Explore some of the most famous landmark locations around Washington, DC on this half-day historical sightseeing tour. Travel to Mount Vernon, George Washington's popular plantation in Virginia and one of the nation’s most beloved historic sites. Learn about his life and tour his home of more than 40 years. Then enjoy a bus trip around Old Town Alexandria. See the many historic 17th- and 18th-century homes, hear colorful stories about this founding father and discover little known facts about all the monuments, statues and buildings in the area.

Admission to Mount Vernon, one of the most famous historical estates in America
Explore the 23-room mansion and admire its views of the Potomac River
See how the mansion has been restored to look as it did in 1799 when George Washington died
Visit the tomb of George and Martha Washington
Watch colonial-era actors at work in a blacksmith shop and on a colonial farm
Take a scenic bus tour through historical Old Town Alexandria

What's Included

Half-Day trip to George Washington's Mount Vernon from Washington DC
Drive through Old Alexandria on the way to Mt. Vernon and pass by sites like home of Robert E. Lee
Introductory video upon arrival to Mount Vernon
Tour of George Washington's Mansion
Free time to explore the rest of the estate on own at your leisure
Licensed Tour Guide
Includes Entry fees to the estate and reserved mansion time

Lunch (food court available at Mount Vernon)
Gratuities
Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

400 New Jersey Ave NW
400 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
Meet your tour guide at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (close to Union Station Metro). Address: 400 New Jersey Ave. NW Washington DC 20001 Please plan to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to tour start time.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

On this half-day trip, travel approximately 30 minutes from Washington, DC to Mount Vernon, George Washington's beloved plantation home in Virginia. Tour the mansion and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, featuring 23 galleries and theaters where visitors learn about Washington through interactive displays, an action adventure movie, short films produced by the History Channel and more. Visit the final resting place of George and Martha Washington, walk through the beautiful gardens and restored landscapes and much more.

After lunch at Mount Vernon (not included), enjoy a guided bus tour of Old Town Alexandria. See George Washington’s old “stomping grounds,” including Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant and Museum, which hosted Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison and James Monroe, among many other dignitaries. Visit Historic Ramsey House, also the site of Alexandria’s Visitors Center and Lee-Fendall House, a veritable showcase of American history since 1785. Also, see some of the town’s major attractions, like the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, Christ Church, the 7-foot-wide Spite House, Robert E. Lee’s Boyhood Home and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

Boyhood Home of Robert E. Lee (Pass By)

Lee-Fendall House (Pass By)

George Washington's Mount Vernon

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Potomac River (Pass By)

Alexandria's Christ Church (Pass By)

Old Town Waterfront (Pass By)

523 Queen St (Pass By)

George Washington Memorial Parkway (Pass By)

508 Cameron St (Pass By)

King Street & South Washington Street (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Tours depart from 400 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, D.C., DC 20001, USA. Tour operator details provided on your ticket after purchase.
Accessibility: our vehicles are unable to accommodate wheelchairs unless the passenger is able to stand and board the bus
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

On my next visit, I would like to book the same trip with Joe and visit other areas of the estate and museum.

Reviews

4.0

651 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 651 reviews

Breathtaking and fascinating

Kimberly_H, Sept 2023

This property is breathtaking and the depth of knowledge the staff displayed was amazing. The audio tour was very helpful and easy to use. The reenactment staff were fantastic

The view. I certainly...

Herb_S, Sept 2023

The view. I certainly understand Washington referring to Mt Vernon as his “ beloved Mt Vernon” While our time spent there was pleasant it was way too long. Our “tour guide” Robert was not only a horrible driver he lacked professionalism.

Great tour but not enough time in Mount Vernon

James_s, Sept 2023

Wonderful place to visit. The tour did not give enough time to see things in detail. The visit was shortened to include a visit to Alexandria which further shortened the time in Mount Vernon. Time in Alexandria was also short at 30 minutes further exacerbating the time allowed in Mount Vernon

Touring George...

Dale_B, Sept 2023

Touring George Washington's home was wonderful and the grounds were beautiful! We thought our driver was going too fast and honking a lot. He left us there at Mt. Vernon way too long.

The Friendliest People Work in DC and the Surrounding Areas! Thx!

Annette_S, Sept 2023

Stanley our bus driver and guide was the best ever! So knowledgeable and gave us a lengthy tour of Alexandria that top it all off! Thx Stan. Also all the workers at Mt Vernon were pleasant and very helpful all the time. So approachable. Folks in our town won’t be as froth strangers. Thx!!!

Mount Vernon is wonderful; Driver Robert horrible.

MaryD_K, Sept 2023

The Mount Vernon experience was fabulous. Using the headphones to “ read” the plaques worked very well, and allowed us to go at our own pace. The driver dropped us off at the site, returning hours later. On the 30+ minute drive to the site,the driver, Robert, blathered on about snow tires versus all- weather, the names on new airline carriers at out lying airports, the snow in Wisconsin, etc. etc.. He spoke more about himself than Washington. We visited the week after Labor Day because of the very small crowds, yet Robert took it upon himself to add an extra hour of site time “ in order to see everything”. That meant that the 5 hour trip was now a 6 hour trip. Ironically, with very small attendance we were able to get right up to all displays at each point of interest. Then, of course there was a huge pop up storm leaving us few places to wait out the storm and that “ extra” hour to wait his return to pick us up. Upon pick up I complained to him about his decision to change the posted times and he apologized. On the trip through Alexandria his commentary became more appropriate.

Perfect Time to Visit Mount Vernon

Sue_G, Sept 2023

The meeting place was easy to find to meet our tour guide. We had about 7 people in our tour van so plenty of room. Communication from Viator was very good previous to the date of our tour to Mt. Vernon/Old Alexandria via emails and text. Our Guide was knowledgeable about the history of the area and gave great information about George Washington on our way to Mount Vernon. The tour we took was mid September so none of the crowds and beautiful weather. Mount Vernon wasn’t crowded so the docent gave us the tour as soon as we arrived. This gave us plenty of time to explore the grounds and have lunch and shop a little before we needed to meet our guide to return to Washington DC via a short driving tour of Old Alexandria. All in all a wonderful day! Perfect time of year to be in Washington DC.

Definitely take this tour

DeAnn_T, Sept 2023

The tour guides were especially helpful and loved talking with the character actors about their roles and lives at Mt Vernon.

Enjoyable Trip To Mount Vernon

Jennifer_Y, Sept 2023

The guide was very entertaining and also informative. Answered all questions and took care of entrance into Mount Vernon.

Line and waiting times...

Kathy_A, Sept 2023

Line and waiting times were long. Weather was miserably hot but nothing anyone could do about that. Would liked to have known what, if anything, was original to the house.

Visit and transport service were nice, not a great guide

Lorena_G, Sept 2023

The visit in itself is great. Mount Vernon is amazing and a must do. However, the guide was like a robot that would not stop talking, like a recording and he even gave me a hard time for exiting the museum 10 minutes late when he wasn't even on time for the pick up time and one of his colleagues had to drive me. The explanation of things on the way back was like listening to a boring recording, I could barely interrupt him to ask for anything, and the worst part is that he would notice I was not connecting with him and he would still keep going.

This was a great tour! I...

Mike_L, Aug 2023

This was a great tour! I would recommend this to anyone who would love to learn about our first president of the United States of America.

Mount Vernon Tour

Brenda_R, Aug 2023

Mount Vernon is an amazing place to tour. There is so much to see and it is right on the Potomac River . The museum offers quit alot of information in George Washington's life. Definitely recommend this tour. Bob our transportation and historian was great!!!

Brought back memories

David_R, Aug 2023

Mansion tour was our favorite part. Did it many many years ago. It was a wonderful refresher for us.

Would recommend

T_B, Aug 2023

Even on a cloudy day the tour was very interesting. Our driver had a lot of facts to share with us. At the Mount Vernon you walk yourself. You can have an audio guide, map. We had about 3 hours to explore. We liked the Museum very much. Had a packed lunch on the river.

Great

Andrew_M, Aug 2023

Tour guide excellent. Ride was fun and enjoyable. Mount Vernon is beautiful and really worth the day trip. The downside of my trip was the other passengers. They were very rude. They wouldn't stop talking in their native language as our tour guide was talking. They never responded to his questions or his funny jokes. Overall it was great despite the people I was traveling with.

Do this tour

JW_D, Aug 2023

Great tour nice ride and a very friendly guide pleas keep him great complex and nice musea and even somebody to tell a story at the grave of Washington

Horrible bus ride

Piyush_S, Aug 2023

The bus ride into & out of Mount Vernon was a horrible experiance. An old & rugged bus was used which kept throwing the passengers around at the slightest road bump. That is. As far as Mount Vernon is concerned, it was a heavenly place

Day Trip to Mount Vernon

Lauren_M, Jul 2023

My family took this tour, and we had a nice time. Our guide was willing to share his knowledge about all things Washington before and after the war. Mount Vernon itself was such a treat. I only wish we had a little more time in the house, but I understand with the amount of tourists the guides keep it moving at a steady pace.

Great time

Yanay_J, Jul 2023

Our family went on this tour. The guide was funny, nice, and very knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour.

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