Washington D.C. Attractions

For a mix of family adventure and history tour, book the Mount Vernon Bike and Boat tour. This almost full-day outing begins at Bike and Roll's Old Town Alexandria store. From there, pedal your way nine miles along the scenic woodsy Mount Vernon Trail to Mount Vernon Estate, then lock your bikes (Bike and Roll picks them up) and spend the day exploring Mt. Vernon's expansive grounds, interactive exhibits and hundreds of original artifacts. Leave Alexandria by 11 a.m. in order to have enough time to see Mt. Vernon's mansion, stables, animals, short films and sit back and enjoy the front lawn overlooking the Potomac. Board the Miss Christin for the 4 p.m. narrated boat cruise back to Old Town (arrives at 5:30 p.m.) Price includes bike rental/bike pick-up, admission to Mt. Vernon, and return boat ticket. Reserve by 12 p.m. on Fridays: 703-548-7655. Tip: even though our 9-year-old son is quite good on a bike, we were glad we booked a trailer tandem for him and my husband to share because of some of the initial street crossings and for the hilly areas where they both grew tired. Take a break along the way at one of several scenic Potomac River overlooks.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing will let you watch money come hot off the presses and discover what it is really printed on (hint: it's not paper). Check out the $100,000 bill display (the highest denomination ever printed). Learn about the life span of an average $1 and the safety features the government put in place to foil counterfeiters. Forty-five-minute tours begin every 15 minutes weekdays 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. and between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. May through August. Free tickets are required during peak season (March-August) and can be picked up on a first-come first-serve basis. The ticket booth on Raoul Wallenberg Place opens at 8 a.m. and closes when all tickets are gone, which some days is as early at 8:30 a.m. No strollers are allowed. Contact your congressional representative in advance for VIP tour tickets. Closed weekends, federal holidays, week between Christmas and New Years, and when the nation's security level is a code orange.

Future politicians, journalists, and comedians will enjoy this musical political satire troupe made up of former Congressional staffers turned comedians. Since the Steps formed 25 years ago, they have recorded 28 albums (recent one titled: Campaign and Suffering) and have been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. Performances every Friday and Saturday evening, from 7:30 until 9:30, at the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater. While there is no foul language, the humor is PG-13. Purchase tickets at the DC Visitor Information Center, on the ground level of the building, including the night of the performance.)

Climb aboard one of these restored (coast-guard approved) former World War II amphibious vehicles for a drive-by tour of the Mall, Smithsonian Museums, and several monuments. The "ducks" splash in to the Potomac River for awesome views of the city from the water and emerge back on land at Reagan National Airport, offering a cool perspective on incoming airplanes (be sure to cover little ears). "Wisequacking" captains entertain passengers with anecdotes, historical facts and jokes (and gives kids yellow duck whistles). Note: no space for stroller storage. Tickets can be ordered in advance online or purchased at the Union Station ticket booth. Adults are $32, children age 4 to 12 are $16, and children 3 and under, free, discounted tickets online. Open mid-March through October.

Glen Echo Park was originally a Chautauqua retreat, then an amusement park; and now this gorgeous national park on the outskirts of DC is home to a Dentzel carousel, "yurts" (resident artists at work in little huts), a playground, and the award-winning Puppet Company Playhouse, a year-round theatre dedicated entirely to puppetry. Productions change every six weeks. Recent shows have included Beauty and the Beast, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Tales of Beatrix Potter. Tickets: $10 per person for ages two and older. It's open seating on a carpeted floor for children and adults so arrive early. Bench seating is available along the sides and back. Be sure to linger after the show to meet the puppets and puppeteers.

Discovery Creek Children's Museum is also in the park and best for ages 3 to 7. Meet animals, explore a tree house, search under leaves for critters, and play in an oversized sandpit at the museum's Forest Tales immersion exhibit. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and is closed some winter weekends. Admission is $5 per person, children under age 2 are free.

At the International Spy Museum, learn about over 200 spy gadgets including weapons, "bugs," buttonhole cameras and invisible ink. Discover how Hollywood has helped develop disguise techniques for the CIA. And learn which pro-ballplayer and Oscar-winning director were spies among us. Kids love adopting a cover identity, testing their skills of observation and even climbing through ductwork to spy on fellow museumgoers. In the new hour-long "Operation Spy" program, kids ages 12 and up can decrypt a secret audio conversation, crack a safe, and conduct a polygraph test of a suspect agent in an intriguing adventure based on an actual case drawn from U.S. intelligence files.

The Kennedy Center is home to several theatres as well as the impressive Hall of Nations (stocked with unusual gifts to the U.S. from foreign countries) and the Hall of States (lined in U.S. state flags) The Center's family theatre caters to young audiences, with performances like the National Symphony Orchestra's Teddy Bear Concert to "Unleashed" a humorous tale about the secret lives of White House pets. Visit the website for schedule and ticket information, which varies by show. In addition, free family-friendly performances, in a variety of genres, are offered every evening at 6 p.m. at the Millennium Stage, no tickets needed.

Located in the Penn Quarter, near the Spy Museum and Newseum, this version of Madame Tussaud's has a definite Washington feel. Kids can sit behind the desk in a perfect replica of The Oval Office and stand next to Martin Luther King Jr. as he recites his "I Have a Dream" speech. Teens can also take (and then text to friends) photos of themselves with numerous wax figures including the likes of Hillary Clinton, JFK, Babe Ruth, and the Jonas Brothers. Open every day of the year. Adult tickets (ages 12 and up) are $19 per person; ages 4 to 12 are $13. Children age 3 and under admitted free, and the museum is stroller-friendly. Save time in line, and 10 percent off admission by purchasing tickets online.

National Air & Space Museum is great for everyone, from infants to grandparents. Babies love the aircraft suspended from the ceilings like massive mobiles (including the Spirit of St. Louis, which Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic and the plane that broke the shound barrier, the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis). Older children and grown-ups can explore exhibits on astronauts -- living quarters, learn what their weight would be on Jupiter (or Mars), touch a moon rock, or watch an IMAX film. New addition, America by Air chronicles the history of commercial air travel from the earliest days of airmail to the advancements of the 21st-century jet age. Stories and activities just for preschoolers take place in the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery.

National Museum of American History re-opened in November 2008 after a $54 million renovation that added an awe-inspiring Star-Spangled Banner Gallery. Here you can the flag as it was in "dawn's early light." Children also enjoy checking out Abraham Lincoln's top hat, Lewis & Clark's compass, Edison's light bulb, plus the ruby-red slippers worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Great exhibits for all ages include the fascinating "First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image" and "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden."

National Museum of Natural History was Washington's most visited site in 2007, with 7 million visitors. Future paleontologists can see a "life-sized" Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, plus a dinosaur egg. On the other end of the size spectrum, bug lovers can see a beehive, ants busily working, plus large centipedes at the Insect Zoo. Check out sharks, whales, jellyfish and manta rays at the new Sant Ocean Hall's "Ocean Odyssey." The exhibit allows visitors to immerse themselves in the ocean (without getting wet) via high-definition video footage of underwater life in French Polynesia, Galapagos Islands, the Cayman Islands and more. The Hall of Human Origins, opened March 2010, focuses on human evolution, engaging kids with skeletons, lifelike recreations of our ancestors' faces, and the chance to morph your own image to that of an early human. Grownups: Don't miss the Hope Diamond in the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. Kids: touch fossils, skeletons, and coral, play musical instruments, and try on traditional clothing from China, Egypt, and India, all in the Discovery Room. Open year-round, closed Christmas Day. Admission is free.

The National Zoo is home to thousands of animals of nearly 400 different species, including popular panda boy, Tai Shan. See him (along with his parents) at the Asia Trail section of the zoo (mornings visits are your best bet). This section is also home to sloth bears, playful red pandas and fishing cats. At the new Kid's Farm exhibit, children can help tend goats and donkeys, plus play with interactive exhibits that show how pizza ingredients go from the farm to pizza. This zoo is spread out and hilly, so be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring (or rent) a stroller. Admission: Free. The extensive website has downloadable scavenger hunt lists like "Where Are the Wild Things" or Zoo-per Bingo, plus you can print the Stroller Brigade guide for touring the zoo with young children.

At the Newseum, start your visit downstairs from the ticket booth and watch the orientation file on "What's News." This entertaining and informative film helps set the stage for the exhibits (especially for young children). Then make your way up to see a large section of the Berlin Wall, Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, and the massive display of newspaper front pages (from around the world) telling the story of September 11. Future journalists and broadcasters can deliver a weather forecast in front of a green screen, get critiqued by a professional photojournalist after taking photos, and play with a giant interactive world map that tells whether or not a country has free, partly free, or controlled press. Open daily, closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

The Family Room is an indoor play area fun for infants through 7-year-olds to climb, crawl through tunnels, and play with dollhouses, costumes, trains, and toys. Check the website for scheduled craft activities, story time, and drop-in music classes. Adults and infants under one admitted free, $10 for the first child, plus $5 for each sibling, discounted rates available in the late afternoon.

At the United States Capitol you can observe the Senate or House of Representatives in action. Free daily tours of the Capitol, where more than 8,000 new bills are proposed each year, are available. Get tour tickets at kiosks in the Capitol Visitor's Center, or avoid long waits and contact your legislator in advance of your trip. Stand beneath the nine-million-pound iron-dome and check out scenes from American history that are painted in the rotunda. See the statues of prominent people from various states in Statuary Hall, and learn about the teenagers, known as "pages" that spend a semester working here and attending the Capitol Page School at the Library of Congress. Even if you can't get tour tickets, the brand new Capitol Visitor's Center (which you must pass through to wait for tours) offers a chance to touch a 10-foot model of the Capitol Dome and listen to live feeds from both chambers of Congress (when in session) in the virtual House and Senate galleries.

Each weekday The Washington Post's "Today in Congress" column lists the times and locations of House and Senate sessions and which are open to the public.