7 Days Around DC: Day Trip Plan

July 30, 2026

Seven days turns Washington DC into a genuine home base instead of just a city break! Day 1 anchors on the Mall, then six real day trips fan out: Alexandria, Mount Vernon, Annapolis, Baltimore, Great Falls, Harpers Ferry, and one long push to Gettysburg (swap in Shenandoah if you’d rather hike than tour a battlefield). Everything below runs in US dollars. Days 1, 2 and 5 run entirely on Metro, MARC and the seasonal Potomac water taxi. Day 4’s Annapolis bus runs once a day each way, so you build around its timetable. Days 3, 6 and 7 are the honest car days, rent one or budget for rideshare. Shorter trip? See 2 days , 4 days , 5 days , or 6 days .

Book these before you go

A hotel near the Mall or in Alexandria’s King Street corridor: compare rates on Booking.com
Mount Vernon’s skip-the-line combo ticket or a Potomac riverboat cruise: check options on Viator
A guided Gettysburg battlefield day tour, so someone else drives the 1h40: check options on GetYourGuide

Day	Focus	Travel	Rough Daily Cost (USD)
Day 1	DC core: the Mall, a Smithsonian, a memorial or two	Metro/walk	30-50
Day 2	Old Town Alexandria	Metro Blue/Yellow to King St, or seasonal water taxi	35-70
Day 3	Mount Vernon	Car, tour bus, or seasonal riverboat	70-90
Day 4	Annapolis + US Naval Academy	Once-daily direct bus, or car/rideshare	60-100
Day 5	Baltimore: Inner Harbor + National Aquarium	MARC/Amtrak, roughly 40 min	90-130
Day 6	Great Falls + Harpers Ferry	Car (Great Falls has zero transit options)	60-90
Day 7	Gettysburg, or Shenandoah’s Front Royal district	Car, 1h40+ each way	70-100

Day 1: DC Core Anchor

Land, drop your bags, and get straight onto the National Mall, this is the orientation day, not the deep dive (the bare-DC itinerary on this site covers the city in full depth).
Pick ONE Smithsonian for a couple of hours; most are free walk-up, but the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Air and Space Museum’s Mall building, and the National Zoo all require a free timed pass booked directly on the official .si.edu site, never a reseller.
Walk two or three memorials, the Lincoln, the WWII, the MLK, all free, unticketed, open 24 hours, genuinely better at night when the crowds thin out.
Dinner: a half-smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street, a DC institution, casual $12-20.
Get to bed early. Day 2 through Day 7 are where this itinerary actually earns its title.

Day 2: Old Town Alexandria

Metro Blue or Yellow Line straight to King St-Old Town, a few dollars each way, well under WMATA’s $6.75 max fare.
Or ride the seasonal Potomac water taxi from The Wharf, roughly $22 one-way, about a 30-minute crossing. It only runs March through December, so don’t plan on it for a January trip.
Cobblestone waterfront, colonial-era architecture, a genuinely walkable half or full day, Alexandria’s compact grid rewards just wandering it.
Lunch or dinner on the waterfront, casual seafood runs $12-20, tip 18-20% the US-standard way.
This is the easiest, most transit-friendly day trip on the whole list, no car required at any point.

Day 3: Mount Vernon

George Washington’s actual working estate, farm, and tomb, roughly 16 miles south of DC along the Potomac, $30 adult / $16 ages 6-11 / free under 6.
Open 9am-5pm April through October, 9am-4pm November through March. This is a paid historic-house museum, not the free Washington Monument sharing his name on the Mall, don’t mix the two up.
Get there by car, an organized tour bus, or (in season) the Potomac riverboat cruise from Alexandria or the Wharf.
Half a day covers the mansion, gardens, and tomb comfortably; grab lunch at Mount Vernon’s own dining hall or head back into Alexandria for the evening.

Day 4: Annapolis + US Naval Academy

Maryland’s state capital plus the US Naval Academy, about 33 miles and genuinely awkward without a car: there’s no direct train at all.
The cheapest car-free route is a once-daily direct bus, roughly $4-12, about 1h10, so this whole day gets built around a single departure and return time. Rideshare runs roughly $60-135 one-way if you skip the bus.
Naval Academy access is pedestrian-only, no vehicles on campus. Everyone 18 and over needs a REAL-ID-compliant photo ID or a passport. Guided tours run $12 adult / $11 senior / $10 child, 9am-5pm March through December with shorter winter hours.
A state-capital-plus-military-academy combo no other day trip on this list offers, genuinely worth the awkward transit.

Day 5: Baltimore

About 40 miles north, roughly 35-45 minutes by MARC or Amtrak straight out of Union Station. MARC is cheaper and slower, built around commuter schedules; Amtrak costs more and runs faster.
Inner Harbor waterfront plus the National Aquarium, $49.95 adult / $39.95 youth-senior, timed entry required, book ahead. The Friday-after-5pm walk-up slot runs half price if your schedule allows it.
Baltimore is a genuinely bigger, different city than the small-town Virginia and Maryland stops on this list, don’t undersell it as just another quaint half-day.
Casual crab cakes for lunch, $12-20, the Chesapeake specialty even though you’re technically eating it a state over from DC.

Day 6: Great Falls + Harpers Ferry

Great Falls: a dramatic Potomac gorge and rapids about 15 miles upriver. The Virginia side (NPS-run) charges $20 per vehicle, under-16s free. Essentially zero public transit reaches either side, this is a car or paid-rideshare stop, full stop.
Keep driving on to Harpers Ferry, WV, roughly 1h15 from DC, where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet and three states are visible from a single overlook.
Doing Harpers Ferry alone another day without a car? Amtrak’s Capitol Limited runs 7 days a week and stops there, departing DC mid-afternoon. MARC’s Brunswick Line only runs weekday commuter hours, it simply does not operate on weekends, don’t build a Saturday trip around it.
Combining both by car makes for a full day; splitting Harpers Ferry off onto its own Amtrak day works too if Great Falls alone feels like enough driving.

Day 7: Gettysburg (or Swap in Shenandoah)

Gettysburg, PA: roughly 85 miles, 1h40 or more each way by car, with no practical direct transit option. That’s a genuine 3-plus-hour round trip on top of touring the battlefield itself, this is the long day, not an easy add-on.
Prefer scenery and hiking to Civil War history? Swap in Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive instead. The nearest entrance, Front Royal, runs roughly 70-90 miles and 1h15-2h by car. Skyline Drive itself stretches 105 miles end to end, so pick that one northern district, not the whole park, for a single day.
Either way, this is the day to cut if you’re wiped out after six straight days of museums, gorges, and trains, better as an overnight than a rushed there-and-back.

Can You Do This Whole Week Without Renting a Car?

No, not entirely, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Days 1, 2 and 5 run cleanly on Metro, the water taxi, and MARC or Amtrak. Day 4’s Annapolis bus works but runs once a day each way. Great Falls and the Day 7 trip have no realistic transit option, so budget for a rental or a rideshare stretch.

Is the Day 7 Long Trip Actually Worth the Drive?

Only if you genuinely care about Civil War history or serious hiking, not just to fill a slot. Gettysburg and Shenandoah’s Front Royal district both demand a 3-plus-hour round trip on top of the visit itself. Worn out from six straight days of gorges and museums already? Skip Day 7, sleep in, and spend the morning back on the Mall instead.

Mount Vernon , the National Aquarium , Great Falls Park , and Destination DC are the four official sites worth bookmarking before you land, check current hours and any timed-pass requirements against them directly rather than a third-party listing.