Holidays Ideal Time to See Washington

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 12 -- New York has the Christmas show at Radio CityMusic Hall and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Florida hassunshine and theme parks. But truth be told, when it comes to aDecember vacation, the nation's capital is not high on manypeople's list.

Maybe it ought to be.

"This may be the best time of all to visit the city, becauseyou don't see the crowds, you get to see the monuments, and you getto have the good times without having to push your way through,"said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., the District of Columbia'snonvoting representative to the U.S. Congress.

The period from Thanksgiving Week through Martin Luther King Jr.'sbirthday traditionally marks the slow season for hotels,restaurants and other firms dependent upon travelers drawn toWashington for government business.

Nothing You Can’t See

According to Norton, this may be the best holiday tourism seasonfor visitors to Washington since the year 2000. Many of theattractions that had been closed since the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristattacks are now open, although visitation policies have beenmodified for security reasons.

"We've got the White House to open up some of the tours, andwe've gotten the Capitol completely opened up, so there's reallynothing you can't see if you come to Washington now," Norton said.

White House tours for groups of 10 or more can now be arrangedthrough the offices of members of Congress up to six months inadvance. Visits should be scheduled about one month in advance.Tour hours are between 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Tuesdays throughSaturdays.

Guided tours of the U.S. Capitol are available between the hoursof 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Both the Capitoland the White House are closed on Christmas.

As for tree-lighting spectaculars, Washington has several torival Rockefeller Center's: The 80th lighting of the NationalChristmas Tree took place on Dec. 4 on the Ellipse, near the WhiteHouse, followed a week later by the U.S. Capitol tree lighting.