Frugal trip to DC

PrincessPerky · #1 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 07:03 AM

Since I will be paying off the CC next month I get to start saving for Washington DC. YIPEEE!!!!

but, I need help! I need to get a hotel and find cheap restaurants, and figure out admission and what to do, and and and!!!! Oh I need to figure out when we are going! Best guess is fall sometime after school starts (we homeschool, love the flexibility!) I know that is far away, but I want to know how much to save up for the trip. NO CC use at all for it!

flash · #2 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 08:33 AM

Definitely head here in the off season. Day after Labor Day, things quiet down.

National Zoo is FREE, except for parking, and it is open access so you can carry in food, drinks, come and go as you please. Not great fun in the humidity of July, but September/October is really nice.

If you want to be here for the trees changing color (yes, the entire east coast is pretty much woods), late October is usually nice.

Do you know what you want to focus on, i.e. historic sites, theme parks, site seeing, hiking, road trips? Outlets? Other places on the East Coast?

(My sister visits here 4 times a year, always does the tourist things too, so have lots of experience in the frugal traveler.)

Lori63 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 09:08 AM

Fall is good. We usually go in April, but this year we went in June. TOO HOT.
We stay at an Embassy Suites in Tyson's Corner. Free drinks and snacks in the evening, great free breakfast. Hubby and I just load up on snacks and breakfast-spend very little on meals except for the kids. Take the shuttle bus to the metro.
Alot of the museums are free. We had to wait to get into Ford's Theatre, but that's it.

CRFSaver · #4 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 09:31 AM

And right up the street from the Embassy Suites is the Capital One headquarters. You can take a tour... :P

THere is also a Courtyard Marriott right in Tysons as well. Also dont rule out Arlington as its right next to DC and has great Metro Access. I used to live in Balston and there was a Holiday Inn and a Hilton right close to the Balston Metro.

What my sister does for my parents and I used to do in Northern California, is in our respective apartment complexes they used to have corporate suites you could rent out quite inexpensive compared to hotels. I used to have a 2 bedroom apartment for my parents at 69 bucks a night and my sister would get a one bedroom or studio for 99 bucks a night, a lot cheaper then the 140-300 a night in a downtown Chicago hotel.

You could always go to a hockey game. When I left DC it was easy to get first level seats from scalpers for as low as 50 bucks a person cause no one watched hockey there. Check craigslist as you can probably find cheap tickets there (200 level nationals tickets for 35 bucks a piece for example).

jeffcovey · #5 (**permalink**) 01-31-2006, 09:58 AM

one way to save is by not bothering to bring a car; driving in d.c. is insane,
and parking impossible. take amtrak to union station, and you can get
around fine on the metro (subway).

flash · #6 (**permalink**) 01-31-2006, 10:13 AM

This is the AAA DC lodging page for non-members:

http://acsc.americantours.com/tripse...bf0e13167d2 b

Compare rates, availability, amenities, etc.

Their recommended supersaver hotel has children under 17 stay free, so it might be a better deal than it sounds

Their recommended tour/travel package

Not recommending any of these myself, but a place to start