Mount Vernon

Psst! Are you hoping to include a tour of the White House in your Washington DC experience? Many groups ask for that, and we do our best. It can be somewhat difficult to achieve, of course, due to the varied White House schedule. The White House Visitor’s Center is a decent alternative as it tells you so much about the White House and is just around the corner from the real thing, offering a wonderful view.

If the presidential residence is on your list, and whether you accomplish that visit or not, how about the first presidential white house as part of your itinerary? Mt. Vernon belonged to George and Martha Washington. The beautiful mansion and expansive estate is now a favorite part for Washington DC educational tours.

You’ll begin the Mt. Vernon experience in the Ford Orientation Center. A bronze statue of George and Martha Washington greets you, their grandchildren, whom they raised, at their feet. The visitor’s center has a museum, literature about the President and his estate, as well as a scale model of the brilliant mansion. This is also the place for a restroom break before touring the extensive grounds, and a food court is available as well.

Mt. Vernon introduces students to the royal George Washington, the resourceful leader and wartime general who politely declined the people’s offer to be king so he could return to his beloved Mt. Vernon and continue as a farmer instead. That resourcefulness meets you around every corner, from the more economical wood used for the Mt. Vernon mansion but treated to look like stone, to the gardens, stables, and cropland designed with the top innovation of the time and providing the estate with several sources of revenue. The Mt. Vernon grounds include many outbuildings, or dependencies, the gravesites for George and Martha Washington, and a memorial to Mt. Vernon slaves.

Mt. Vernon greets its guests with the same spirit of hospitality that helped it flourish when the Washingtons lived there. This estate had large numbers of guests every year – extended family, friends, even strangers spent time in the mansion for days and weeks at a time. With its large verandah and lawn, its breathtaking view of the Potomac, and its many rooms, Mt. Vernon had a lot to offer its guests.

You won’t wonder why George Washington loved his home as you tour the grounds and mansion. Docents show you the way as you explore its rooms and halls. Sometimes groups can spend a lot of time in each room, hear everything the docent has to say about it, and ask questions. Other times, when the line is long, groups file through the mansion as an open house. You’ll still catch a lot of amazing trivia and hear stories about the mansion (ask about the green paint!) and its famous residents.

Another fascinating part of the Mt. Vernon experience is the education center where you’ll find detailed exhibits, a 4D film on the Revolutionary War, and many more facts about General Washington. We know you’ll leave this beautiful estate and its grounds with even more understanding and a greater respect for our first US President.

Other Washington DC Attractions:

select an attraction African American Civil War Museum and Memorial Anacostia Museum and Center Arlington National Cemetery Capitol Hill DEA Museum FDR Memorial Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Howard University Illuminations Tour International Spy Museum Jefferson Memorial Korean War Memorial Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Park Martin Luther King Memorial Library Mary McLeod Bethune House Mount Vernon National Cherry Blossom Tour National Cryptologic Museum National Gallery of Art National Law Enforcement Memorial National Law Enforcement Museum National Museum of Crime and Punishment National Vigilance Park National World War II Memorial Newseum Smithsonian Air and Space Smithsonian African Art Smithsonian American Art Smithsonian Museum of History Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall Smithsonian Native American Surratt House Museum The Pentagon The Awakening at National Harbor The Supreme Court U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum U.S. Marine Corps Memorial U.S. Naval Observatory Vietnam War Memorial Washington Monument White House Tours White House Visitors Center White House Photo Op