I'm adding Baltimore since nobody did... lots of good museums for kids. It's a nice long weekend.

You would have to get pretty lucky with traffic to get to Mystic CT in five hours (and live in the northern edge of the dmv). We liked the finger lakes, went to closest part and rented a house on a lake and did some hiking and hung out in the lake.

Anonymous wrote:I posted this on another recent thread, and I’ll add a few ideas:

Lancaster, PA. Stay downtown. See what is current at the Fulton Theater, Prima Theater and The Ware Center.
https://thefulton.org/
https://artsmu.com/ware-center/
https://www.primatheatre.org/events

https://dutchapple.com/

Visit:
Central Market,
https://centralmarketlancaster.com/
James Buchanan’s Wheatland
https://www.lancasterhistory.org/about-wheatland/
Gallery Row
https://www.discoverlancaster.com/things-to-do/shopping/galleries/

The Marriott at Penn Square has spa facilities, but there are other hotel and AirBNB/VRBO options:
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lnsmc-l...enn-square/overview/

If during the spring or summer months, catch a Stormers’ game:
https://www.lancasterstormers.com/

A few dining suggestions:
https://www.belvederelancaster.com/
https://www.josephinesdowntown.com/
https://www.401primelancaster.com/
https://www.lancastersweetshoppe.com/

Just for fun, Decades bowling and video games
https://www.decadeslancaster.com/

Dutch Wonderland:
https://www.dutchwonderland.com/?utm_id=GMBtraffic&utm_medium=OrganicGMB&utm_source=google

Choo Choo Barn
https://choochoobarn.com/
Strasburg Railroad
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=local_gbp
Railroad Museum
https://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

My son and I also really enjoyed Kitchen Kettle Village.

Anonymous wrote:I posted this on another recent thread, and I’ll add a few ideas:

Lancaster, PA. Stay downtown. See what is current at the Fulton Theater, Prima Theater and The Ware Center.
https://thefulton.org/
https://artsmu.com/ware-center/
https://www.primatheatre.org/events

https://dutchapple.com/

Visit:
Central Market,
https://centralmarketlancaster.com/
James Buchanan’s Wheatland
https://www.lancasterhistory.org/about-wheatland/
Gallery Row
https://www.discoverlancaster.com/things-to-do/shopping/galleries/

The Marriott at Penn Square has spa facilities, but there are other hotel and AirBNB/VRBO options:
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lnsmc-l...enn-square/overview/

If during the spring or summer months, catch a Stormers’ game:
https://www.lancasterstormers.com/

A few dining suggestions:
https://www.belvederelancaster.com/
https://www.josephinesdowntown.com/
https://www.401primelancaster.com/
https://www.lancastersweetshoppe.com/

Just for fun, Decades bowling and video games
https://www.decadeslancaster.com/

Dutch Wonderland:
https://www.dutchwonderland.com/?utm_id=GMBtraffic&utm_medium=OrganicGMB&utm_source=google

Choo Choo Barn
https://choochoobarn.com/
Strasburg Railroad
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=local_gbp
Railroad Museum
https://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

Adding Sight & Sound is an evangelical theater but their Noah show with live animals and the ark is incredible. We’re agnostic and love it.

We've done a lot of these (Philly, Lancaster, Williamsburg, Cape May) but one I haven't seen is Legoland up in Goshen, NY. Stayed one night in the Legoland hotel and one night in a Home2Suites then drove back down via the Jersey shore and stayed over there with friends/family.

I posted this on another recent thread, and I’ll add a few ideas:

Lancaster, PA. Stay downtown. See what is current at the Fulton Theater, Prima Theater and The Ware Center.
https://thefulton.org/
https://artsmu.com/ware-center/
https://www.primatheatre.org/events

https://dutchapple.com/

Visit:
Central Market,
https://centralmarketlancaster.com/
James Buchanan’s Wheatland
https://www.lancasterhistory.org/about-wheatland/
Gallery Row
https://www.discoverlancaster.com/things-to-do/shopping/galleries/

The Marriott at Penn Square has spa facilities, but there are other hotel and AirBNB/VRBO options:
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lnsmc-l...enn-square/overview/

If during the spring or summer months, catch a Stormers’ game:
https://www.lancasterstormers.com/

A few dining suggestions:
https://www.belvederelancaster.com/
https://www.josephinesdowntown.com/
https://www.401primelancaster.com/
https://www.lancastersweetshoppe.com/

Just for fun, Decades bowling and video games
https://www.decadeslancaster.com/

Dutch Wonderland:
https://www.dutchwonderland.com/?utm_id=GMBtraffic&utm_medium=OrganicGMB&utm_source=google

Choo Choo Barn
https://choochoobarn.com/
Strasburg Railroad
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=local_gbp
Railroad Museum
https://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

Anonymous wrote:There is so much in this area within 5 hours!

Beaches - DE, NJ, VA
Mountains - WV, VA, MD, PA
Specific towns not already mentioned:
Slippery Rock, PA
Colonial Beach, VA
Harpers Ferry / Charles Town / Sheppardstown
Staunton VA
Blacksburg VA
Lurray VA
Irvington VA
St Michael's MD
Calverton Cliffs MD

I went to school in Slippery Rock (SRU). Just curious what you considered when adding it to this list.

Roanoke is another option with some fun museums, etc.

Anonymous wrote:There is so much in this area within 5 hours!

Beaches - DE, NJ, VA
Mountains - WV, VA, MD, PA
Specific towns not already mentioned:
Slippery Rock, PA
Colonial Beach, VA
Harpers Ferry / Charles Town / Sheppardstown
Staunton VA
Blacksburg VA
Lurray VA
Irvington VA
St Michael's MD
Calverton Cliffs MD

It is actually one of the great things about the DC location - access to beaches, Bay, forests, state and national parks...pretty much anything from NC/VA/WVA/PA/NJ, parts of NY and DE.

There are lots of great suggestions already. One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Mystic, CT which has a great museum for kids called the Mystic Seaport Museum. There is also a good aquarium.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg I guess. Camping maybe in the national forests? I mean, NYC? That’s it.

You need to get out more. There are tons of places to go within 5-6 hours.

Pittsburgh and Philly are both great trips with kids. There are tons of things to do for kids of varying ages. Richmond and Baltimore too but those could be day trips.

I get out more than 99%. But most places aren’t worth my time around here. Why would I ever go to Pittsburgh if I can go to London?

So lame. If you can’t enjoy anything in the array of cities, mountains, national parks, historical sites, small towns, and beaches within 5 hours of DC, that’s kind of sad. Definitely not a flex showing how cool you are. More like jaded and/or snobbish.

Anonymous wrote:For those with dogs, are any of these recs dog-friendly?

Dog friendly how?

We stay in airbnbs most places, I've never had a problem finding dog friendly rentals anywhere we've gone. Hikes and general outdoorsiness are always dog friendly. For beaches, as long as you go outside memorial day-labor day, we've been able to enjoy them with the dogs. Hilton head (farther than 5 hours) is allows off leash dogs under voice control outside of the busy season.

Anonymous wrote:Of the DC metro.

No other parameters - just curious what others have found. I’m getting more and more tired of flying and want to explore the mid Atlantic more.

How old are your kids? Have you done Busch Gardens?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg I guess. Camping maybe in the national forests? I mean, NYC? That’s it.

You need to get out more. There are tons of places to go within 5-6 hours.

Pittsburgh and Philly are both great trips with kids. There are tons of things to do for kids of varying ages. Richmond and Baltimore too but those could be day trips.

I get out more than 99%. But most places aren’t worth my time around here. Why would I ever go to Pittsburgh if I can go to London?

Lots of great ideas. I’m sure of these are repeats, but:
-Historic St. Mary’s City + Piney Point Lighthouse & surrounding area
-Assateague Island
-Shenandoah NP/Shenandoah River State Park/Luray Caverns
-Lancaster/Strasburg, PA— trains, covered bridges, etc.
-western MD— New Germany State Park, Casselman River Bridge, other state parks
-Philly
-Pittsburgh
-Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown
-Norfolk/Newport News/Hampton— battleship, Chrysler Art Museum, Fort Monroe, air and space museum, Virginia Living Museum
-Gettysburg
-Richmond
-Appomattox
-Raleigh/Durham
-Kitty Hawk
-state parks in West Virginia
-Natural Bridge/Frontier Culture Museum