Family Adventures at the White House and Washington Monument

Discover the best family adventures in Washington DC with a visit to the White House and the Washington Monument! Join our adventure-loving crew as we conquer Washington DC!

One thing I knew we wanted to do in Washington DC was tour the White House and go to the top of the Washington Monument! Of course these are not something you can just walk up and do.

How to Request a White House Tour

Well before your trip, you have to reach out to your Member of Congress. Requests have to be made no sooner than 3 months before your trip and no less than 21 days before. Tours fill up fast, so submit right at the 3 month mark and have flexibility in your tour date.

The process was pretty simple. Look up your Representative or Senator here. Most have a tour request form where you simply check the boxes of the tours you are interested in. You enter the dates that you are interested in and they submit your information. You will receive an email confirming your request for a White House Tour and providing a link to provide additional information about each individual in your party. You must provide this information by the date listed. Ultimately, you do not receive notification of your actual tour date until right before your date. They say 2-3 weeks, but we received ours closer to 1-1.5 weeks. This means I had to do some last minute scheduling changes for our itinerary (since there is no moving your White House tour after it is scheduled).

Important White House Tour Details

Tour Dates: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Tour Times: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM (you will be assigned a specific tour time)

Requirements: All U.S. citizens ages 18 and older, and foreign nationals of all ages (including children), must present a valid, government-issued photo ID

Prohibited Items: This is a long list, but the highlights include NO bags of any kind (including fanny packs and clutches), cameras with detachable lenses, food, liquids, strollers, and video cameras. So basically leave everything except a form of ID, money and your cell phone in your hotel. There are NO storage facilities available to store your things.

There are also NO restrooms available, so have your kiddos go before you arrive.

Our Family Adventure at the White House

After a delayed flight that was leaving me worried we may miss our tour time, we arrived in DC, quickly dropped our luggage off at the hotel and made our way to the White House. You join a (sometimes) large line outside the White House and head through security screenings. The line moved pretty quickly and was mostly shaded.

Our tour included the east wing and several of the rooms we see on TV and movies. There are Secrete Service in every room and each is a walking encyclopedia of history and facts. So we challenged the girls to ask at least one question in every room. Buttercup struck a conversation with the Secrete Service officer we met outside of the movie theater / china room (by the partitions blocking to the west wing) and complimented the Secrete Service pin on his tie. So he gave both girls a matching pin. I didn’t notice anyone else handing them out, so it was pretty special!

The Secrete Service officers are really open about answering questions and talking about how the first family lives. An interesting facts we learned ...

-Right after the last tour, a crew comes through, removes the ropes/signs, unrolls the carpet, and the rooms are converted back for the family’s use.

-Each president has to purchase his own Presidential china (which costs a ton!).

- The walls of the Green Room and Red Room are covered in fabric, not wallpaper.

- Spider Monkey wants a duplicate of the movie theater.

- Working on the White House tour is a huge honor for the Secret Service (they have to pass a big test).

- The Blue Room was covered in precious stones. There are no modern photos of it or samples remaining.

The White House tour ended up being a highlight of our trip (and well worth the last minute scramble to change up our plans!

How to Get Tickets to Visit the Washington Monument

You can visit the outside of the Washington Monument without a ticket, but to go inside and travel up to the top of the monument for amazing views of DC, you have to have a ticket. You have 2 opportunities to get tickets - online at recreation.gov 30 days prior to your selected date or at the Washington Monument Lodge the day before your selected date.

Tickets are gone in seconds, so you need to be online before 10 am ET on the 30 day mark. Have your account set-up and refresh your browser starting 1-2 minutes before 10. Keep refreshing until the tickets load. Another tip - there is no size minimum for group tickets (and they can be easier to get). Tickets are "free" but there is a $1 "convenience fee". Tickets must be printed or viewable from your recreation.gov account. In person tickets are released at 8:45 am, but the line starts forming much, much earlier. Tickets are scheduled every half hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so have and idea of your desired time and a backup time.

Our Washington Monument Adventure

We arrived early for our tour, and discovered there is very little shade around the monument. It was so hot! When you arrive, the Rangers direct you to sit on a bench labeled with your tour time. This is a line-up for the order you will enter the monument. We rotated who waited on the very sunny bench, while the others sat by the monument in what little shade was available. Moral of our story ... don't be too early!

The doors to get inside are more national security thick than national park service secure. After passing through security, you take the elevator all the way up and take in the amazing views! There are fun facts along the way and a small museum. We learned that the monument is made completely of stone and that it was damaged during a recent earthquake. States and foundations came together to help repair it. Each has a stone on the interior. We also saw the lightning rods that use to attach to the monument. Makes sense, but I never thought about it be strike by lightning before.

Buttercup spoke with the ranger about her wanting to become a NPS Ranger while we were waiting in line for security. So he gave her the special honor of using his key card to unlock the giant monument door when we were exiting.

My Travel Philosophy

Our action-filled itinerary may not work for everyone. When planning, I follow 3 basic rules. First, aim to see everything that sounds important or interesting. There are so many places we want to see in the world, so we do not routinely return to the same place more than once. I try to map out as many of the highlights or the "only available while you are there" activities.

My second traveling rule ... too much "downtime" makes my girls bored and drives me crazy. So we keep moving. We don't have to get to everything, but at least I have something planned to ward off the boredom whines.

My third traveling rule ... you will never please everyone with your planning! Each of us gravitates towards different adventures and activities. I try to balance it all out, but we have worked with the girls to understanding that today's adventure may not be a top priority for one of them, but tomorrows likely will.

The Family Verdict

The White House was a highlight of our trip. Not something you do every time you visit Washington DC, but definitely something you need to do at least once. The girls loved it! The Washington Monument had amazing views, but the lack of shade was hard for everyone. If I could, I would have planned that visit for early morning instead of the afternoon.

Follow along as I explain each leg of our adventures through Washington DC!

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