During the day, open-sided
Tourmobiles
(tel 202/554-5100, ) connect
the major museums and sites -
allowing you to stop for as
long as you choose at any of a
dozen different locations. An
$18 one-day ticket covers
downtown DC and Arlington
Cemetery, while an extra $25
gets you to Mount Vernon and
back; tickets for the
three-hour "twilight
tour," which departs from
Union Station (daily 6.30pm),
also run $18. All can be
bought from the main office on
the Ellipse, just south of the
White House, at kiosks on the
Mall and in Union Station or
on the tram itself.
If you want to cycle
or cruise along the
Potomac River or the historic
C&O Canal, both Thompson's
Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave
NW at Rock Creek Parkway (tel
202/333-4861), near the
Watergate complex, and
Fletcher's Boat House, 4940
Canal Rd NW, two miles farther
up the canal towpath (tel
202/244-0461), rent touring
bikes, rowboats and canoes.
You could also get to know the
city on a three-hour cycling
trip with Bike the Sites Inc
($40 per person including bike
and helmet; tel 202/966-8662);
or call Better Bikes (tel
202/293-2080), which will
deliver rental bikes anywhere
in DC ($28-38 a day). In
addition, mule-drawn canal
boats , with costumed
National Park Service guides,
follow the old C&O Canal
from behind 30th and M streets
in Georgetown on a hour-long
narrated cruise (April-Oct;
$8; tel 202/653-5190). The
city's best walking tours
are led by Anthony S. Pitch
($10; tel 301/294-9514), who
ambles around Adams-Morgan and
Georgetown most Sunday
mornings beginning at 11am.
In general, it's worth
calling ahead to major sites
for any changes to tour
procedures due to heightened security
concerns.
