Washington DC - travel tips and my impression of the capital

On my trip through the United States with my family, we went for a quick stop in Washington DC. After arriving from New York, I was actually a little bit disappointed with Washington DC as a city. The atmosphere was dramatically different from New York. The impression I got was that the city lacked a kind of pulse, a soul. Now I was only in the city for 1.5 days and moved over a limited area but it was still the first impression I got of the city. But, we were there to see the things that most people think you should see when you are in the capital, and that's what we did. It was not a bad experience at all but I would not say I long to return.

Transfer

You could see the Capitol when you flew in over the city as no buildings can be built higher, which was cool. To then get from the airport into the city, there was a fairly smooth train / subway. We landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport which is connected to the Metrorail (subway - yellow and blue line). It was easy to follow the signs at the airport and then you just had to get off at the station that was closest to the hotel in the city. It was very convenient and tickets were available to buy in vending machines at the entrance to the station at the airport. Metrorail has a trip planner that is easy to use and where you can see the price of the trip. As an example, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Washington On Capitol Hill, and if you put it in the trip planner, you get a trip with the yellow line that costs $ 2.20. You get off at Archives metro station and then walk the last bit. If you want to explore the area around the National mall as we did, it is a good advice to stay on a nearby hotel. Thene there is walking distance to everything you want to see.

Sightseeing

We kept to the area around the large park (The National Mall) that connected the Capitol, the Washington Monument (the obelisk), the WW2 memorial, the Lincoln memorial and the White House. Everything that was on the list of sights. None of these were a WOW experience but it was still something we were happy to have seen for real. Kind of like the White House was much smaller than I imagined but it was interesting to see how well guarded it was with guards on the roof etc. The National Mall and the area around the park were very flat, open and monumental which did not suit my taste. It felt like something was missing. There was walking distance between the various monuments and memorials, however, it felt much longer in the heat. And when we as tourists melted away in the heat, the locals played American football without visible impact from the heat. When it was so hot I recommend getting up early and taking the monument / memorial that is furthest away first and for us it became the Lincoln memorial. Then there are ice cream trucks a bit everywhere in the park where you can test shaved ice, which was very cooling and delisious in the heat.

If you like museums, there are many to choose from. In addition, most are free. Many of the museums are located in the area around the National mall. We visited the National Gallery of Art, the National Air and Space Museum and the Renwick Gallery. Renwick Gallery is an art museum dedicated to contemporary and decorative art. Their exhibition varies but when I was there they showed The Art of Burning Man. It was very interesting as I have never seen anything like it. There were very beautiful works of art inside the museum and I got to learn about a festival I had never heard of before. All these museums were very interesting and also free.

We walked a bit among the buildings next to the park but everything felt quite empty and deserted. We did not immediately see any shops or grocery stores. But a travel tip is really to just walk around and explore the local area because you never know when you will find an original experience or place. Because in the evening we managed to walk past Chinatown and found a movie theater where they was showing the new Mission Impossible - Fallout. So we decided to see it. Going to the cinema in other countries is something I think you should try. The experience is always a little extra in addition to the movie experience. In this salon you sat in large armchairs that you could lean back in to a lying position, which we were very fascinated by. It was also in Washington DC that we tested Chipotle (fast food chain with tacos / burritos) for the first time, which I can recommend as fast food instead of, for example, McDonald's. You have to try something new now and then.

I'm glad I experienced Washington DC and its monuments and memorials, but for me it was enough once, even if it was an original experience in itself.