Historical Travel Idea: Listen to the echoes under the US Capitol Dome.
Historical Travel Idea: Listen to the echoes under the US Capitol Dome.
Editors’ Notes: Washington DC is full of travel ideas, but this one may require a little extra work. While tours of the Capitol building are readily available (see the US Capitol Website), tours of the stately US Capitol Dome are a little more difficult, but not impossible. Not everyone knows about them, but tours of the U.S. Capitol Dome can be arranged by your congressional representative.
The four “steps”:
a) Contact the your congressional member’s office and make the request for a specific date. If you are not sure of who your representative is, check at the House of Representatives website.
b) If a congress member happens to be conducting a tour on the date you request, your name may be added to the tour depending on how full the tour is.
c) If not, then go to the alternate plan: ask your congress member’s congressional aide if they can contact the Office of the Architect of the Capitol to find out if there is a scheduled tour led by another congressional member that you can join. Since you cannot make this request directly, you must get your congress member’s office can make this request. Be prepared to be flexible about the date if you really want to do this; plan several days in town while Congress is in session to be sure to have the best chance of success.
d) The final step, after securing your reservation, is BE ON TIME and be prepared to walk up a LOT more steps.
But the views of the Rotunda from above and the city of Washington laid out below are amazing and well worth the effort.
This picture just had to be included: this is a view of the Rotunda floor from the second tier of the Capitol Dome Tour. You can even see the edge of the carefully carved handrails:
View of the Rotunda floor from the second tier of the Capitol Dome Tour
Travel Ideas Quick How To:
1 – Figure travel plan to Washington DC (DCA or IAD). If you don’t like heat, don’t go in the summer. Late September and early October are fabulous weather and Congress is generally in session (except maybe in an election year they get out early)
2 – Find a great place to stay. Since you’re going to encounter a piece of history, we suggest a stay at either an historic hotel or a conveniently located deluxe hotel. We suggest one of the lovely independent hotels right downtown, such as
The Jefferson Hotel which is located close to the White House or the
Hyatt Regency Washington DC which is within easy walking distance of the Capitol and Union Station.
For the ultimate experience, stay in one of the classic Washington hotels with views of the White House and the Washington Monument,
The Hay-Adams
3 – Don’t bother to rent a car – driving’s a hassle and there’s no place to park. The Metro (subway) can get you anywhere you want to go and taxi’s are not expensive if you get tired at the end of the day.
Travel Ideas Tags: US Capitol Dome, Washington DC, Historical Travel, Famous Places
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