Washington, DC Day Trip
Address for where we parked:
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Garage entrance is at 14th street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Ave.
Cost: $20-25 depending on how long you stay
Last fall we took the girls on a day trip to DC to see some of the monuments. Even though we live so close to DC, We don’t get there very often! City driving stresses me out and if I have to parallel park, I’m not going 🤷🏻♀️🤣 If you’re at all like me, this is what worked for us for a relatively simple and low-stress day downtown with 3 under 3!
We did this trip on a warm, sunny day at the end of September. The drive to DC is about 30 minutes for us and we got there right around 9:00. We parked in the Ronald Reagan building – they asked for my ID at the entrance and did a quick check of my car.
We wanted to focus this visit on the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. There is so much to see downtown so with little kids its best to pick a few things you really want to do and stick to those. From the parking garage, we started walking south on 14th street towards the Washington Monument. Once we got there the girls loved running around in circles around the monument.
Then we walked down to the WWII Memorial, which was a surprise favorite for us. There were several signs saying it was ok to sit with your feet in the fountain, but wading was not allowed. The girls LOVED sitting with their feet in the water and watching the fountain. They probably could have stayed there all day!
From there we walked along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial. It was a gorgeous day and almost no one was there! It was amazing (and really unusual) to be able to let them just run along and not worry about running into anyone else. Definitely not used to seeing DC so empty – we were very lucky!
From the Lincoln Memorial we started our walk back towards the car. We headed back on the other side of the reflection pool and walked towards Constitution Gardens. The walk around Constitution Gardens pond was beautiful and led us back to the Washington Monument grounds, where we weren’t far from our garage.
All in all we spent about 4 hours here. We brought lunch and had a picnic by the reflecting pool. It was a perfect day and I was surprised how much the girls were into it. I think it was a nice change of scenery for them from our usual playground or hiking trail.
🚽 Bathrooms 🚽: We used the public bathrooms near Constitution gardens, and bathrooms in the Ronald Reagan Building where we parked. Bathrooms are also currently open at the Lincoln memorial.
👩👧👦Solo w/ kids?👩👧👦: No – not if you’re outnumbered. I definitely wanted help getting kids across the street, etc. I had both my parents with me.
🛒 Stroller friendly?🛒: yes
🦠Covid-safe🦠: plenty of room to spread out and everyone was masked (but this was in the fall!)
🅿️Parking🅿️: Ronald Reagan Garage – $25 for a day trip
Maryland Kid Adventures 