Washington DC is an amazing travel destination for kids and families! The city features historical attractions, parks, playgrounds, and world class museums. We recently spent three days exploring Washington DC with our three daughters and had a great time! We are sharing our 3-day itinerary for “Washington DC with Kids”. I hope it helps to inspire your own Washington DC with kids vacation!

What is there for kids to do in Washington DC?

If your family is planning to travel to Washington DC, this blog will give you several ideas of family-friendly things to do in DC as you plan your trip. We found that there are many options of things to do in Washington DC with kids. If the process of planning a trip with kids feels overwhelming, start here!

Day 1 – National Children’s Museum

We left NYC early in the morning and made the 4 hour drive to Washington DC. Our first stop was the National Children’s Museum. It features three floors of exhibits and play areas for kids. It even includes a “dream machine” that spans all three floors with climbers and slides. After a long car ride, this was a great place for the girls to stretch their legs and explore. They played here for hours!

After dinner we checked into our hotel, The Graham Georgetown. It is a boutique hotel located in the heart of the Georgetown neighborhood in Washington DC. It is within walking distance to shops and restaurants. We enjoyed eating dinner at Falafel Inc and then grabbed cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcakes. Both were a short walk from our hotel!

Day 2 – The Mall, Smithsonian Museums

The next morning, we hit the ground running. We grabbed breakfast at Baked and Wired, which was located directly across the street from our hotel, and then started our DC scooter/walking adventure.

For this trip, we packed our stroller, scooters, and helmets. Our lightweight foldable scooters get the girls to and from school each day. They are an important and dependable travel companion!

We scootered/walked along the Canal in Georgetown and past the Potomac River to The Mall. There are sidewalks along the entire route. This path offered beautiful views of the river, and then the city and monuments started to unfold. Along the way, I enjoyed throwing in a few history lessons!

Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial Then we walked past the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the World War 2 memorial, and the Washington Monument. Our girls enjoyed taking photos at each location. Each girl has their own digital camera that they bring along to document trips from their point of view. Our oldest daughter has the cat camera, our middle daughter has the sloth camera, and our youngest daughter has the bear camera. They enjoyed taking photos and showing one another!

We also visited the National Museum of American History. It’s one of several Smithsonian Museums that doesn’t require advanced ticketing. We visited a new exhibit called “Girlhood” and toured “The First Ladies” exhibit. This museum is expansive and you could easily spend hours exploring.

After exploring the museum, we grabbed lunch from food trucks on The Mall and then walked to the National Museum of the American Indian. It has an expansive play area for kids and several floors of exhibit spaces. Timed tickets to the interactive exhibits are available at the admission desk. It also offers a beautiful view of the US Capital building.

After exploring Smithsonian Museums, we visited the National Archives and scootered past the White House before navigating back to our hotel. It was beautiful to walk past the monuments at twilight. The girls also enjoyed seeing their scooter wheels light up!

Day 3 – The National Zoo

We checked out of our hotel in the morning and enjoyed breakfast at Ted’s Bulletin. The restaurant is famous for “Ted’s Tarts” (homemade pop tarts!) and the “Cinnamon Roll As Big As Ya Head”. This was the perfect place to stop and fill our bellies before spending the day at the National Zoo.

The National Zoo opens at 8am and tickets are free. It is world famous for the Panda exhibit. Our girls enjoyed watching the pandas play, wrestle, and do somersaults down the hill!

How long should I spend in Washington DC with kids?

We spent a total of 48 hours in Washington DC, and had an amazing time! The scooters were definitely the unsung hero of the trip. They helped the girls navigate the city sidewalks and we were able to see so many of the sites! But like most cities, there is still so much that we didn’t see. If you’re wondering what is a good age to take kids to Washington DC, our girls were 2, 5, and 7 during this weekend adventure. We could come back to Washington DC dozens of time and see completely different things each time!

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