3 Reasons Washington DC was my cheapest short break ever!

This summer, I found myself looking for somewhere on the East Coast that had lots to do, but wouldn't break the bank. Washington DC certainly didn't disappoint. So here's 3 reasons I loved Washington DC!

1. Free Museums

Washington DC is definitely not short of free things to do. During my recent visit I loved all the museums, especially the fact they were free! My personal favourites were the National Air and Space Museum, where you can view Neil Armstrong's original spacesuit, as well as the Wright Brothers' plane and a fantastic learning centre on how planes work. I also loved seeing movie props in the Museum of American Culture. And there's so many others! DC has a museum for everything, from buttons to spies! Most of them are really well set up with interactive exhibits suitable for people of all ages! The museums aren't just great because they're free, they also have air conditioning! A feature which was very welcome in August when it was 36 degrees Celsius outside with over 80% humidity.

2. Free Transport

Most points of interest are within reasonable walking distance of each other, and Ubers are regular and inexpensive for short distances, but Washington DC also has a fantastic free public transport service called the Circulator. These buses cover most of the main tourist areas as well as some of the further off regions. Even if you want to get somewhere not directly on one bus, it's fairly easy to switch routes at Union Station. You can see a map of these routes here. There are also many other public buses that are very cheap to buy tickets for. Flying into the city's airport can be relatively pricey. We chose to fly into Baltimore (BWI) airport instead, the airport is about an hour from the city centre, however regular trains connect the two and tickets be purchased from Union Station starting at $8.

3. Hostels

Until recently I'd never really made the most of the hosteling system. But after staying in a hostel in Washington DC, I can see there appeal to students and backpackers who want somewhere cheap, but central to stay. We stayed at the Hosteling International (HI) Hostel located very centrally in the city. The hostel was very well priced and included breakfast. We were in a 10 bed room, but our beds were located around a corner, so there was some privacy. There were lockers for valuables, so if you ever stay in a hostel be sure to have a padlock on you! If you forget one you can always buy one from reception. It wasn't just the cheap room prices and breakfast that was attractive about the hostel, there were also many opportunities to get to meet local volunteers with insider knowledge on the area including good places to visit, things to do and places to eat. Our hostel had lots of free tours available every day that you could sign up for in reception. These were a great way to not only find out about the area but also meet new people.

On top of this there are countless options for cheap food and drink, fast food, snacks and free water stations located around the city. Of course many of the monuments, statues and memorials are free to visit and it's pretty easy to walk through the national mall and view the different memorials. Be sure to take a walk through the sculpture garden, the fountain is an excellent place to cool off! We lay on the benches surrounding it for ages, and soon found ourselves dropping off after a busy day of heat and walking! And that's not the only fountain that's pretty, the World War II memorial is stunning, especially by night fall! In general, all the monuments are incredible in the dark, so be sure to check them out!

The one problem we did have, was that it was (unsurprisingly really) very difficult to get close to the White House. Security is tight and when we were visiting in August 2019, they were rebuilding the fence surrounding the grounds meaning it was surrounded by large walls and visitors couldn't get closer than about 10 meters away. There is however an extremely good visitors centre where you can see pictures and 3D imaging of some inside areas, as well as take a picture with a large replica photo. Not quite the same, but one of the best visitor's centres I've seen in a while. I'm told it is possible to get inside the white house, but only through prior arrangement with your national embassy.

Washington DC is really just somewhere you should visit at some point in your lifetime. There are so many incredible things to see and places to visit you could definitely spends weeks there and still not have seen and done everything!

Ready to book your own trip to Washington DC? Drop me a message and experience this amazing city for yourself!