In this article:
Prologue
This is part two of a five-part series covering our December 2025 trip to the United States.
Trip planning
We did Washington D.C. as a day trip from New York. It was not originally on the itinerary. We added it given how close the two cities are, and how easy Amtrak makes the connection. I had spent three nights here back in 2019, so I knew it was doable. One day was never going to be enough, but it was better than skipping it entirely.
We took Amtrak down in the morning and flew back from Reagan National Airport to LaGuardia Airport in the evening, partly for convenience and partly because I wanted to check out the Capital One Landing restaurant-lounge at Reagan National Airport.
Getting there: Amtrak Northeast Regional
We departed Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station at 9.25am on Train 185, arriving into Washington Union Station a little under three hours later. Moynihan Train Hall is worth arriving early for on its own merits: it is a genuinely nice space and a significant upgrade from the old Penn Station experience.
Onboard, the seats were noticeably newer than I remembered from my last Northeast Regional trip in 2019, configured in the standard 2-2 layout. Wi-Fi is available but inconsistent; I ended up relying on my US Mobile data for most of the journey.
Also, book tickets in advance as prices vary quite a bit depending on when you buy. It got increasingly more expensive towards late December 2025.
We also picked up the banana pudding from the Magnolia Bakery outpost at Penn Station before boarding as breakfast. The queues at their New York City standalone locations had been consistently long throughout our trip, so it worked out.
Washington Union Station
We pulled into Washington Union Station just under three hours later.
The station itself is worth a few minutes before heading out. The Great Hall is properly grand: vaulted ceilings with coffered gold detailing, marble throughout, and a scale that makes it feel more like a civic monument than a transit hub.
During our visit, it had a large Christmas tree as its centrepiece, which suited the space well. It is the kind of arrival hall that makes you feel like train travel should always be this way.
From Union Station, we walked toward Capitol Hill, passing the Dirksen Senate Office Building along the way.
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court sits directly across from the Capitol, and entry to the building is free. If you are not catching the courtroom lecture, budget around 45 minutes for the exhibits and a walk through the building. If you are, set aside closer to 1 hour 15 minutes.
There is a genuine historic charm to the building that you notice as soon as you step inside: the lifts are old and deliberately maintained in their original condition, the kind of detail that signals the institution’s relationship with its own history.
The permanent exhibits on the history and workings of the court are well put together and worth more time than most visitors give them.
We had planned to catch the courtroom lecture, which gives you access to the main chamber and a guided talk on how the court operates. Unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute on the day we visited due to maintenance work. If you are planning to go, check the timetable on the Supreme Court’s website before you head over, as the lectures run on a set schedule and are not always available.
United States Capitol
From the Supreme Court we walked over to the Capitol for a tour. It is free and bookable in advance through the Architect of the Capitol website. Budget around 1.5 hours for the full tour experience, and that is before factoring in the gallery visits. Security at the Capitol is thorough and takes a while: shoes off, bags through the scanner, the works. It is more involved than a typical TSA checkpoint, so do not arrive in a rush.
The tour itself begins with a seven-minute video presentation on the history of the U.S. Congress and the Capitol building, which is a good orientation before heading into the main spaces. From there it covers the Crypt, the Rotunda, and the National Statuary Hall. The Rotunda in particular is one of those spaces that is difficult to fully appreciate until you are standing inside it.
After the tour, we headed to the US House of Representatives visitor gallery, which allows you to observe the chamber from above. Tickets are available directly from the counters inside the Capitol Visitor Center without much advance booking. No photographs were allowed, as we had to store our phones in the lockers at the check-in counter. Set aside roughly an hour more if you plan to visit both the House and Senate galleries.
We picked up Senate gallery tickets but ran out of time to use them before closing, so that remains on the list.
The Capitol has two faces worth seeing. The west front looks out over the National Mall and is the view most people know from photographs. The east front faces the Supreme Court and is equally impressive, and often less crowded. Walk both sides if you have the time.
The White House
We took a Metrobus from the Capitol over to the White House. Entry is self-guided and requires arranging access through a member of Congress well in advance, though it is ultimately at the discretion of the current administration whether tours are running at all. For overseas visitors, the process goes through your home country’s embassy in Washington.
The Trump administration briefly reopened the White House to public tours in November and December 2025. Unfortunately, our originally booked dates got cancelled as the White House was closed during the last two weeks of the year. These things can change at short notice, so check the current status before building it into your plans.
I personally visited the now-demolished East Wing way back in 2019, so here are some photos of the experience back then.
If you do manage to get in, plan carefully: you cannot bring anything into the building at all, and there are no lockers nearby to store your belongings. Back in 2019 we worked around this by dropping our bags at our Airbnb before heading over, then returning to pick them up afterwards. If you are not staying nearby, it is worth thinking through the logistics before the day, as there is no easy solution on the spot that I’m aware of.
Back in 2019, we managed to book a self-guided tour of the East Wing, which was already impressive enough on its own. That wing has since been demolished, and the works are clearly visible from the perimeter. For most visitors today, the view from the north side along Pennsylvania Avenue is as close as it gets, and it is still worth seeing in person.
After the short photo stop, it was then time to get ready to fly back to New York.
What we missed
A day is not enough for D.C., and we felt that by mid-afternoon. The Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National Mall, the Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery of Art: none of it happened this trip.
Back in 2019 I had spent three nights here, which was more than enough to cover most of the major sights comfortably. One day, especially for my partner’s first visit, simply does not do the city justice. A dedicated two to three night trip is what it really warrants.
Almost everything in D.C. is free to enter, which makes running out of time all the more frustrating. We will have to come back next time.
Next up
With that, we made our way back to Reagan National for our flight to LaGuardia, with a stop at the Capital One Landing and the American Airlines Admirals Club at Concourse E before boarding.
After one final day in New York, we headed west to Las Vegas for the third leg of our trip.
