few tips to make your trip a little easier. 

 

This April, I traveled from Ohio to Washington, DC, during the peak of cherry blossom season. It wasn’t my first trip to see the famed display; however, it was the first time I hadn’t used public transportation during cherry blossom time. I didn’t go to the nation’s capital alone–I traveled with 80 middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8, and eight other chaperones. If you add in our two amazing bus drivers, you’d find that we had a group of 91 people.

Washington, DC, was as beautiful and as impressive as it had been when I’d last visited with the Boy Scouts in 2009, and the blossoms were just as gorgeous as they had been when I’d last seen them with my children in 2003. However, this time was different. We used buses instead of the subway, and traffic was horrendous. Much of the time, we were at a standstill, and at other times, we barely crawled. Our drivers could not find places to park, so they drove continuously while we toured the U.S. Capitol, Ford’s Theatre, and various museums and monuments.

Because of this experience, I decided to share a few tips with you.

Eight Tips for Touring Washington, DC, during Cherry Blossom Season

1. Pack Patience

If you go in knowing that the city will be busy and plan ahead, you will be fine.  Between April and June, thousands of tourists, many of them young students, descend upon Washington, DC, for end of the year extended field trips.  Have a itinerary planned in advance, but be flexible. You may have to change the order that you visit the different sites or even save a few for a later visit.

2. Use Public Transportation

I don’t usually drive in Washington, DC. There’s a perfectly good train that will take you from the outer belt all the way downtown. If you aren’t traveling with a few motorcoaches, using the train/subway will save you a lot of time and money. A one-day ticket is extremely reasonable.  And, to be honest, when we went with the scouts, we camped in Greenbelt, Maryland, and used the train as transportation. It was a wonderful learning experience for boys from rural Ohio.

3. Walk When Possible

When our driver said he’d come back to take us from lunch at the Reagan Building and drive us to the National Archives, we elected to walk the five blocks instead. I’m sure that it was faster than waiting for the buses, loading and counting students, and fighting traffic.

4. Have a Plan, Prioritize, and Be Flexible

I mentioned this before. Have a plan, but know what your priorities are. When we didn’t have time for our White House photo stop or the Korean War,  Lincoln, Vietnam, and World War II memorials the first day, we had to cut an activity from our list. I had been looking forward to visiting Mount Vernon, but to many students, it’s just an old house (sorry, Barb). I could take them home to their parents without pictures of Mount Vernon, but I couldn’t take them back without photos of the White House and the monuments that they’d only seen in textbooks.  We decided to skip Mount Vernon Friday and visit those spots instead before heading to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

5. Visit the Monuments in the Early Morning Hours

Our kids were awesome. On Friday, they had a 5:00 a.m. wake up call with breakfast at 6:00 a.m. We were able to leave the hotel in Manassas by 6:45 a.m. and arrive at the Lincoln Memorial by 8:00 a.m. In two hours, we visited all of the memorials that we hadn’t had time to see the day before plus we trekked all the way to Lafayette Square for a view of the North Lawn of the White House. The best part? None of the monuments were crowded yet. Okay, okay…it may have been a little cold, windy, and dreary out, but the lack of tourists was worth being a little uncomfortable.

If you do choose to do all the memorials at once, I suggest starting at the Jefferson Monument. Next head around the Tidal Basin to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This is my favorite memorial, but be aware that the pools and fountains may not be operating yet if the weather hasn’t been warm enough.  Make sure to stop and take a photo of the Jefferson Monument from the path around the Tidal basin by the FDR memorial.  The Martin Luther King, Jr. monument is next, followed by the Korean War Memorial. It’s only a short walk to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Wall.  End your walking tour with the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Note: Restrooms are available at the Jefferson Memorial, Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and on the path between the Vietnam War Memorial and the World War II Memorial, as well as another near the World War II Memorial. For more information, visit the National Park Service’s National Mall and Memorial Parks site.

6. Make Dinner Reservations

If you stay inside Washington, DC, make sure to make dinner reservations. If you don’t call ahead, you may be in for a long wait or may not be able to find a place that can accommodate your group.

 

7. Order Tickets in Advance

Many of the attractions in Washington, DC, are free.  Some have a nominal cost. However, several of them still require tickets. If you contact your member of congress’s  or senator’s office in advance, his or her staff can often obtain those tickets for you (find your member of congress here).  Elected representatives can reserve tickets for tours of the Library of Congress, the Capitol building, the White House, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. White House tickets are hard to come by, though, so don’t be disappointed if a tour is not available.

8. Be Prepared for Security

I think most of our students were not prepared for bag searches and metal detectors despite my attempts to warn them on the bus. (They may have had their headphones in when I was talking.) When I said to take as little in as necessary, I meant it. Bag checks eat up a lot of time when you have a group of nearly ninety. The kids did get used to the searches and were pros by the end of our visit.

Washington, DC Cherry Blossom Season Conclusion

Washington, DC, is great to visit any time of the year. However, cherry blossom season is so impressive.  Seeing 3000 cherry trees blooming along the Tidal basin and monuments is an unforgettable sight. And the fragrance? It’s out to this world.

If you do get a chance to visit Washington the end of March or the beginning of April when the cherry trees are blooming, don’t hesitate. It’s definitely a sight worth seeing and one that’s worth fighting the crowds. The majestic views do not disappoint.  Just be patient, be prepared, and have a plan.

Have you been to Washington, DC, during cherry blossom season? How was your visit?

Wondering what to take? Learn how to pack like a pro.

 

 

 

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