Family travel to Washington DC

OK, the elections are over now and we can all quit bashing the nation’s capital as a cesspool of do-nothings.  Simply put, the Washington, D.C. area is chock-a-block with neat stuff to do if you travel there with kids.

To get started, there are a pile of good links put together on the Frommer’s guide to DC.

Recently, I have been impressed with a relatively new blog called The DC Traveler, written by Jon Rochetti.  There are many good ideas throughout his blog, but here are the specifically family-friendly posts. 

This is a marvelous place to visit, with plenty of efficient transportation options and many hotels with cheap rates, especially on weekends when they need to fill rooms and the government/business travelers are gone.  As long as you can hop a Metro subway or bus from your hotel, you can skip the car.

Thanks for your blog, Jon!

Update 22 December 2006:  Budget Travel Online has a list of great DC hotel deals tied to an upcoming 6-month festival celebrating Shakespeare.  There are also links for side trip ideas, like Virginia’s Northern Neck and the Shenandoah Valley.

Update 28 December 2006: A very nice New York Times overview of what Washington offers during the holiday season, including the National Christmas Tree (and fewer crowds.) 

Update 9 March 2007:  Looks like CNN Travel is predicting some amazing cherry blossom viewing this spring.

Update 5 April 2007:  Here are some great ideas from Smarter Travel about taking kids on their first visit to DC.

Technorati tags:  travel, family travel, Washington DC