Inside the Washington Monument (for Free!)
During our road trip in the eastern part of the United States, we spent a few days in Washington. Our eyes were quickly drawn to the tall tower, the Washington Monument. After doing some research, it turned out you can visit this tower for free. This article contains the information you need to go inside the Washington Monument for free!
Across from the Washington Monument, you’ll find the ticket office. This ticket office opens every morning at 8:45 AM. Day tickets are issued from this time. Once they’re gone, they’re gone! The line at the ticket office can get quite long, as people often wait in line for an hour or even longer. We were quite far back, but were still lucky enough to get a ticket. You do have to choose a time slot on the spot. The further back you are in the line, the fewer options there are. This wasn’t a problem for us, as we had the entire day.
See our Google Maps map of America for the location of the ticket office!
You can get a maximum of 6 tickets per person. So if you’re in a group, you don’t all have to queue together.
Can You Book a Ticket in Advance to get Inside the Washington Monument?
Don’t feel like waiting in line for an hour or more or getting a time slot you don’t like? Then you can reserve a ticket either 30 days or 24 hours in advance via the official Washington Monument website. Beware, this isn’t completely free! You’ll pay a one-dollar reservation fee. Still, very little money for the beautiful view you get in return! The website states that you’re booking a tour. Below you can read exactly what that means.
Once Inside the Washington Monument
If you’re the lucky one to get a ticket, it’s time to head up. Don’t worry, you don’t have to walk. You’ll take a high-speed elevator to the top of the Monument. A ranger will be waiting there to give you some more information. You’ll also receive helpful information from the staff throughout the entire process. They’re incredibly friendly. It took us about 30 minutes to explore everything (from the bottom up and back again). After that, it was time to move on to our next activity in Washington: the Washington Nationals Baseball game!
Accommodation tip in Washington (Hostel): Duo Housing
