4-Night Trip to Washington DC and Charlottesville by Air
This 4-night trip to Washington DC and Charlottesville will highlight the present and the past of the United States of America.
Program Summary
Program Highlights & Inclusions
- Round trip flights to your destination
- Professional tour manager with your group throughout the tour
- Motor coach transportation throughout your tour
- One night Hotel Accommodations in Charlottesville
- Three nights Hotel Accommodations in the Washington DC Area
- Visit to Manassas Battlefield
- Tour of Montpelier, James Madison’s home
- Admission to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson
- Visit to the Memorials including the FDR, Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr Memorials
- Visit to the Supreme Court (lecture if available)
- Visit to the Library of Congress
- Tour at the Capitol Building (if available)
- Visit to the National Archives
- Tour at Arlington National Cemetery
- Ghost tour in Old Town Alexandria (walking)
- Admission to Mt Vernon with Lunch – Home of our George Washington
- Visit Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Photo stop outside the White House
- Visit to the National Air & Space Museum
- Tour of the memorials including the World War II, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial
- Visit to the National Zoo
Daily Itinerary
You’ll depart on your overnight flight to Washington DC.
Upon arrival in Charlottesville, you’ll meet your tour manager.
You’ll visit the Manassas Battlefield which offers a wide array of activities, scenic vistas, historic sites and walking trails to interest the casual visitor or the true Civil War historian. A good place to begin your visit is the Henry Hill Visitor Center where you can see “Manassas: End of Innocence”: This 45-minute film covers both the First and Second Battles of Manassas.
After lunch, you’ll visit Montpelier, home to President James Madison, Father of the Constitution and Architect of the Bill of Rights, and Dolley Madison, America’s first “First Lady.” It was here at Montpelier where James Madison shaped the ideas that would become the U.S. Constitution.
After dinner, you’ll drive to your hotel and check in.
After breakfast, you’ll enter the world of Thomas Jefferson by exploring the iconic house and scenic grounds of Monticello, his mountaintop plantation and autobiographical masterpiece, designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than forty years. Enjoy a scheduled 35-minute guided house tour and self-guided access to Jefferson’s gardens, the workrooms and storage areas, Mulberry Row—the center of plantation activity in Jefferson’s time—and the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center’s theater and museum galleries.
After lunch, you’ll begin your drive to Washington DC.
After dinner, you will take a guided tour of the Memorials including visits to the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
After breakfast, you will visit Arlington National Cemetery where you will take a tour and see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Changing of the Guard Ceremony, the Challenger Memorial and the Kennedy Grave Sites.
You will visit the Supreme Court. If time permits and lectures are available, you may see a 25 minute docent lecture in the court room about the judicial branch of our government and the role of the Supreme Court.
You will enter one of the most magnificent buildings in Washington as you visit the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill. You will have some time to admire the architecture and peek into the main reading room.
After lunch, you will visit the Capitol Building (if available)
You will visit the National Archives and see the rotunda where some of our most important documents are stored. You will see an original copy of the U.S. Constitution and an original copy of the Declaration of Independence as well as many other important documents.
After dinner, you will take an evening walking ghost tour through Old Town Alexandria. You will hear the legends, folklore and ghost stories of this charming and spooky town!
After breakfast, you’ll visit the National Zoo where you’ll have a chance to explore this 163-acre zoological park that is home to more than 400 species of animals.
After lunch, you’ll visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a place where all Americans can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience, what it means to their lives, and how it helped shape this nation.
You’ll visit the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Museum has thousands of objects on display, including the 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, and a lunar rock you can touch.
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States and it was first occupied by John Adams in 1800. You will have a chance to see the North Front of the White House from Lafayette Park where you can take photos and enjoy the view.
After dinner, you will take a guided tour of the Memorials including visits to the World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.
After breakfast, you will visit Mt. Vernon, the home of our first president. You will have a chance to see the film at the visitors center and then tour the home and grounds of the estate. A meal pass will be included for lunch at the cafeteria.
You’ll head to the airport for your return trip home.
