What to Do in DC During the Shutdown: School Trip Adjustments

As you know, our nation’s government is in a state of shutdown. This shutdown has affected some of the places on planned group trips, particularly in Washington D.C. However, our dynamic team at Scholastica Travel is taking every step to ensure that groups traveling during the shutdown have a very enjoyable, educational, and exciting trip! We are monitoring changes closely, making necessary adjustments, and are keeping our group leaders and tour leaders consistently updated. As a team of enthusiastic travel professionals, we remain steadfast in our commitment to creating memorable educational adventures and engaging students in their world and history.

The great news is that Washington D.C. remains the best place to learn about our nation’s history and experience history in the making!

Many memorials remain open or are available with limited access. Our tour leaders are working diligently to ensure that travelers experience the memorials as fully as possible. This morning we received this positive update from one of our tour leaders who is currently in Washington DC with a group:

“The steps of the Lincoln Memorial were blocked so we couldn’t go up into it but we were able to stand in front of it so the kids could at least see it. There were no blockades at the Vietnam Wall or the Korean Memorial, so we toured them as we normally do. We also visited and got pictures at the Einstein Statue. There were police on bike and on foot walking around the memorials, but they didn’t say a word to us or several other people who were there. The DC and Capitol police have been exceptionally nice.

The trip is going great, we’re having a blast, and I’ll keep you all posted.“

There are many places to explore in Washington D.C. that are not operated by the government or National Park Service that remain open. These include (current as of 10/2/2013 at 12:30 PM):

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• Corcoran Gallery of Art
• Crime Museum
• DAR Constitution Hall, DAR Library and DAR Museum
• Dumbarton House
• Dumbarton Oaks
• Embassy Row
• Folger Shakespeare Library
• (Ford’s Theatre) Center for Education & Leadership and walking tour “Investigation: Detective McDevitt”
• Franciscan Monastery
• German-American Heritage Museum
• International Spy Museum
• Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
• Long View Gallery
• Kreeger Museum
• Madame Tussauds Washington D.C.
• Marian Koshland Science Museum
• Mary McLeod Bethune Statue Lincoln Park
• George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens
• National Building Museum
• National Geographic Museum
• National Museum of Women and the Arts
• National Theatre
• Nationals Park
• Newseum
• Old Post Office Pavilion
• Phillips Collection
• President Lincoln’s Cottage
• Textile Museum
• Tudor Place House & Garden
• Union Station
• Washington Design Center
• Washington National Cathedral

Several of the above opened sites are offering discounted admission during the shutdown. Talk to your travel consultant for more details.

The sites that will be closed during the shutdown include:

• Anacostia Community Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
• Arlington House
• Capitol Visitor Center & U.S. Capitol
• C&O Canal National Park
• Ford’s Theatre, Museum and Peterson House 
• Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
• Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
• Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian Institution)
• Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
• Library of Congress
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
• National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Arboretum
• National Archives
• National Gallery of Art
• National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution) 
• National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Postal Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
• National Zoological Park (Smithsonian Institution)
• Old Post Office Tower Tours
• Pentagon
• Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
• Rock Creek Park
• Smithsonian American Art Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
• Smithsonian Institution Information Center in the Castle (Smithsonian Institution)
• U.S. Holocaust Museum
• White House Visitor Center

We are hoping for a swift resolution in Congress.  In the meantime, our amazing travel experiences for all of our travelers will not stop! We look forward to sharing the DC experience with your group today and in the future. We’ll keep you posted!