powerful appeal
GENERAL INFORMATION
VISAS: UK passport holders can visit the USA without a visa under the Visa Waiver Programme. However they must obtain an ‘ESTA’. https://
esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/
HOW TO GET THERE: Lufthansa (0871 522 4340; www. lufthansaexperts. com) fl ies daily to Dulles International Airport from Frankfurt and Munich. Easy connections are offered from Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Dublin. Return fares from £469 (London). Direct fl ights from London are offered by Virgin, British Airways and United Airlines.
LOOK TO BOOK
SAMPLE DEALS: Funway has three nights at the three-star Capital Hilton from £699pp, including fl ights with Virgin Atlantic, The deal is based on travel on January 10 2013. www.
funway4agents.co.uk
WHERE TO STAY: Luxury choices include The Madison, The Willard and the W Washington. The latter is where Elvis met with President Nixon in the 1970s and asked to be a federal agent. Its roof terrace, now a night club, featured in Godfather II.
WASHINGTON DC
BY STEVE HARTRIDGE For a destination that provides the very heartbeat of US government, there were few signs that an election was just a week away, bar the ‘Obama - Four More Years’ and ‘Romney – Time for Change’ t-shirts on sale just yards from the White House. My visit to the nation’s capital in late
October, courtesy of Lufthansa which has put its brand-new 747-8 aircraft on the Frankfurt-Washington DC route, was timely for reasons beyond the battle for the Presidency. Locals agree that autumn and spring are the perfect seasons to visit. Temperatures are usually mild and the city's parks and gardens are decked out in a rich display of seasonal reds, yellow and ambers.
History and Culture However there are plenty of reasons for recommending a visit to DC – The District of Columbia was created when both Virginia and Maryland ‘donated’ 100 sq acres for the site of a capital to remain forever free of political infl uence from any state – at any time of the year. The city is packed full of must-be-
photographed buildings, such as the White House and Washington Tower, and a big selling point is that many historic attractions, museums and tours are free. “Visitors could spend much of their time in the 16 fabulous Smithsonian institutions alone,” said Richard Wimms, Managing Director of Vacations to America. “Visitors can touch a moon rock, marvel at the Hope Diamond, view Dorothy’s Red Ruby Slippers or explore Native American culture,” he added. Most tours of DC will start with a stroll along the National Mall, linked by the Capitol Building at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other. Run by The National Park Service, the
city’s rectangular green lung, with its clear pools and seasonal blooms, will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen Forrest Gump or Independence Day. It’s an easy and pleasant stroll between the two, although free guided and narrated tours through DC by Foot (
www.freetoursbyfoot.com/dc) are available. Alternatively, see the attractions via a gentle cycle (
www.bikethesites.com) or weave among the other tourists on-board a Segway (
www.capitalsegway.com).
In Memory of... The Washington Monument, a slimline obelisk that narrows to a point 555-foot
54 December 2012 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
“DC's pedestrian-friendly streets and a safe transport network that includes Metrorail, Big Bus tours and Old Town Trolleys make it a great choice for families”
above the ground, was built to honour the country’s fi rst president. Inside the monument are an elevator, a 897-step stairway and an observation deck at 500 feet. However, damaged by an earthquake in 2010, the interior is currently closed. Next up along The Mall is the fi rst of
several memorials to fallen US servicemen. The striking WWII Memorial features 56 granite pillars inscribed with the names of all the US states and territories. They form a ring around various water features designed to depict the message that so many American lives were lost at sea and across foreign waters.
Perhaps DC’s best-known memorial is the wall that carries the names of US troops lost in the 16-year Vietnam War, which ended in 1976. Carved into the wall are the names of the 58,000 servicemen killed in the war. There’s also a memorial to the Korea War (1950-53): nineteen stainless-steel statues, with windblown ponchos, depict a squad on patrol during Korea's harsh weather. DC’s newest memorial is the Martin
Luther King Memorial. The imposing structure features a 30-foot statue of the Civil Rights leader and engraved inscriptions from his famous speeches.
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