Visit to Washington DC - any tips?

Kakapo

Kakapo

Well-Known Member
Hello dear Zoochatter fellows,
By the end of May and early June I will be visiting Washington if everything turns as planned.
So for an efficient visit of the biodiversity-related facilities I would love to hear your impressions and tips for visit.

What I've found here related with biodiveristy collections is:

1) of course the Smithsonian National Zoo. In their website I've seen that apparently every exhibit is already open except the Bird House that is under renovation and will be open in autumn/fall. Looks like an average zoo with some interesting critters, the best of which may be the Reptile house.

2) the archifamous Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Everything open except the Butterfly pavilion apparently.

3) I would like to visit an aquarium and here is where the main problem is. Looks like the only major public aquarium in Washington is the Glen Echo Park Aquarium, but if I interpret correctly their website, apparently is not visitable unless reserving with anticipation?? Alternatively, there is the National Aquarium but it's not in Washington DC but in Baltimore. The two cities are very close and I wonder how doable is to get from one to another city in a same day with public transport, and taking account that I must spend enough time inside the aquarium as for photograph every species in it?

4) if finally I cannot visit public aquariums there, apparently there are also two aquarium shops in the city: Mocean Performance and Supreme Reefs. Are they worthy to visit, species-wise? Do they allow photograph their inhabitants?

5) of course I also need a botanical facility. Apparently there are three in the city. The main one seems to be USA Botanical garden, in Bartholdi Park. Even the greenhouse is already open. The other two are the USA National Arboretum and the American University Arboretum and Gardens. From the point of view of a species-collector not very fond at landscapes and trees and more in photographing new species of rare smaller plants, looks like the Bartholdi park is better than the others. Is that true or just my impression? Are worthy the other facilities in this sense?

6) Any other facility that I must take in account during my visit? Insect houses, reptile houses, wandering exhibitions, places not in Washington but enough close to allow a visit, anything that pop up in your minds?

Many thanks in advance!
 
The train from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore takes about 45 minutes. Trains run all day so you could arrive at the aquarium at opening time. Add some time to get to and from the train and still you could make the trip in a day spending all day at the aquarium if you wished
Amtrak Tickets, Schedules and Train Routes
(Trains can be late departing from Baltimore at the end of the day so do not make dinner plans in Washington ahead of time. You might get there later than expected)

The U.S. Botanical Garden is small but very conveniently located. The National Arboretum is much larger but about 5 miles from the zoo. They are each different kinds of landscapes so it is a matter of preference.
 
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Worth noting that the MARC train between DC and Baltimore has two lines - Penn and Camden. Of the two, Camden Station is much closer to the aquarium, though the Penn station is only an hour walk or a few minutes Uber away. The zoo in Baltimore is not super accessible by public transport, but is about 6 miles away
 
Thanks a lot for the public transport information Zooplantmant and Aardwofl! :) Also the botanical garden information is very useful, since the zoo is a must have I will visit both botanical facilities probably :)

I will skip anything that is not easy to reach by public transport so unless it have many rare animal jewels I can pass with only the Smithsonian zoo and not Baltimore's :)

Thanks!
 
Enjoy - if you can work it time wise, Bartholdi Park at nighttime when the fountain is lit up is spectacular

Across the Mall from the Natural History Museum is the Smithsonian Castle, which is the location of the predecessor to the National Zoo
 
It's called DC for short, not Washington, that's a state :)

Glen Echo Park Aquarium is far, far from a "major" aquarium, it's literally a room with some tanks, none of which are bigger than what the average fish keeper might have in their home. Their species are all common in aquariums/nature centers/etc. You've probably seen them all before if you've been to any aquarium on the east coast.

Go to the National Aquarium, I can't stress this enough. The Australian section alone has a lot of species not seen anywhere else outside of their native country. You won't be able to photograph everything - you could probably watch the atlantic reef tank for hours and still not see every species, given it's size and shape - but you'll see a ton of neat animals, and their signage is great for an aquarium.

The stores are both small and probably not worth the effort it would take to get there.

The Botanical Garden is right next to the Capitol and is a great place to visit (as long as there's no protests going on in the area). It's not nearly as big as many of the ones in europe, I'd say the average person spends maybe an hour there, but it's an underrated gem. The national arboretum is gorgeous, but it is HUGE. Without a car to drive to different sections you're going to have a difficult time seeing most of it in one go. I haven't been to the American University gardens.

It's probably 2 hours away, but if you can find a bus trip going to Longwood Gardens from the DC area, you would love that! It's basically the premiere gardens in the USA.
 
Many thanks, extremely useful tips! Definitely then I will rule out the Glen Echo aquarium and the aquarium shops and will try to go to Baltimore for the aquarium! And about botanical, probably the Barthold one is my kind of thing, if there is a chance that I will visit ther Arboretum it will be only because of the proximity to the Zoo that I also will visit.

So thanks to all your excellent tips my trip is taking shape and very probably my visits will be: Smithsonian zoo, Smithsonian museum, USA Botanical Garden, and if I manage the trip to Baltimore well, National Aquarium. With these big four I for sure will have enough for fill my camera cards with tons of species :) I'm very grateful to your participation and quick replies :)
 
It's not that close to the zoo, it's a good 5 miles if you want to walk it, partially through some not great areas. By transit it's roughly 75 minutes. The botanical garden is 6 miles, but half that time if you take transit, and the entire walk is more touristy areas. Prepare to spend a lot of time in the museum of natural history! It is huge and most of the collection is animal related. I could easily be there open-close and I've been several times over the years.
 
I've always found the arboretum kind of overrated myself - and, as @TinoPup has said, it can be a pain to get to. If you're looking for some eastern US forested experience, there's actually a trailhead into Rock Creek Park very close to the Zoo's entrance, just a few blocks north on Connecticut Avenue. It's a nice streamside trail where you can take a few steps off the road and boom, be in nature.

You'd asked about insectariums, and if you hadn't already found out during your research, there is the excellent Insect Zoo in the National Museum of Natural History; too bad the Invertebrate House at NZP is closed, because that was a fantastic building.
 
Aardwolf said:
I've always found the arboretum kind of overrated myself - and, as @TinoPup has said, it can be a pain to get to. If you're looking for some eastern US forested experience, there's actually a trailhead into Rock Creek Park very close to the Zoo's entrance, just a few blocks north on Connecticut Avenue. It's a nice streamside trail where you can take a few steps off the road and boom, be in nature.

You'd asked about insectariums, and if you hadn't already found out during your research, there is the excellent Insect Zoo in the National Museum of Natural History; too bad the Invertebrate House at NZP is closed, because that was a fantastic building.
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I like the arboretum, but them allowing dogs may heavily influence that ;) It's easy for me to get to, I approach the city from that side though so I get to without having to go further in. Sometimes gps sends me past it to get to the zoo as well, if there's a lot of traffic on Connecticut. I'm not a big plant person so I don't know if I'd have visited multiple times if not for the dogs (great backgrounds for photos, and lots of stuff to sniff!), but they have lots of rare trees that I found interesting.
 
As far as DC gardens go, I prefer Dumbarton Oaks. I do enjoy the columns at the arboretum- they give off a somewhat Lovecraftian vibe - but beyond that…. Eh. The Botanic Gardens are my favorite, but they can be a pain when crowded
 
Many thanks again!
Aardwolf said:
You'd asked about insectariums, and if you hadn't already found out during your research, there is the excellent Insect Zoo in the National Museum of Natural History
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I assume that the National MNH is the same that the Smithsonian MNH, it is? Then I've found that the "butterfly pavilion" is closed, but I don't know if it's the same than the Insect Zoo.
 
TinoPup said:
Prepare to spend a lot of time in the museum of natural history! It is huge and most of the collection is animal related. I could easily be there open-close and I've been several times over the years.
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I'm also the kind of person that spent the day in the museum even if looking at every specimen for just a brief second. I have been from opening to closure in the Harvard museum of natural history and left half a room unseen as a security guard went to tell me that museum is closed. I have to visit twice the American museum of natural history and the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. For the last one, I went both times from opening to closure and still I left half of the insect collection unphotographed by lack of time and again a security guard went to tell me that museum is closed :p
 
The Smithsonian National Zoo is actually above average and a very good zoo. It has one of the best Asian animal exhibit complexes in the United States zoo world. If the giant pandas aren't outside, be sure to look for them inside if the indoor exhibit area is open. I didn't even know that existed the first time I went - oops. The reptile house, small mammal house, and Think Tank buildings are all worth looking through. Black-footed ferret is a highlight of the small mammal house. If you have a chance to see the orangutans use the O-line overhead crossing, that is fun. Some people are underwhelmed by the Amazonia rain forest exhibit, but I liked it. The new-ish elephant exhibit is one of the better Asian elephant exhibits in North America.

Hopefully the insect zoo in the Natural History Museum will be open even if the butterflies are not. Give yourself time to go through the ocean and human evolution galleries and new dinosaur galleries also.
 
birdsandbats said:
Yes, those are the same museum. The butterfly pavilion is separate from the insect zoo.
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Just to clarify, the butterfly pavilion is an indoor space within the insect zoo. There is an admission cost to go through the butterfly space, which is an enclosed tunnel within the main insect zoo space. There are windows in it so that you can still see the butterflies for free, albeit from a distance behind glass.
 
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Kakapo said:
I'm also the kind of person that spent the day in the museum even if looking at every specimen for just a brief second. I have been from opening to closure in the Harvard museum of natural history and left half a room unseen as a security guard went to tell me that museum is closed. I have to visit twice the American museum of natural history and the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. For the last one, I went both times from opening to closure and still I left half of the insect collection unphotographed by lack of time and again a security guard went to tell me that museum is closed :p
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You should really allow two or three days for it then, if you can!
 
How long will your visit be? Memorial Day weekend kicks off the brutal (but necessary) tourist season and it'll probably be even worse this year considering the Nation's cabin fever from COVID. Baltimore can be done in a day if you do the Aquarium and Zoo. Doing National Zoo and the Natural History Museum in one day might be tricky. The line for the Natural History Museum consistently goes down the street. So plan extra time.

DC seems walkable on a map, but it'll quickly exhaust you with the persistent humidity. Also note that Metro (DCs subway system) is on a reduced schedule due to a transit security investigation which has been on-going since the fall. Trains run every 15-20 min instead of the usual 6, so definitely plan accordingly. Ride shares are popular, but DC traffic is notoriously long and frustrating, so biking and scootering might be a good alternative.
 
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Washingtonian for five years here and an active member of the SNZ community - Within a mile or so from the zoo there's the National Cathedral which has amazing gardens.

For food near the zoo, I highly recommend Vace - a by the slice pizza place. Dukes is also nice. There's a bakery called Sakusaku Flakerie and that is very good.

Another small but beautiful garden area about a block from the zoo is Tregaron Conservancy. it's a cute little park that doesn't take much time.

If you want to do more active things, I highly recommend kayaking with Boating in DC - there's some great wildlife. You can also get to Georgetown by ferry. If you have access to a car, I recommend Huntley Meadows in Virginia, just outside of D.C.

Pandas and gorillas are usually outside in the morning. Especially during peak season, it's best to get there right at 8!
 
Kakapo said:
Many thanks again!


I assume that the National MNH is the same that the Smithsonian MNH, it is? Then I've found that the "butterfly pavilion" is closed, but I don't know if it's the same than the Insect Zoo.
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Here is a video of the butterfly pavilion within the insect zoo. The website says that it is closed, but maybe you can still see the butterflies from the outside windows? I noticed that there are no pictures of the Smithsonian insect zoo in the gallery either in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum gallery or the O. Orkin Insect Zoo gallery, so you could help fill a gap if you visit it and are able to photograph it.
 
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