Day Trip to Mount Vernon from Washington DC

We've been on many, many tours around the world and found them all to be very good to excellent. Mt. Vernon is a wonderful place and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. But the bus ride there and back was beyond horrible. The driver, who also served as the tour guide, could not have been worse. The bus ride out, which was supposedly 30 minutes took two hours. During that time, the guide talked nonstop in a mostly unintelligible, repetitive, and ranting manner. He literally stopped in the middle of the streets in Alexandria for several minutes several times at a time while his ranting continued. On the main highways he drove no more than 25 MPH in the left hand lane, continuing with his nonstop rantings while other cars passed giving us glares and ugly gestures. If we could have found another way to return to DC we would have. Unfortunately we had to endure another hour and fifteen minutes on the return with not a minute of silence and several more stops to continue his unintelligible ranting. When asked why all this was taking so long and could we hurry up his 10 MPH second trip through Alexandria he responded that he thought he was being disrespected. The only disrespected people on this tour were the customers. The tour which was billed as 4.5 hours actually took 6.0. So anyone who scheduled another activity based on a 2:30 PM return was out of luck as we returned at 4:00. My advice is to only consider this tour if there is a new driver/guide. Otherwise you will feel like a hostage on a 3.25 hour bus ride as we did. Bottom line...worst tour ever.

This was a great day trip to Mount Vernon with a ride through Old Town Alexandria. Our tour guide, Charles, was amazing! HIs extensive knowledge and enthusiasm about our nation's history made the trip really informative and entertaining! I would definitely recommend the 10:00am start time which offers you the option to stay at Mount Vernon longer and return to DC with the 12:00 tour. Otherwise, you really don't have enough time to see all of Mount Vernon. I would have given this an excellent rating were it not for the check-in process (or lack thereof). I arrived at the departure location about 15 minutes before the tour was scheduled to leave. I did not see anyplace to check-in or any signs for the tour but I saw three tour buses, so figured I was in the right place. There was a group of tour employees standing on the sidewalk talking, using some very colorful language which I thought was somewhat inappropriate since they were all in uniform and obviously working. None of them acknowledged me as I walked around trying to figure out where I was supposed to go. Eventually I walked up to one of the buses to ask the driver, which is when one of the employees yelled to me that I needed to check in. I expained that I was there for the Mount Vernon trip and was told "It's not 10:00 yet, go sit by the trees and I will come get you when it's time". Not two minutes later, the same woman yelled to me that the bus had arrived. Despite my initial impression, it ended up being a really enjoyable day. Charles definitely made up for the lack of customer service I experienced to start the tour. I would absolutely recommend this trip!

Charles was our tour guide and I am glad we got him. He gave us excellent history details but also made the trip fun a put a lot of energy into what he does. His bus was clean and totally would find another tour he is leading. Well worth the money spent.

He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and funny. We really enjoyed it. He told lots of history of the different places and sites as we went along. He took his time and did not rush up the trip.

Traveled from Washington DC to Mount Vernon. We were shown sights in Alexandria along the way, toured Mt. Vernon, and visited Christ Church in Alexandria on the return trip. Our driver, Charles, was very knowledgeable about the area and its history, sharing same to complete our tour. Great job, Charles!!

This tour of the Washington’s home is amazing with a most knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide, Charles. Everyone who comes to DC needs to go to Mt. Vernon and learn about the father of our country and how he and his family lived. We left on time and arrived back a little later than the scheduled time, BUT we stopped for 15 minutes at Christ Church where the Washington’s and Lee’s attended church, which was a gem. Well worth the time and $ for this tour. The restaurant at Mt Vernon is awesome too!

The Tour Guide was extremely knowledgeable, he simply a joy to be around. The sites were Incredible and we had such a fantastic time learning about our history. THANK YOU

This was a great day! Our kids love everything about Mt Vernon and it was nice to spend time wandering the grounds and picking what you wanted to do. And we had the best tour guide- Charles! He was the most knowledgeable person and our kids put down their phones and moved to the front of the bus to listen to him the entire way there and back !

This was a great trip. Our guide, Charles, did a great job preparing us for what to see and gave us a lot of history along the way.

Awesome and educational experience with DC Trails tour company, Charles Smith is an excellent tour guide!!!

This was a great tour. We booked 10-300 pm but were able to stay later and were glad we did! There is so much to see and do at Mtn. Vernon- we only wished we had more time!

This was such a great tour and so much fun! I learned more and saw more than I could have imagined. I even sat in George Washington’s pew at Christ’s Church in Alexandria! Saw his house there and then toured his home and grounds at Mount Vernon. See it by bus. This is the way to go!

Pick-up on time. Lots of information given on the way, very relevant ones as far as the history was concerned and very clear as far as logistics was concerned.

The trip was delayed an hour because the bus did not accommodate the number of riders. The first part of the trip through Old Town was missed. Mt. Vernon was fine but we arrived late. The restaurant was closed.for an event. The food court was a.poor substitute. The best part of the trip was the driver, Charlie Smith, who tried.to make up for delays and kept such a positive attitude for all.

We had an awesome experience at Mount Vernon yesterday! Beautiful day for taking in the sights...my 8 year old daughter loved the children's challenge and free gift as well as brunch "at the restaurant that smells like bacon" (Mount Vernon Inn). My mother and I both had the Drunken French Toast and shared the Western Omelette and enjoyed a mimosa to celebrate her 70th birthday. Only a 20 minute wait despite crowds1 Highly recommend eating there. My daughter was sad to hear that after return to D.C., we would not be having dinner at the Inn. ;) Neither my mother nor daughter had been to Mount Vernon before and I really enjoyed experiencing it with them. The visitors center and shops are great. DEFINITELY stop in to see the Martha Washington impersonator, she is great. Our guide and bus driver, Charles, just made the entire trip. Our entire family enjoyed him and his knowledge is truly impressive. A truly kind soul with an admirable enthusiasm regarding our nation's history. Thank you so much, Charles, for making our trip one to remember always! Bus was really nice and clean, comfortable ride to and from Mount Vernon,

Difficult for a visitor to find the loading point at L'enfant plaza. Once found the trip was very good. Charles, our driver was informative and pleasant

Learned a lot from Charles Smith. Washington was a very interesting person. Bring your thinking cap.

The driver-guide was thirty minutes late and announced that the tour would take six hours. As we planned for a 4.5 hour tour we were surprised. We said nothing as the others on the tour seemed OK with the timing. We were a little concerned as we had evening plans which left a little room for a longer tour. The tour guide's dialogue was full of historical inaccuracies and hyperbole. When we were dropped at Mt. Vernon we were told to meet at 5:15 for the return trip. The park closes at 5:00. On the return trip as we were approaching the 6.5 trip duration I approached the driver to inform him that the excursion was supposed to be 4.5 hours long. He stated that no, it was 6 hours. and I was mistaken. He then offered to drop us at our hotel.

Excellent tour. Being there right after the snow and seeing that gave a special feeling. More stark, yet quite and peaceful, beautiful yet a feeling of isolation. Hearing the geese at twilight and little else made you feel it was 250 years ago. A must see any time of year. DC Tours and Bus Driver Charles Smith did an excellent job.