Washington and the Smithsonian Museums
 

I'll be visiting Washington later this year to get a look at the spaceflight collections in both the National Mall and the Udvar-Hazy buildings of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Is anyone here familiar with the area? Is it better to take a hotel near Dulles Airport (and go to the city center by bus) - or to take a hotel in the city and go out to Chantilly by bus? So far I only found out that there is a connecting bus running along the east side of the airport leading to Udvar-Hazy, and an express bus from the airport to the city center, close to all the sights there, which I also want to see of course (White House, Capitol, Lincoln Memorial,...)

So what would you suggest for a 3 day trip?

NCC, I was but a wee laddie when I visited DC, and that was a hundred years ago...or so it seems, LOL. I can't even remember the name of the place we visited, but it had a 5 story tall movie screen in a theater that really induced a sense of vertigo when you watched aerial sequences. It shames me that I cannot remember the name of the place, but I will never forget that feeling. (A feeling that was replicated when I went to DisneyLand for the second time in my life-- NJROTC trip when I was a junior in high school--, and watched a movie on CircleVision 360.)

And which place is better for a hotel? Airport or city center?

I'm no help with Washington, except that I know traffic is hell there. Sorry I can't help, but I hope you have a fun trip!