Washington DC tips needed

We went to DC in Aug. of 2017. We stayed in Alexandria, VA at a Fairfield Inn (I can get the address if you are interested). It was less than a mile to the metro station. They provided a shuttle or you could walk, we did both. The metro was about a 15 minute ride to DC. They also provided shuttle service to Old Town in Alexandria which is a very cool shopping/dining district. The hotel had a great breakfast and the rooms were really big, lots of space for us. There are a lot of hotels in and around DC, I found in my research that if you stay in DC you will be charged to park your car (up to $40 per night) but if you stay in MD or VA close to a metro station, the hotel costs come down quite a bit and the metro system is really easy to use.

Once you have found a place to stay I have found that one of the best ways to see all the sites is to ride one of the double decker hop on hop off tour buses. They make the rounds of all the monuments. You hop off to see the monument, spend as much time as you want and when you are ready to move to the next site you just catch the next tour bus that comes by. Great way to spend the day seeing all the sites.

Once you are there, suggest you go through the American Indian Smithsonian museum. It was less crowded and understated vs. the others, but my family really like it - particularly an exhibit that has video tribal stories. The food court is also very different (and good!)

Another great place to visit is the Renwick Museum, near the White House. It is pretty small and always has very interesting, if somewhat offbeat, exhibits. In terms of places to stay, they are abundant and we've always been able to find deals on Expedia, TripAdvisor or any of the booking sites. As long as you're close to the Metro, you can pretty easily get anywhere in town except for Georgetown (which is reached by bus).