Planning a trip to the Americas

[Maitre]

Washington DC is a great city to visit (the touristy areas, anyway). It's hellish during the summer, though. 90+ degrees and 90%+ humidity at some times.

No disagreement with the assessment of temp and relative humidity for summer in DC, but worst of the heat/humidity strikes in July to August. June is not too bad and mid september is usually about the best time of year (the humidity slacks off a bit but the daily high temps are still 60-75 F). The last thing about washington is that there are so many places in the city to get free air conditioning. The majority of sights/museums in the city are free to all. I don't remember whether the holocaust museum is free as well, but all of the main smithsonian museums (american history, natural history, air and space, museum of the american indian, etc) are free. If you like art galleries, the national portrait gallery is free (I think) and there's another art museum that is part of the smithsonian. The spy museum is expensive, but it's supposed to be good. If you're into aquariums though, skip the one in DC, see the "National Aquarium" in Baltimore instead. Or the the national zoo in DC is free, if you're into that. The wait for the rotunda of the national archives building is generally pretty long, and may not be as significant for someone who's not a citizen, but you can peruse the US constitution and declaration of independence.

Another good point about DC: 2.5-3.5 hr train ride to NYC depending on which train you want and when it leaves (check Amtrak.com and search trains between Washington's Union Station (WAS) and New York's Penn Station (NYP) for rates and times). You get to see the grittier sides of Baltimore, Wilmington (Deleware), Philadelphia, and Newark (New Jersey) along the way as well.

Do not, however, plan to train journey from DC south to Miami. It's an overnight trip, quite expensive, and not as many departures. If you want to visit the night life of South Beach, fly there.