Customer Reviews

Fodor's Washington, D.C. with Kids, 3rd Edition (Special-Interest Titles)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is great for anyone of any age visiting D.C. Though we are lifelong natives, there were still sites in this book we had never heard of. When we used the guide to visit Washington with our teenagers, it was invaluable in giving us interesting places to go to suit everyone's needs. And since teens need lots of food, it was wonderful to have nearby food sources listed as well! I highly recommend this book for visitors AND Washingtonians!

This guide may be good at highlighting attractions, but it's woefully impractical for real-life touring.

We used--or, I should say, tried to use--this guide on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., and we wound up very frustrated with it. We were attempting to do as much as we could by Metro and taking the car only when it was practical and necessary. We followed the guide for Metro stops and wound up walking, sometimes miles, with two young kids (aged 6 and 3).

For instance, we took the Metro to the zoo, got off at the stop recommended in the book and had an uphill walk for more than a mile. Someone told us later that there would have been ample parking, had we driven. I wish the guide had mentioned it. Another time, we followed the instructions on which Metro stop to use for the Lincoln Memorial. We popped out of the station onto a street filled with mainly government office buildings and no signs directing us to the memorial, which, again, was a long hike away. (A kind man saw our "lost" looks, asked if we were looking for the memorial and pointed the way there.) We found out from locals that it would have been better to have taken Metro stops along the Mall--possibly the same distance but with more diversions, like a carousel and grass to run around on, for youngsters.

This is not a trivial complaint when you're dealing with kids. And, given that this book is specifically about touring D.C. with kids, I would have expected the authors to do better.

By the time we were leaving, it had become a joke to consult the book's maps and station recommendations. We came to the conclusion that whatever it recommended, we should do something else.

I ordered this book to help plan a trip to Dc for my family. I was excellent. This book was also passed to our high school principal who used this book for a personnel trip to DC. This was his favorite book to use for learning about DC.

I found this book VERY valuable and will be used for future trips to the area.

I found that this book was an interesting and direct source of information that helped me to find places to visit as well as how to get there. It is a wealth of information for where to take kids of all ages that would be of interest to them in Washington, D.C. I found it helpful also to know the phone numbers to be able to call about questions that I might have before visiting the places. I would highly recommend this book to anyone such as teachers or parents who are interested in taking kids to the Washington,D.C. area.

While this is a great guide for parents, it is particularly helpful for those who may not have children at these ages. An Aunt, Grandmother, family friend who wants to spend time with children but doesn't know where to start and may not have a crew of friends with children needs this book. It can be the beginning of really great time with and for the children and adults together.

Authors' tone indicates they are clearly amazed by Washington DC, but this doesn't translate into any new or interesting information about the city for visitors. Lots of info out of date.