Getting to DC monument tour meeting points
None of the six tours here picks you up at your hotel, so every evening on the Mall starts with you finding a street corner downtown. Happily, each meeting point sits a short walk from a Metro station. This guide gives every address with its nearest stop and how early to turn up. After that come parking and bikeshare, along with the walk across the Mall itself.
Six start points near the Metro
The six main tours on this site start within about 2 miles (3.2 km) of one another. Four gather in Penn Quarter and around Judiciary Square, north of the Mall's eastern half. The Segway shop faces the White House, and the sunset walk meets at the far western end near the Lincoln Memorial.
| Tour | Meets at | Nearest Metro | Arrive |
|---|---|---|---|
| See DC Today night van | Outside the 11th Street side entrance of the Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St NW | Metro Center | Before the 7 pm start; the guide texts you that day |
| USA Guided Tours night coach | US Navy Memorial Plaza, 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, by the tall flagpoles | Archives | 15–20 minutes before the 7:30 pm departure |
| Intrepid eCruiser | 450 F St NW, at the roadside | Judiciary Square | 10 minutes early |
| Capital Segway | 818 Connecticut Ave NW, across from the White House | Farragut West or McPherson Square | 30 minutes early for the training |
| Unlimited Biking | 701 D St NW, by the Navy Memorial | Archives | 15 minutes early to check in |
| Empire Tours sunset walk | Albert Einstein Memorial, 2101 Constitution Ave NW | Foggy Bottom-GWU, about 15–20 minutes on foot | 15 minutes early; the guide contacts you that day |
The night van and the night coach
See DC Today's small-group night tour, from ~$99, gathers on the 11th Street side of the Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St NW. Wait on the sidewalk rather than in the lobby, because the 12-seat vans pull up at the curb and one departure can fill several of them. Metro Center is the closest station, where the Red line crosses the Orange and Blue lines and the Silver. The guide texts you on the day, so book with the phone number you will carry.
For USA Guided Tours' night coach, from ~$58, head to the US Navy Memorial Plaza at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW and look for the tall flagpoles on the Pennsylvania Avenue side between 7th and 9th Streets. The Archives station on the Green and Yellow lines comes up beside the plaza. The coach leaves promptly at 7:30 pm, so be there 15–20 minutes early. Rideshare drivers often drop guests on the wrong side of the block; ask for the Pennsylvania Avenue side and allow a few spare minutes. Our night tour comparison sets the two evenings against each other.
Up the Metro stairs and onto the coach
USA Guided Tours leaves the Navy Memorial Plaza, right by the Archives station, at 7:30 pm, from ~$58. The guide walks you into about nine memorials, including Iwo Jima across the river, a stop that is awkward to reach on your own after dark.
Where the wheeled tours start
Intrepid Urban Adventures' eCruiser tour, from ~$59, meets at 450 F St NW, at the roadside next to Judiciary Square station on the Red line. Be there 10 minutes early. Groups are split across red seven-seat carts, and each has two rear-facing seats given out first come first served, so arriving early buys you a forward view.
Capital Segway, from ~$70, rolls out from 818 Connecticut Ave NW, across from the White House. Farragut West and McPherson Square stations are both a short walk away. The 2.5 hours include about 30 minutes of training, a video followed by one-on-one help, and the company wants you at the door 30 minutes before the start. Riders must be 16 or older under DC law.
Unlimited Biking's monuments ride, from ~$65, leaves its shop at 701 D St NW, by the Navy Memorial, so it shares the Archives station with the night coach. Check in 15 minutes early, because late arrivals can lose their place. Signing the waiver in the company's app before you come speeds things up. Bikes and helmets wait at the shop, so you need little more than closed shoes. What to wear and bring covers the rest.
Two walks from the Einstein Memorial
Empire Tours' sunset walk, from ~$39, meets at the Albert Einstein Memorial, 2101 Constitution Ave NW. The seated bronze Einstein sits in front of the National Academy of Sciences, a few minutes from the Vietnam wall. Foggy Bottom-GWU is the nearest station but still about a 15–20 minute walk, so a rideshare is simpler from farther away. The start time follows sunset through the year, and the guide gets in touch on the day. The walk ends at the Washington Monument. Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations are 5–10 minutes away from there, so the trip back is easier than the trip out.
The same statue is the meeting point for Babylon Tours DC's morning walk, from ~$55, which sets off at 9:30 am with no more than 12 guests and ends with about 30 minutes inside the Washington Monument. The catch sits in that last part, since nobody guides you inside and the ticket is the free timed one. The walk also needs at least two guests and suits wheelchairs only as a private booking. Going up the Washington Monument explains how to get that ticket on your own.
Riding the Metro
The Metro reaches every start point above. Pay with a SmarTrip card from the station machines, or add one to the wallet on your phone and tap that at the gates. Fares depend on distance and time of day, and weekday rush-hour trips cost more.
Between tours, remember Smithsonian station, which surfaces mid-Mall within a short walk of the obelisk. The night tours finish between about 10 and 10:30 pm, when trains normally still run, though less often, so check the last train if you are heading out to the suburbs. The Blue and Yellow lines run straight downtown from Reagan National Airport.
Union Station and the moonlight trolley
Arrive by train and you step out at Union Station, on the Red line, about a 10–15 minute walk from the Capitol. Judiciary Square, for the electric carts, is the next stop west, and Metro Center is two stops beyond it.
Union Station is also one of two starting points for Old Town Trolley's Monuments by Moonlight, from ~$60; the other is the Washington Welcome Center at 1001 E St NW, a few blocks from Metro Center. The open-air trolley is wheelchair accessible, a real plus. The catch is the format, with up to about 50 people aboard and only two main stops to get off, each of them short. The Iwo Jima stop has also been swapped for the WWII Memorial.
Driving and parking
Driving to the Mall works, but it is rarely the easy choice. Street parking near the memorials is scarce and mostly limited to a few hours, and the handful of spaces along the park drives near the Tidal Basin fill early on fine days. Downtown streets add rush-hour lanes where parked cars can be towed. Meter hours and restrictions also change on evenings and weekends, so read every sign on the block rather than the first one you see.
Garages are calmer, and several sit within a few blocks of the Penn Quarter meeting points. If you are staying outside the city, parking at a suburban Metro station and riding in usually costs less and spares you the evening traffic.
Bikeshare and your own two feet
Capital Bikeshare has docks across downtown and along the Mall. You rent through its app or at a dock, with electric bikes at a higher rate. Dockless e-scooters stand on many corners too. Both suit a short hop to a meeting point, as long as you leave time to find a free dock or a legal place to park at the far end.
On foot, the Mall runs about 2 miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, and a loop round the Tidal Basin adds roughly 2 more. Covering the memorials on foot takes most of a day, and our guide to the Mall for free maps out a route. Traveling with a stroller or small children? Monument tours with kids says which tours take them.