Top things to do in Washington DC in Summer (Updated September 2026)

James and Chris made this a great experience! I would highly recommend! Wasn’t sure if it worth it prior to. The convenience of not driving to each monument and the history given by your guides made seeing so many sites possible in 3 hours.

It is absolutely beautiful at night to view the many monuments. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and made the evening a fabulous experience!

The Washington Monument was very interesting. The elevator was broken down but within 15 minutes they had it fixed. Well worth going inside and up to the top. The views are amazing!

If you are like me, you hate Cool Washington DC and everyone like them for charging you $25 for something you should be entitled to (as a tax-paying American Citizen) for $1. The reality is that we need to take it up with the National Park Service. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed. In the meantime, unfortunately we are stuck in this environment, and the tickets are nearly impossible to get. My wife and I tried several times to get tickets through the Recreation.gov site and they were sold out in mere seconds.I was extremely skeptical about giving my money to Cool Washington DC under the "no refunds, no cancellations" policy. But when all was said and done, it worked. I even had to change my scheduled time due to a conflict about a week before our trip, and they accommodated it. I paid for 5 tickets, and they showed up attached to an email exactly when they were supposed to (the night before the tour). Even then, I was worried that the tickets wouldn't work, but when they were scanned at the entrance, it worked.My advice if you elect to use Cool Washington DC is to follow their directions EXACTLY. The vouchers and receipts will not work. The real tickets attached to the email you receive the night before your tour are the only things that count. Follow directions and hopefully you'll be successful like we were.The tour itself was well worth it. The views are awesome from the top and it was a great experience for the whole family. Love them or hate them, Cool Washington DC will do exactly what they advertise. Hopefully some day it's not that hard to get tickets. But for now, if this is your only solution, go for it. I can attest to the fact that it does work.

The tour guide, Christina, did a great job. I highly recommend this tour- it was educational and entertaining.

It was absolutely amazing, a total must for anybody going to Washington DC, and the adults will love it just as much as the kids.

Kevin was amazing! We have done a lot of ghost tours in a lot of cities and this was one of the better ones. Highly recommended.

Loved it. Kevin was personable and fun!

If you are doing the red and blue loops, I would suggest riding all the way to the Arlington cemetery and getting off to enjoy that one first.

Great tour experience with a well rounded entertaining guide that knew the material well and was able to answer related questions about the surroundings. A fair amount of walking is involved on city sidewalk and building stairs. Would be wise to schedule near your trip time to accommodate weather conditions.

Leigh was our guide and she was amazing. So knowledgeable, easy going and fun. The city was very crowded but Leigh maneuvered through heavy traffic like a pro. I can't say enough good things about Leigh. Definitely recommend her!

We were apprehensive about spending $70 each for the Moonlight tour but we were pleasantly surprised how great it was. Smiley was an excellent guide and made it fun, he REALLY enjoys his job! I highly recommend the tour. DC in the Moonlight is definitely better than Escanaba in the Moonlight (I'm from Michigan).

The trolley was open, no A/C. The driver was professional, kind, helpful and informative. Easy to get on and off. Seats are more like benches, a bit small for 2 people. Thoroughly enjoyed the sights which included Arlington National Cemetery.

Smiley was our driver and what an incredible experience!!! He delivered in a major way. We are visiting from San Diego, California and this is worth the spend!!! Educational, wonderful experience, entertaining, time well spent and so much more. Smiley’s personality, knowledge and experience shined through in our tour. 5 star driver and tour guide!! Thank you!

Devaughn was amazing, very knowledgeable!

It was a beautiful day of seeing Washington DC. We wonderful and knowledgeable guides that shared history and fun facts.