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I'll be attending a conference this year at the National Harbor area. I plan on doing the tourist thing for about 4 days before or after the conference. I wanted advice on hotels. Would it be better to stay at the same hotel in National Harbor area and take the bus shuttle to downtown daily for sightseeing? It looks like it is $20 round trip for the shuttle. Should take 1 hour into downtown and 30 min back from the website information. Or should I switch hotels to stay in one downtown, then just walk around during the days I am sightseeing? I haven't been to DC before, so will be doing the traditional tourist thing. Looing at monuments and Smithsonian museums. Will take the metro to Arlington cemetery. Does anyone think the zoo or National Arboretum is worth it? I know it is a distance to these. I love nature, trees, animals, science, and history. Thanks
I would say stay in DC (or nearby Arlington) for four days if you can price-wise. The zoo and arboretum are worth it but there is a host of things to do to occupy your time as well.
It can be costly, but staying in DC would be easier for doing the tourist thing. And if you are in downtown DC you can take metro to the zoo. It's within a couple of blocks. You can take metro pretty much to all the museums. The Arboretum is not close to the metro. And I don't know if there is a shuttle bus offered or not. Also keep in mind you might be in traffic back and forth on that shuttle to National Harbor. Also there are nice restaurants at the Harbor, but all the really good shopping is in DC downtown, Georgetown and Conneticut Avenue.
Try Priceline for a cheap hotel in DC. My last two trips to DC (inc. last week) have been booked through Priceline's Name Your Own Price feature (Express Deals are great too) and I paid $73 and $75/night respectively and ended up (both times, coincidentally) at the Liaison at Capitol Hill (4 star between the Capitol and Union Station). DC's not cheap, but unlike cities like San Francisco, Boston, and New York, it seems hotels aren't too hard to get a good deal on if you know where to look.
I'd agree with the others. Skip National Harbor. Until it's better connected via transit, it's kind of a challenge if you want to see DC (and not drive/ pay to park).
Hotels in DC and Arlington are usually pretty good deals on weekends, as long as you miss the peak tourist season from March-July.
The Arboretum is okay, but things there are pretty spread out and geared more towards trees/shrubs than flowers. I think you'd get more out of the forests and historic sites along Rock Creek (behind the zoo), the Potomac River (including Great Falls), or the C&O Canal, which you can explore on foot, bike, boat, or even by car.
Switch hotels. National Harbor isn't very convenient for sightseeing. If you don't have luck getting a good price for a hotel through Priceline or Hotwire, there are good priced hotels closer to the city in Arlington at Pentagon City or Crystal City, and most of them have airport shuttles too.
The OP is talking about the days that they will NOT be at the conference. OP will be on location for the business portion of the trip.
There is no "day he will NOT be at the conference". The day he is not at the conference, he needs to find out where all the players are at, and mingle. The company isn't his personal ATM machine, where he is paid to go sightseeing. That specific job he has doesn't separate from weekend from weekdays, and that's probably why the company gave him an expense account.
If you want to flake off, I guess that's fine too. But the day off the conference is where you make all the connection anyway, so leave the sightseeing to your personal vacation and go get to work!
My humble opinion.
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