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Private Washington DC Tour with Changing of the Guard Ceremony

Recommended by 99% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Washington DC, USA
Great choice
10+ bookings last month.
  • 4 hours (approx.)
  • Pickup offered
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

    What's Included

    • Hotel pickup and drop-off.
    • Escorted DC Licensed Tour Guide to sites, unless parking is not available.
    • Flexibility to customize the visit to your requests.
    • WiFi on board
    • Mobile charging stations.
    • Bottled water
    • Gratuities.
    • White House entrance (not open to the public)
    • U.S. Capitol entrance tickets.

    Meeting and Pickup

    Pickup points

    Select a pickup point

    Pickup details

    Pick up location must be within Washington DC area.

    Itinerary

    Washington DC (Pass By)

    1

    White House

    20 minutesAdmission Ticket Not Included

    Federal Triangle (Pass By)

    2

    U.S. Capitol

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Not Included

    Smithsonian Institution Building (Pass By)

    Washington Monument (Pass By)

    3

    National World War II Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

    4

    Lincoln Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

    5

    Vietnam Veterans Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

    6

    Korean War Veterans Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

    7

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Included

    8

    Arlington National Cemetery

    1 hour 30 minutesAdmission Ticket Included

    9

    U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Included

    10

    Air Force Memorial

    15 minutesAdmission Ticket Included

    Additional Info

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Not wheelchair accessible
    • Stroller accessible
    • Most travelers can participate
    • No wheelchairs, neither proficient handling available. Vehicles are Panoramic Mini-bus, not equipped with handicap hydraulic accessibility. However, a transport chair can be accommodated.
    • Not Allowed: Smoking, Eating, Drinking or Bringing Foods inside vehicles. Thank you!
    • This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

    Cancellation Policy

    You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

    Traveler Photos

    Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

    Reviews

    4.9
    based on 191 reviews
    Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

    Highly Recommend

    Natasha_P, Apr 2026
    I highly recommend this tour to see all the sights in D.C. Frank was a great tour guide. Our family really enjoyed the tutor

    Changing of the Guard tour

    Jeanne_R, Mar 2026
    Knowledgeable tour guide and very accommodating. My husband has a bad ankle so we should have taken a shuttle becatit was a very long walk

    Excellent

    Candace_K, Mar 2026
    Tour guide was pleasant, friendly and engaging. She was so patient with us when my husband couldn’t find his way back to the meeting place putting us behind schedule. She was willing to go over the time allotted for the tour and go the extra mile to show us things we requested.

    Great private tour

    Ranae_O, Feb 2026
    This was a very informative tour with lots of stops along the way. Louie was great! Enjoyed all the history he shared with us. He was very polite and helpful. Gave us plenty of time for us to look around and take pictures. Our only problem was the weather. It started raining on us but drove us through a lot of the city pointing out museums and buildings. He gave us suggestions for viewing on other days of our visit. Great tour and wonderful guide!

    Great experience with...

    sandra_e, Feb 2026
    Great experience with wonderful tour guide Louie who created the tour according to the places we wanted to see. We learned a lot about the early history of Washington DC and the USA, from the revolution to the inauguration and assassination of Lincoln. We also enjoyed the newer monuments like Martin Luther King, Korean memorial and Eisenhower monument.

    GREAT DC tour with Family

    Dena_G, Dec 2025
    This was a perfect tour if you have just a few hours in DC. We hit up all the famous landmarks and we had enough time to walk around the sites we were most interested in seeing. Frank, our tour guide, was so knowledgeable, friendly and respectful- we enjoyed spending a few hours with him. We especially appreciated his communication with us before and during our tour. We took this tour with my parents, aunt and uncle so we appreciated the big and comfortable van that allowed easy on and off access for them.

    Louie was awesome!

    Susie_C, Nov 2025
    Our tour guide Louie was so good. He was professional and knowledgeable. We had learned so much about our country and our history. Amazing experience. He was also courteous and extremely helpful. He had made our day wonderful!!

    DC tour

    Greg_S, Nov 2025
    Lots of walking at Arlington cemetery. We saw quite a few sites. Take snacks and water to stay hydrated.

    Excellent tour and guide in dc

    Kerry_B, Nov 2025
    Very good experience our tour guide Louis was very informative and gave us the best facts about all our tour site visits . Very friendly and. Very good at his dates and information .. fully recommend this trip

    Private Guided DC Tour

    Verdell_F, Oct 2025
    Angela was a great tour guide. Very knowledgeable about the history of DC. And the areas of interest. A private guide is the way to go.

    Phenomenal Tour Guide = Phenomenal Tour

    Jeff_O, Oct 2025
    The guide we were assigned, Louie (not sure if that's spelled right) was phenomenal. He was very knowledgeable, personable, funny, and would answer questions. He didn't push any agenda and just cited facts without putting any bias into the content. We loved him so much that we requested him for our next day's tour to Mount Vernon. Our first night in DC was a horrible experience because of a very bad tour guide. Louie was the exact opposite. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Louie to ANYONE!

    Response from Host, Oct 2025

    Journal Tour & Travel appreciates your feedback. All our tour guides complete training at our company’s tour guide academy “Evolution” and are evaluated before leading their first group. We focus on customer service and professionalism is in what we excel. Sorry to hear about your first night city’s negative impression; Wise decision on switching companies and letting us change that. We appreciate your generous tipping to Louie and look forward to welcoming more visitors from Utah next year during the nation's capital 250th Independence Anniversary celebrations. It will be spectacular!!

    See the city and monuments.

    Scott_W, Sep 2025
    Our tour guide Louie was great, very informative and went above and beyond for us. If you are thinking of doing it just hit the book button.

    Washington Dc

    Wendy_R, Sep 2025
    It was an amazing tour. The changing of the guard was so moving. I would highly recommend this tour. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable.

    Greatest tour guide ever!!!

    Lori_K, Jul 2025
    Angela was the nicest, sweetest and most informative guide we have ever met! She is truly a treasure!!! Can't say enough kind words about our experience! Angela had water if we needed it and even umbrellas when it was raining! She even dropped us off at our dinner reservation restaurant! Thanks for the wonderful experience!!!

    Lou the tour guide was very knowledgeable And informative Answer any quest pose to him I would recommend your tour

    Imma_C, Jul 2025
    Excellent experience with your tour .Lou the tour guy was very knowledgeable and informative I would recommend your go.

    Very good guide and the...

    Robert_P, Jul 2025
    Very good guide and the sites which was covered was very good with nice explanation about Washington DC

    This private tour was...

    Guy_B, Jul 2025
    This private tour was much better than a group tour, and we were able to customize it. Our driver/guide (Louie) knew so much about Washington DC. and he was great with the kids!

    Do Not Use in NYC

    Eileen_P, Jul 2025
    Very poorly organized - many of staff were not given necessary information and tour was constantly changing the plan The tour listed 12 "Inclusions" and we only got to do two. And that was after begging to have a second day - otherwise we would have only gotten one.

    Response from Host, Jul 2025

    This review has been reported as a false claim. It's posted to the wrong business. Journal Tour & Travels is an inbound tour operator based in Washington DC, we do not provide services in New York City. Reasons: 1. Eileen_P : We have not provided any service to this customer, our data does not show any information with this name. 2. The review states a service provided in New York City, and we do not provide services in NYC. We are based in Washington DC. 3. The review states the customer had a second day, that means the service was a multiday. 4. The reported review was posted on our Private Washington DC Tour with Changing of the Guard Ceremony, which is a 4 hrs. experience. It is concerning to see a review attributed to our business that does not relate to us. The review should be assigned to the individual or business who provided the service mentioned by the customer. We are committed to delivering excellent service in the Nation's Capital "Washington DC".

    Louie is the best tour guide

    Barbara_W, Jun 2025
    Louie was our guide and he was absolutely the very best! So nice kind and knew so much history and facts about every stop and every building . I am 71 and traveled with my daughter son in law and two grandsons. He was so informative and we all learned so much from him. He told facts and stories about all of the historical people and made it very interesting. We all feel like we learned so many details about our country and are grateful we had Louie! He was kind and helped me when I had trouble walking back to the Tomb of the unknown soldier and kept the pace slower. We couldn’t have had a better experience and will recommend your tour to everyone we know. The whole experience was amazing.

    Loved the guide,...

    Maryann_C, Jun 2025
    Loved the guide, knowledge and felt like vip the entire time. Personal and super fun being with our own group and our own private tour guide

    Great Personal tour

    Michele_l, May 2025
    Wonderful experience. Louie was a great guide, sharing historical facts and keeping interesting for teenagers!

    Highly recommend for family

    Kevin_M, May 2025
    This experience was very neat, and me and my family enjoyed it! Our tour guide was very informative and also personable! He was flexible when we requested to visit the Basilica, and overall it was a great experience that I would highly recommend!

    Thanks Frank!

    Michael_P, Apr 2025
    If we could give Frank 6 stars he would deserve every single one. Enthusiastic, engaging with the kids, never rushed, and great and getting us the best experience, our tour with Frank and Journal Tour and Travels was hands down the highlight of our last minute trip to DC. Thanks Frank! We learned a lot, saw a lot, and enjoyed on time with you.

    Our guide Louie was very...

    Mario_F, Apr 2025
    Our guide Louie was very knowledgeable about the city and kept our son engaged throughout the experience. He was also flexible with the itinerary bypassing sites we had seen already and adding new ones. This was a great selection for us.

    Recommend highly

    Liz_R, Mar 2025
    It was a great intimate experience, with great history lessons. Full day tour, the changing of the guards at Arlington cemetery was our favorite

    Get a best of tour in half a day.

    Brian_W, Feb 2025
    We had a great time. Jack was a great guide and new all the best places to be at the right time. Very educational about the area and its history.

    Great Tour!

    April_K, Feb 2025
    This was a great way to see several DC highlights as well as Arlington. Our driver was knowledgeable and friendly and made sure we had the time we wanted at each location.

    Awesome tour and guide!

    Renaee_H, Dec 2024
    Arlington changing of the guard, Jefferson memorial, Capital Christmas tree. Louie was a great guide and driver.

    Wonderful

    Jesse_C, Dec 2024
    The guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. Supplied many historical facts we were not aware of.

    Great DC Overview

    Wesley_L, Nov 2024
    Great time for the whole family! A perfect way to start your DC trip. Easy, informative, and inspiring.
    From
    -10%

    $450.00

    per group (up to 10)
    Was $500.00

    up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

    Book ahead!
    On average, this is booked 36 days in advance.

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