Washington, D.C.

Estimated Tour Pricing Inclusions: Roundtrip air transportation, 4 nights’ accommodation; 4 breakfasts; 3 lunches; 3 dinners; private motor coach transportation throughout; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity including gratuity for guides. 

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Capitol Visit Center
• The United States Capitol Building
• The Library of Congress
• The Supreme Court Building
• Memorials and Monuments
• Mount Vernon
• Smithsonian Museums
• Ghost Tour of Alexandria

• Depart your school on a motor coach.
• Arrive in Virginia.

• Enjoy breakfast is included at the hotel.
• Visit Arlington National Cemetery. No land in American is more sacred than this square mile. It is America’s shrine to valor and sacrifice. This is the final resting place for President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward Moore (Ted) Kennedy, Audie Murphy, prizefighter Joe Louis, and thousands of soldiers from every major U.S. war. The Cemetery is the former plantation and home of Civil War General Robert E. Lee. Arlington House, Space Shuttle Challenger Astronauts’ Memorial, and Monuments to nearly every major sacrifice that affected our country are located within these 624 + acres. The Tomb of the Unknowns speaks of a nation’s debt to the many whose ultimate sacrifice helped make a nation free. Arlington averages 27 to 30 funerals, including interments and inurnments, each weekday, and six to eight services on Saturday. The crews, service members, and groundskeepers follow an elaborate choreography to ensure each funeral feels like it is the only one taking place
• Arrive at the Capitol Visitor Center on Capitol Hill. 
• Enjoy lunch with an included Voucher at the Capitol
• Tour The United States Capitol, The Library of Congress, and The Supreme Court Building. The most recognized symbol of democratic government in the world, the U.S. Capitol has house Congress since 1800 and is one of the most imposing public buildings in the world. The Capitol is where Congress meets to write the law of our nation and where the presidents are inaugurated. The United States Library of Congress is the largest national library in the world with more than 100 million items in three buildings. It has more than 650 miles of bookshelves and more than 138 million objects in 470 different languages. Within the walls of the Supreme Court Building, the third branch of government exercises its mandate to protect and interpret the spirit of the Constitution.
• Visit the Eisenhower Memorial. Designed by the world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, the memorial encapsulates Eisenhower's legacy in a four-acre urban park at the base of Capitol Hill. The memorial features a one-of-a-kind stainless steel tapestry depicting beaches of D-Day, heroic-sized bronze sculptures, and stone bas reliefs.
• Dinner is included at a local restaurant.
• Stop at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. The memorial is a quiet and receptive space, yet at the same time, powerful and emotionally evocative, reflecting the spirit of the message Dr. King delivered and the role he played in society. The King Memorial is intended to be personally transformative for visitors, building a sense of commitment to the promise of positive change and active citizenship.
• Stop at The National World War I Memorial. The National World War I Memorial is a national memorial commemorating the service rendered by members of the United States Armed Forces in World War I. The design, "A Soldier's Journey," shows the story of a soldier who leaves his family, see combat and the loss of comrades, and returns to his family after receiving medical care.

• Enjoy breakfast at your hotel.
• Arrive at Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington. Here George Washington escaped the rigors of public office and enjoyed the life of a successful Virginia planter.  America’s most visited historic house, Mount Vernon sits on a grassy, shaded slope overlooking the Potomac River.  Many of the furnishings are original pieces acquired by Washington himself.  Mount Vernon is both George Washington’s home and final resting-place.  This Southern plantation standing on the banks of the Potomac River details the life of the “Father of Our Country” while providing fascinating insights into Colonial times.
• Enjoy lunch included at the café via Blue Voucher.
• Visit the Ford Orientation Center & Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center at Mount Vernon. The center contain sculptures, paintings, portraits, models, photos, films, documents and diverse artifacts, with succinct descriptions and pithy quotations describing the life, times and accomplishments of our nation's first president. With 25 state-of-the-art galleries the museum displays many objects shown at Mount Vernon for the first time.
• Visit Monuments
  • The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This privately funded memorial has drawn millions who have come to touch the over 50,000 names, make pencil rubbings and leave flowers, letters, flags, and personal mementos.
  • The Lincoln Memorial. Overlooking the Reflecting Pool, this memorial was patterned on a classic Greek temple. Inside, inscriptions from his Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address flank the 19-foot marble statue of our 16th President.
  • The Korean War Veterans Memorial. The triangular field contains nineteen ground troopers, clad in foul weather ponchos, fully equipped for battle.  Representing those who supported the ground troops are hundreds of faces etched on a polished granite wall.
• Visit your choice of Smithsonian Institute Museums on the National Mall and enjoy lunch on your own while exploring today. Options include:
  • The National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  • The National Museum of American History.
  • The National Air & Space Museum 
  • The National Museum of Natural History 
  • The National Museum of the American Indian
  • National Gallery of Art.
  • Freer & Sackler Gallery
  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens 
  • The National Museum of African Art 
• Dinner is included at a local restaurant in Alexandria.
• Arrive on King Street in front of City Hall and meet your guide.
• Take a Guided Ghost Tour of Historic Alexandria.

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel then depart with your escort for city touring.
• Stop for a photo opportunity at the White House.
• See Lafayette Square. Lafayette Square – known first as President’s Square – is a landscape with a rich and varied African American history. Prior to emancipation, both free and enslaved African Americans lived and worked here.  The area has also been home to important institutions, such as the Reconstruction-era Freedman’s Savings Bank and the Belasco Theater, one of the few venues in segregated Washington where black entertainers were allowed to perform before desegregation audiences. Just like the riches of King Solomon that Frederick Douglas referred to, the African American history of Lafayette Square is indeed a treasure.
• Stop at The National World War I Memorial. The National World War I Memorial is a national memorial commemorating the service rendered by members of the United States Armed Forces in World War I. The design, “A Soldier's Journey”, shows the story of a soldier who leaves his family, sees combat and the loss of comrades, and returns to his family after receiving medical care.
• The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. The long-awaited memorial utilizes landscape elements to powerfully convey three fundamental and recurring themes of Dr. King's life: justice, democracy and hope. The memorial is a quiet and receptive space, yet at the same time, powerful and emotionally evocative, reflecting the spirit of the message Dr. King delivered and the role he played in society. The King Memorial is intended to be personally transformative for visitors, building a sense of commitment to the promise of positive change and active citizenship.
• Drive by The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. This memorial to FDR combines sculpture, water and natural landscape to forge a dramatic setting for recounting the events and terms of office of the nation’s 32^nd  The FDR is unique among the memorials of Washington, DC.  Its shade trees, waterfalls, statuary and quiet alcoves create the feeling of a secluded garden rather than an imposing structure.  The memorial is divided into four outdoor galleries, or rooms, one for each of FDR’s terms in office.  Water cascades and quiet pools are present throughout.
• Drive by The Jefferson Memorial. The 19-foot statue of the third president stands beneath a rotunda inscribed with passages from the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson’s other famous writings. Looking from the memorial across the Tidal Basin provides an unforgettable view of the city.
• Enjoy lunch included via a voucher at the Reagan Building/International Trade Center Food Court.
• Visit the National Archives. The spacious rotunda of the National Archives contains the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. For the first time in modern history, all the pages of these documents are on display to the public. All the displays have been made accessible for viewing by individuals in wheel chairs and children. At night, the display is lowered 20 feet into a bomb- and fireproof vault.
• Visit your choice of one Smithsonian Institute Museum.
• Stop at the Air Force Memorial. The redesigned Memorial is both BOLD and graceful and truly representational of the Air Force. Central to the design are three stainless steel spires which soar skyward. The highest of the spires will ascent 270' above the 3-acre elevated promontory site. Other key elements of the Memorial include a bronze Honor Guard, inscription walls, and an open glass Chamber of Contemplation, all landscaped to create a memorial park and parade ground overlooking the nation’s capital.
• Arrive at the Pentagon City Shopping Mall  for dinner included via a voucher.

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel prior to checking out.
• Depart for home.

*Base rate does not include motor coach transportation, airfare, airport transfers, driver gratuity, or any upgrades or add-ons unlisted from itinerary as stated. Pricing may vary based on day of arrival or other conditions. Personalized itineraries with custom pricing and/or additional transportation can be created and added based on client needs and upon client’s request. MARS will customize quotes or personalize itineraries for FREE.