2 Days in Washington

Should you spend two days on Washington from New York?

Yes, if the Smithsonian museums, the Capitol or simply seeing the monuments at dusk matter to you. A day trip gives you about five hours in Washington between two long drives. One night turns that into most of two days, and the city stops being a checklist.

There are two good ways to do it. The organised 2-day tour with Philadelphia and Amish Country handles transport, the hotel and the guiding. Amtrak plus a hotel you book yourself gives you Washington alone, at your own pace. The comparison above sets them side by side; this section shows what each looks like on the ground.

The organised 2-day tour

The 2-day tour leaves Midtown Manhattan and covers three places. In Philadelphia you drive along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, then walk through the historic centre to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Elfreth’s Alley, with a stop at the Rocky Steps. In Pennsylvania’s Amish Country there is a buggy ride.

In Washington you see Capitol Hill, the White House and the Lincoln, Korean War and Vietnam memorials, and go inside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, or the Natural History Museum when Air and Space is closed. The White House and the Capitol are seen from outside.

Included are round-trip transport from New York, one night’s hotel in the Washington area with taxes, breakfast, the guiding and the entry fees on the itinerary. Lunch, dinner and tips are extra.

Pricing depends on your room. You choose a single, double, triple or quad room when you book, and the per-person price starts at $340; a single room costs more than a shared one. It is rated 4.4 from 290 reviews and runs in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian or Japanese, depending on the departure. Our full breakdown of the 2-day tour has the details.

It suits first-time visitors who want Philadelphia too and would rather not plan anything. It suits less well if Washington alone is the point, since the time is shared across three places.

Doing it yourself: Amtrak plus a hotel

The train gets you into the middle of the city. Amtrak runs from Penn Station or Moynihan Train Hall to Washington Union Station in about 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours on Acela, or about 3 hours 20 to 3 hours 30 minutes on the Northeast Regional. Fares change daily: advance Regional fares start from around $30 each way, while late-booked Acela tickets can pass $200 each way, so booking early matters. The train guide covers stations, timings and return trains.

Stay near Union Station or the National Mall and you can walk to most of what follows. Hotel prices move with the season and big events, so compare them for your dates.

Day 1: monuments, Arlington and the Mall after dark

Take an early train and leave your bag at the hotel. Walk the National Mall from the Capitol towards the Washington Monument; if you want to go up it, timed tickets are released on recreation.gov 30 days ahead, with a few same-day passes.

Spend the afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials, then cross the river to Arlington National Cemetery. Visitors 16 and over need photo ID, and foreign visitors must show a passport; foreign ID cards are not accepted.

In the evening, join Monuments by Moonlight, a trolley tour of about two and a half hours, $60 per person and rated 4.6 from more than 1,600 reviews. One option departs from Union Station. It stops for about 30 minutes at the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean War memorials and again at the FDR and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials, with the Capitol and the White House floodlit between. The Iwo Jima stop is currently suspended because of a bridge closure, and the World War II Memorial replaces it. See our Monuments by Moonlight breakdown.

Day 2: museums, the Capitol and Georgetown

Start at a Smithsonian museum when it opens. They are free, most open 10 AM to 5:30 PM every day except December 25, and there is a metal detector and bag check at the door.

For the inside of the Capitol, book a free tour at visitthecapitol.gov before you travel; tours run Monday to Saturday and a limited number of same-day passes are available. Leave time for the security screening.

Spend the afternoon in Georgetown for lunch and a walk by the river, then take an evening train back to New York.

Which two-day option fits you

Pick the organised tour if you want Philadelphia and Amish Country as well, travel in a language other than English, or want the hotel and transport sorted. Pick the train and hotel if Washington is the whole point and you want museum time, the Capitol interior and an evening on the Mall on your own schedule.

If one night still feels like too much, a guided day trip covers the main sights in about 15 hours, and the Washington and Philadelphia day trip fits both cities into one long day. Families and groups of four or more may also want to see the private options.

Longer combinations with Niagara Falls

Three-day tours from New York add Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls, Washington DC and Philly 3-day tour is $428 per person with two hotel nights, rated 4.6 from 122 reviews. Philadelphia and Washington share the first day, with a short stop at Independence National Historical Park and time at the White House and the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials, before the tour heads north to Niagara for a night tour of the falls. Some entry fees are extra unless you book the all-inclusive option. It suits travellers who want Niagara more than Washington.

Check dates for the 2-day Washington tour.