Trip Hacks DC

One of the best things about Washington, DC is that there are so many amazing and iconic sites. But there are also a lot of incredible gems! Visitors to the Nation's Capital spend a lot of their time downtown and on the National Mall, but there is also a desire to explore behind Federal Washington. A new book helps locals and visitors participate in quests to discover new areas. In this episode Ro...

Washington, DC tourism is different compared to pre-pandemic. But how different? What changed exactly? In this episode Rob walks through many of the ways that Washington, DC tourism has changed – from the best areas to stay, federal government site status, and restaurants closings. Then we’ll look ahead together to what’s to come in 2023. There are some exciting developments on the horizon but als...

Washington DC is a city of neighborhoods. There are actually over 100 neighborhoods in the nation's capital. The best itinerary for visitors is a mix of downtown federal government sites and local neighborhood experiences. In this episode you'll hear from Paige Muller, Chief Experience Officer of Curious Caravan , a custom trip planning service that curates one-of-a-kind adventures and itineraries...

Washington DC is a museum city. People who visit often have ambitions of visiting many of our museums, but the reality is there are far too many to check out on a single trip. In this episode you'll hear from Noelle Harada, a TikTok creator who set a goal in 2022 to visit every museum in Washington DC. She is documenting each museum visit with a video and review. Full show notes are available on t...

A vast majority of historic sites in Washington DC are dedicated to men in history. When you visit you'll find huge monuments to presidents and military leaders and other men who made an impact on our country. Sites to American women exist but there are fewer of them and you need to know where to look. In this episode you'll hear from Kaitlin Calogera & Rebecca Grawl, authors of the book 111 Place...

Sometimes it's useful to get a new or different perspective. A fresh set of eyes can highlight things that locals don't notice because we live here and see the city every day. In this episode you'll hear from Megan Marod, a licensed New York City tour guide who has visited Washington, DC several times over the past year. She shares some of the things she learned from those trips and offers tips to...

Washington, DC is a fantastic destination for the Fourth of July. There are major events like the National Independence Day Parade, a Capitol Fourth concert and the fireworks - plus a handful of smaller events. It's a fun day but important to know what to expect so you can navigate the crowds, road closures and summer heat. In this episode Rob consolidates all of his Fourth of July advice in one p...

When you’re planning a trip, where to stay, which hotel, and what area, is a big decision. It’s why one of the first things I did after I started Trip Hacks DC was create a where to stay guide . In this episode you'll learn about all eleven recommend areas. What are the pros of each area? What are the cons of each area? And what are some solid hotel choices in each? Plus, what are the areas where...

When you visit Washington, DC you will almost certainly check out the major monuments and memorials on the National Mall. Over the past few years, several new monuments have opened around the city. These are monuments both to former presidents and to major wars. Because they opened during the pandemic, their ceremonies didn't have much fanfare. In this episode Rob is joined by guest Carolyn Murask...

For the first time in three years National Cherry Blossom Festival events are back in person. This is an exciting development after years of missing out on one of the most anticipated events in Washington, DC. However, it's important to know what's changed and how. In this episode Rob is joined by Diana Mayhew. She is the President of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the nonprofit organizatio...

When is the best time of year to travel? What's the best process to choose a hotel? How do you find the best tours and experiences in a destination? In this episode Rob takes the mic to tackle all of these questions and more. He brings his decade of experience as a tour guide and applies it to how he travels. It's a different perspective than you'll hear from a frequent or professional traveler, b...

Are travelers coming back to Washington, DC? Is the tourism industry recovering? The answer is yes. But also no. It's complicated. The only way to properly explain it is to walk through what 2021 was like month by month.  In this episode Rob takes the mic for a solo podcast. He talks about how Trip Hacks DC tour business fared in 2021 and what the experience was like to own a Washington DC tour bu...

How do you book your airfare, hotels, and tours? What websites do you use? What would you think if I told you that the websites you use to book your trip could make or break your travel experience? This is an important topic whether you're traveling to Washington, DC or elsewhere! In this episode Rob takes the mic for a solo podcast. He covers a topic that very few tour industry insiders will publ...

Trip Hacks DC is primarily a source of travel content for Washington, DC visitors. But once visitors get here, especially when they sign up for a Trip Hacks DC tour, they have a lot of questions and curiosities about what it's like to live in DC. If you're planning to move here, hopefully you'll find plenty of useful information in this episode. If you're just visiting, hopefully this episode help...

At the time of recording there are nearly 200 Trip Hacks DC YouTube videos and dozens of podcast episodes with travel tips galore! But how do you tie all of those tips together into a tip itinerary? This episode's guest walks you through how he took the tips he learned from Trip Hacks DC and designed an itinerary around them. Rob welcomes Doug McKnight to the podcast. Doug is a fellow podcaster an...

Washington, DC visitors all know about the major sites - the monuments, memorials, museums and historic places. But there is so much more out there! There is an entire "secret" side of Washington, DC that many visitors, and even some locals, never truly discover. A new book tells the stories of some of the places. In this episode Rob welcomes Washington, DC based author JoAnn Hill to the podcast....

Travelers have a plethora of restaurant choices when they visit Washington, DC. Everyone wants to eat well but many travelers also want to know how to support the businesses that are rooted in the local community. The reality is, if you want to sample some of the quintessential DC foods you need to check out some Black owned businesses while you're here. In this episode Rob welcomes Washington, DC...

There are so many fun things to do when you visit Washington, DC that the options can feel overwhelming. You might wonder: are free tours any good? Is it worth it to splurge on a private tour experience? Is the best mode of transportation to see the monuments by foot, bike, Segway, or bus? In this episode we tackle all of these questions so you can pick out the best Washington DC tours when you vi...

In this podcast episode you'll learn about a great areas to stay (and avoid) on your Washington DC trip. Plus what amenities to look for in a hotel, how to do your research, and a few tips for finding the best deals. Chris Raney from Yellow Productions joins Rob for this conversation. On Chris's YouTube channel , he produces travel videos that are fun, informative and entertaining. You can also ke...

Covid-19 has significantly disrupted the 2021 inauguration. Unfortunately that means the excited crowds, the parade and parties from past inaugurations won't really happen this year. Instead, we rounded up some of our favorite stories from past presidential inaugurations to give you a sense of what a more typical inauguration is like. Some of these stories are pretty wild! In this episode Rob is j...

After months of closures and travel restrictions, some are starting to get back out and explore. Washington, DC is slowly but surely reopening tourist sites and attractions. However, it's extremely important to set realistic expectations and research every detail of your trip. You don't want to be disappointed or caught of guard once you arrive the nation's capital. In this episode Rob is joined b...

2020 is a rough year for the Washington, DC travel industry. Halfway through the year, it's clear that tourism is not going to be the same because of Covid-19. As a result, it's time to discuss the future of Trip Hacks DC. In this episode Rob takes the mic for a solo podcast. He takes a behind-the-scenes look at what the decline in tour revenue has meant for the company. And what the future holds...

Whether you're looking for something to watch during the 2020 quarantine or trying to get inspired for an upcoming trip, these Washington, DC movies will provide hours of entertainment. Washington, DC doesn't have nearly as many movies set here as New York or Los Angeles, but there are still plenty of gems. In this episode Rob is joined by Ronald Young Jr. He is the owner of OhitsBigRon Studios an...

What is Washington, DC tourism going to look like post COVID-19? We don’t know! No one does. Rather than guess wildly about the future we thought it would be more useful to look back for lessons from how things changed over the past few decades. How did 9/11, government shutdowns, new sports venues and Uber change the way that visitors experience Washington, DC? In this episode Rob is joined by Ti...

The Washington, DC tourism industry is upended because of Coronavirus. In fact, that's true every where in the world as there is currently nowhere that safe for travel. There were many hints that a crisis was coming, but the damage happened quickly and painfully. In this episode Rob takes the mic for a solo podcast. He describes the first three months of 2020 from the perspective of a small tour c...