Washington, D.C. recently topped The New York Times list of 52 Places to Go in 2020 and having spent five days in our nation's capital recently, we couldn't agree more with this #1 ranking. The museums, the monuments, the food, the people, and the ease of getting around makes D.C. an awesomely family-friendly city to visit.
BUT if you're heading there with smaller children, like toddlers, we have one tip that will save your sanity: a private SUV tour of the monuments.
This might sound like a fancy service for fancy people, but it's actually quite common in D.C. to have a guided tour of the monuments. Except with a private SUV tour you'll be doing it in the comfort of a souped-up ride with an expert guide who can give you the history of the monuments, share the lowdown on current museum exhibits, advise on where to eat, and take your family photos too.
For our visit, and with kids ages 8, 7, and 2, we opted for a half-day tour with PRIVATE D.C. TOURS. Our guide/driver, Gondal, picked us up from our hotel and then whisked us away in his black Chevrolet Suburban for a four-hour tour of the city. He drove us to the major monuments where we were able to get out, explore and take pictures but he also drove us by some famous spots (like Ford's Theater) and through Georgetown (with a stop at Georgetown Cupcake) along with a visit to the fairly new Air Force Memorial which is anchored by a striking sculpture and offers incredible views of the city and the Pentagon.
Gondal also told us about the less-visited Theodore Roosevelt memorial on Roosevelt Island off the Potomac River, which we visited on our own the next day and was an absolute highlight of our trip. (More on that to come!)
All in all, we got out and visited the following during our four hours: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial, and Georgetown Cupcake. For places that we drove by, like the Capitol building, government buildings and museums, Gondal had two iPads (one in the front and one in the back) that explained what we were seeing and some fun facts about them too. Gondal himself is an expert in D.C. life and history so if you've got any questions, he can answer them!
We did our D.C. tour on the first full day in the city and we'd recommend doing it that way as it helps you knock out a big part of your To See list right away.
For a half-day tour with Private DC Tours, which can squire up to 7 people, it's $325 plus a 3% processing fee. To us, that was so worth it. It enabled us to see more in less time with hardly any hassle. Except when our toddler spilled some hot chocolate in the car. Fortunately, I had wipes on me and most of it went on his jacket and that Gondal was totally cool about it. (I think.)
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