"Contact your Congressman" Washington D.C. Favorite Tip by Dabs

Favorite thing: As soon as you book your trip, look up the website for your Congressman if you live in the US and see what kind of special/VIP tours that they can get you passes for. Tours are handed out first come first serve and tours fill up more quickly during the peak time between March 15-September 15.

I contacted my Congressman's office in Washington only a couple of days before I was going, since it was October they were able to arrange for a VIP Capitol tour and entrance to the permanent exhibit at the Holocaust Museum.

The woman I spoke to said it takes a minimum of 3 weeks to get security clearance if you want to visit the White House and the intern who showed me around the Capitol said it was even more difficult than that especially during busy times. Even though it says you must have a group of 10+ people on the website, he said sometimes they get lucky and get smaller groups in so it doesn't hurt to ask.

Other tours on my Congressman's website include the Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, Supreme Court, Mount Vernon and Engraving and Printing.