Six hours possibly in Washington D.C.&NYC

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Gingee

OBS Chief
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If our train runs on time next summer we will have six hours in Washington D.C. I know the capitol is within walking distance but is anything else?

Another leg of our trip we would have four hours in NYC. We have taken the train there but I can't remember if the train station is close to anything good in NYC.
 
Gingee said:
If our train runs on time next summer we will have six hours in Washington D.C. I know the capitol is within walking distance but is anything else?

Another leg of our trip we would have four hours in NYC. We have taken the train there but I can't remember if the train station is close to anything good in NYC.
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You can walk pretty far in six hours from Union Station. It is also a Metro stop. And there is the Circulator Bus. There is loads you can do in six hours. Depends on you interests. I will toss out Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art. But lot's more.

Penn Station is in Midtown Manhatten. Plenty you could do there walking. Macy's, Empire State building, Time Square. Also two subway lines.
 
I would like to not rely on public transportation if I can help it.
 
If you're not going to rely on public transportation, what are you doing on Amtrak :)

Seriously. I'd probably suggest leaving Union Station (I'd use a cab or metro) walk as far along the National Mall as possible and then meander back.

If you take the Metro, go to Metro Center (if you don't want to change trains) or Smithsonian and you have more time to check out the museums.

Be forewarned that honestly any of the museums can be a full day experience.
 
The National Postal Museum is nextto Union Stationand worth a visit, if you don't want to walk the 5 blocks to the Mall or the Capitol Bldf.
 
I have done a lot in a 6 hour layover in DC. The United States Botanical Garden is probably one of the less-crowded venues and it is really interesting. It is just on the southwest side of the Capitol, about a 15 minute walk. The Library of Congress and Supreme Court are both in the same general area.

I will also have a layover from the Meteor to the LSL in New York in October. I have never been to NYC so I would second the request for things to do there during that 4-hour layover.
 
During my layovers between the Capitol Limited and the Silver Meteor, I usually go for a walk. I generally walk along the mall then head over to the White House and then meander back to Union Station. If it is either too hot or too cold, I take a shorter walk and find a pub. I have walked over to the Supreme Court a couple of times and witnessed some interesting protests. There is always something to see when walking around DC. :)

As much as I like walking in DC, I like walking in NYC even more.
 
SteveSTX said:
I have done a lot in a 6 hour layover in DC. The United States Botanical Garden is probably one of the less-crowded venues and it is really interesting. It is just on the southwest side of the Capitol, about a 15 minute walk. The Library of Congress and Supreme Court are both in the same general area.

I will also have a layover from the Meteor to the LSL in New York in October. I have never been to NYC so I would second the request for things to do there during that 4-hour layover.
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Yes, the Botanical Gardens are very nice and quiet. The tours of the Library of Congress are also excellent. The American Indian Museum, Postal Museum and the National Gallery are always on our list and not a super long walk.

In New York, if you do not want to ride subways (which seemed very safe during the daytime), its a walk down 34th St to Macys, over to the Empire State Building, and then back along 31st Street past some nice architecture and a talk with the firemen stationed at Station #1. Just watching people on the streets of NY is a novelty for we Midwestern hillbillies. :p
 
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While on a six hour layover in NYC on a trip a few years ago, I walked over to Grand Central Terminal and had lunch. It is about a twelve block walk from Penn Central.
 
We also have about 5 hours in DC in November. Are their tours or hop on/off type busses that we could take? It would be nice to have some type of narrated tour that can take us around the major sights in a few hours.
 
gabbygrrl said:
We also have about 5 hours in DC in November. Are their tours or hop on/off type busses that we could take? It would be nice to have some type of narrated tour that can take us around the major sights in a few hours.
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Yes, there are hop on hop off or you can stay on. They sell tickets inside Union Station.
 
gabbygrrl said:
We also have about 5 hours in DC in November. Are their tours or hop on/off type busses that we could take? It would be nice to have some type of narrated tour that can take us around the major sights in a few hours.
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There are several hop on/hop off bus tours in DC -- you can buy tickets and start your tours at Union Station. They tend to run about $40-50 per day, but if you have never been to DC before and have your heart set on seeing the monuments, Arlington National Cemetery, etc., they would be the way to go. Otherwise, as a DC resident, my favorite places to take visitors, (other than Union Station itself) are the Library of Congress Jefferson Building, or the National Gallery of Art for the Impressionist art, the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere, and the gelato in the cafe.

Both the Air and Space Museum and the Indian Museum are a reasonable distance from Union Station, if either subject area appeals to you. If you are going to be here between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the National Botanical Garden Conservatory (near the U.S. Capitol) is a must for the holiday model train display and miniature buildings and monuments made of botanical materials.

The American History and the Natural History museums are both great, but they are a bit of a schlep from Union Station, and each will take you at least a day to get through. Maybe plan for a longer layover sometime in the future and give those the attention they deserve.
 
I agree in Washington the National Gallery of Art is fabulous and walkable. Even closer is the National Portrait Gallery which shares the building with the Museum of American Art. Both very entertaining! You go out the front door of Union Station and go right on F St. past the postal museum, past the National Building (the huge old brick bldg), past the Verizon Center and you're there - about 5 blocks.

3

In NYC the Hi-Line Park is close to Penn Station. It's the linear park on the old elevated railway that runs from 14th St to 34th St. more or less. There's lots of people to see and no traffic.
 
In Washington, you are able to rent a bike outside the station and bike the entire mall area and all the monuments. I did it as a rush and did it in about 2-3 hours.

The smithsonians are good. The US bureua of engraving, library of congress, and the national archives are good. Also, the Holocast museum is one of the best and most emotional museums I have ever been too which I very highly recomend The best part of these is they are all free but do get crowded in peak times.

Newseum is OK but it costs money.

There is alot of things to do in Washington and the city has good/easy to navigate public transportation and very walkable from that point.
 
I was going to suggest a one day Metro pass but I see you do not wish to use public transit. You might look into a "hop on, hop off bus. We spent 5 days in DC earlier this month and did that 2 days along with a Metro SmartTrip card for the week. The subway got us fr our hotel to many places including the bus. Don't rule out Metro because it's "public". Frequent service.
 
The hop on hop off busses are crazy expensive. Use the Circulator for a buck instead.

Bikeshare is also awesome if you're into that thing. Single $8 daily membership, first 30 minutes of each ride is free (and since there are docks everywhere, you just dock and grab a new bike every 25 minutes and you're golden).

Or, you can walk up the hill, check out the Supreme Court, LoC and Capitol.
 
All good suggestions on what to see and do during a layover in WAS.

I want to suggest that you go to the Lincoln Monument @ the end of the Mall, climb the steps, visit the Giant Statue of one of our Greatest Leaders and then look down the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument and the Capitol. What a historic and awe inspiring place!

Then walk down the Mall and visit the Vietnam Memorial, and afterwards walk to the Elipse close by and take a look @ the White House across the South Lawn thru the Fence.

All Free and not to be missed experiences!
 
Ryan said:
The hop on hop off busses are crazy expensive. Use the Circulator for a buck instead.

Bikeshare is also awesome if you're into that thing. Single $8 daily membership, first 30 minutes of each ride is free (and since there are docks everywhere, you just dock and grab a new bike every 25 minutes and you're golden).

Or, you can walk up the hill, check out the Supreme Court, LoC and Capitol.
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Hop on hop off expensive? Compared to public transit and other options, yes.

Crazy expensive? We paid $118 for two people for two days...$29.50 per person per day (and got 118 AGR points ;) ).

While hop on, hop off may not be a good idea for a (less than) six hour visit, it worked well for our visit. It was a good alternative/supplement to our use of the subway. No need to figure out which bus line connects to which and where. With my wife 5 months post hip replacement, it was a good transportation method considering her mobility situation. Even with subway, the bus and a couple of taxis, my pedometer recorded an average of 6 miles of walking per day average for the five full days.
 
I don't know how far away The Newseum is from Union Station, but it was one of my favorite places to visit. It's a paid admission museum, but it is worth a visit.
 
Thanks for all the good ideas. It has been about eighteen years since we were there and our kids were with us. We stayed in Alexandria and took some train in town. So are the monuments far to walk to? Reason I don't want to depend on the public transportation is in case we miss it or something like that (coming back). Don't want to miss our train:)
 
The public transportation comes frequently enough that "missing it" isn't an issue. Circulator busses are every 10 minutes. Metro trains are single digit headways for the most part.

It's about 2 miles to the Washington monument, which is the closest. The circulator bus will take you right there.

Everything you seek is right here: http://nationalmall.dccirculator.com
 
Newsuem is fairly close the Union Station. Really cool place.

Personally I think 6 hours would be rushing the Holocaust Museum and that's one that in my humble opinion you really shouldn't rush. (We didn't finish it the first day and felt like we were missing closure so went back the 2nd day.)

And no, I wouldn't worry about missing public transportation. Especially if you do something like I suggested above and take it out to a stop and then walk your way back stopping at stuff along the way.
 
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