One of the items on my bucket list for the longest time has been to view the cherry blossoms at Washington DC. I knew it would be a beautiful site to see! In preparation, I had been checking the National Park Service’s Bloom Watch to see when their prediction of peak bloom would be, and planned my weekend that way.
Key Takeaways
- Do yourself a favor and prepare on when you want to visit Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms.
- To help with planning, check out different resources available online:
- Consider the different travel options (e.g., driving with your own vehicle, taking the metro, calling Uber/Lyft/car service, cycling) that you have available.
Commuting in
I knew the area would be crowded, so I wanted to take the Metro, thinking that it would make traveling easier. However, after I got in the train cart, I noticed that many other folks were taking the Metro during the same time, thus making the commute to the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stops even longer. The train cart would stop at every location for at least 5 minutes before leaving the station again. What was supposed to be a 25-minute trip ended up being 1 hour and 15-minute metro ride.
At the station that I got off at, which was Federal Triangle, many people were trying to exit while others were trying to enter the station, causing a lot of congestion and bottlenecks. It made me wonder if driving to Tidal Basin or going at a different time would have made the commute and this part of the experience better.
It took another 15 minutes or so by walking to get to the Washington Monument, which is where I noticed the cherry blossoms! I really wanted to get to the Tidal Basin, however I knew it would be another trek to walk over there. So my partner and I opted to stay around the Washington Monument instead and enjoyed the view there.
I also got to see a lot of different kites, as it was also Blossom Kite Festival that took place during that time!
Commuting Out
After walking back to Federal Triangle station, there was a long line of folks trying to enter the station. Knowing that it would probably take over an hour to get back, I opted to call an Uber instead.
💠FINAL THOUGHTS
- I’m happy I finally got to see the cherry blossoms in DC!
- Would I go back? Possibly. Knowing what I know now, I would consider going at a different time or take a different method.