***Disclaimer: We paid for all of our travel expenses out of our own pocket. Any mention of companies or their likeness is purely out of recognition and please know that we did not receive anything free for our recommendations.***
First things first, we have a plain and simple rule when we travel and we really try not to break that rule. That is that we don't eat at any places we could eat at home. That usually means no McDonald's, Chic-Fil-A, or anything else like that but I will divulge that I consumed Chipotle on the first night of this trip because walking around downtown DC with every restaurant having a 2+hour wait time will make you crave the comforts of home haha!
I also feel that it is appropriate to divulge that we do not mind using Uber, public transportation, or just our plain old two feet to get around while we're in a new city so if you cannot handle that, this blog post is not for you!
When we were planning my 30th birthday trip, I was clueless at what exactly I wanted to do. it ultimately ended up being Stuart's idea of Washington, DC as our destination. It was a place that I had been begging to go for years and it was just enough sight-seeing for our 4 days in the city.
We happened to be driving by our local Amtrak station one night (that happens to be 5 minutes from our house!) and we both had the realization that we should take the Amtrak as a part of this once in a lifetime adventure!
Amtrak Travel: approximately $350.00
When traveling Amtrak, you have a ton of choice but our most logical option within our time frame (which was less than a month before our trip 😬) was the reserved coach seats which gave us 2 seats together in a train car similar to an airplane. But the big differences were that we had so much leg room! (similar to the exit row of an airplane) and that we could move about the train cars any time we wanted! This is especially helpful because loading the train car at 5:00am meant that my coffee that I consumed while loading the car hit me about an hour outside of Camden! haha!
The biggest seller of train travel for us was that we could carry so much more than we could when traveling by air! We were allowed up to 4 checked bags, 2 carry on bags, and 2 personal items/bags. Now, our local Amtrak station does not allow checked bags so we didn't even explore that route but not having to worry about the weight of my carry on luggage was a game changer!
The biggest downside fo train travel was not something that we really experienced but just a few days before we left, it definitely made the news! An Amtrak train stuck for 36 hours! 😩 My dad actually texted me that article the day before we left and honestly, that was all I could think about the entire ride! But in our favor, this trip was uneventful and we made it in the recommended trip time! I will caution you that if you have a tight schedule, Amtrak is not for you. Anything can happen along the way and deter the trip.
We arrived in Washington, DC around 2:45pm and at Union Station, you can find all of the eating and shopping facilities that you need! for me, I had been craving a Shake Shack Burger so that is what we had as soon as we got off the train!
Shack Shack: approximately $20.00
After I got my fill of Shake Shack, we headed for the Metro, which is right outside the Union Station in DC. We always opt for the unlimited ride passes on metro systems in larger cities so we paid $60 per person for a 7 day unlimited pass (we normally gift our cards to hotel personnel before we leave so we feel that it is not a waste.)
Metro passes: $120 for the whole trip
We didn't know it at the time but we realized that our hotel had a shuttle from the Pentagon City Mall to our hotel almost around the clock every day so we tried to time our Metro trips with those shuttle times when we could. We ended up having to book an Uber twice while we were there so we will add those into our travel for the sake of cost.
2 Uber trips: approximately $18.50 (includes fare plus tip)
We were pleasantly surprised to realize that most of the attractions in Washington, DC are free! All of the Smithsonian museums are free admission and so are the National Archives, Library of Congress, US Capitol, and the White House. The US Capitol can be booked in a group tour but we adamantly advise that you book through your local congressman's office. This is also how you would book a visit through the White House and even if you can't get into the White House at first, be patient! We found out the day before we left that we got into a last minute spot on a White House tour on our last day in the city and it is completely worth it!
As far as the monuments go, you can visit them whenever you'd like. We walked to most of them from the National Mall and didn't feel like the crowds were overwhelming.
Arlington National Cemetery has two highlights that we absolutely recommend visiting. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the graves of John F. Kennedy and his Family. We found that waiting until the last hour of the day (around 4:00pm as they close at 5:00pm) is the perfect amount of time to walk to both of these sites without much distraction and the crowds are almost non-existent.
During the days, we packed light with Stuart only carrying his wallet and phone, and me only carrying a small clutch with a phone, wallet, and chapstick (because the weather was FRIGID!) This made going through security relatively easy but still be prepared to strip all of your outer layers going through security!
When it comes to breaking down a food budget, we kinda played both sides of the fence. We packed snacks for the train ride and waited until we got into the city to have a full meal. Although Amtrak has a full cafe car that has sandwiches and snacks readily available from 6am-11pm on most trains. (We did partake in their coffee about halfway through our trip there! 😉)
While you're in the city, you can spend any amount of money that you'd like on food while you're there. We utilized a free breakfast one morning thanks to our hotel rewards program but then spent money at a real patisserie another morning. Really, you can do whatever you feel! There is even a McDonald's or Starbucks on just about every corner. Even when it comes to lunches and dinners, we ate everything from sit down dinners to food court dinners. You can really make this trip as expensive or as cheap as you'd like. And especially since you can bring more items along on an Amtrak train, we packed our own alcohol in "cruise flasks." 😂 (sorry Mimi!)
We recommend starting to plan this trip no later than 3 months in advance. That is the prime time to book tours to the White House and US Capitol so start there first. Depending on the time of the year, you can hold off on booking travel and hotel like we did. (HAHA we book our train tickets less than a month before we left and our hotel less than 2 weeks before!)
I would recommend spending the most of your budget on souvenirs (after your hotel and travel!) I couldn't leave any of the gift shops without buying something for myself or our niece and nephew!
Stuart and I are always welcome to questions about our travels and how we make them happen! So please feel free to ask us questions and we will help as much as we can!
Train travel:~$475.00 (includes 2 round trip train tickets and 2 unlimited metro passes)
Hotel: ~$350.00
Food: ~$375.00 (includes snacks, meals, etc. for the entire 4 days)
Uber: ~$20.00
Souvenirs: ~$150.00 (I bought a lot of books while we were there!)
Total: ~$1370.00
