Washington Night bus tours put you on a coach at a downtown kerb at about 7:30pm for three hours of stops at the lit memorials. Most seats cost $58 to $69, and the coaches differ on where you board and what the ticket in some titles buys.
Leaves Navy Memorial Plaza at 7:30pm in a closed-top coach, and the guide gets off with you at nine stops of 15 to 20 minutes, the flag raisers across the river among them. The glass-top upgrade costs more.
From $58 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Starts under the Knapp Arch at the Smithsonian station, so the Metro drops you at the kerb. Twelve short stops of 5 to 15 minutes, a bus or a van depending on numbers, and a phone charger on board.
From $55 per person an offer fare to 30 Sep 2026; regular $69
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Meets outside the National Archives at 790 Pennsylvania Avenue. Be there by 7pm: the coach leaves at 7:30 and does not wait. The guide walks with you at each stop, and next-day museum or monument tickets are an add-on.
From $63 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A holiday-season run of three hours in a climate-controlled coach from Navy Memorial Plaza, with five stops of about 20 minutes at the big Christmas trees and light displays, two of them across the river in Virginia and Maryland.
From $69 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Arrive by 7pm outside the National Archives for a coach of up to 40. Nine stops of 15 to 20 minutes with a guide who stays beside you, bottled water, and next-day entry tickets as an add-on at checkout.
From $63 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A convertible minibus of up to 15 from Navy Memorial Plaza, with nine stops of about 15 minutes. The top is glass from October to March, and the fare is well above a coach seat for the smaller group.
From $109 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Three hours by coach for $58 a person, with a guide who gets off at every stop and a crossing of the river to the flag raisers. Snacks are fine on board.
See this tourIt is a coach seat for the evening. You meet at a kerb downtown at about 7pm, the coach leaves at 7:30pm, and for three hours it drives the loop of the National Mall, stopping at the lit memorials so you can get off and walk up to them. You are back where you started at around 10:30pm.
Nothing on the loop is ticketed at night. The memorials are free and open 24 hours, so your fare pays for the ride, the guide and the order of the stops, not for entry. That makes these the simplest night tours to buy: you are choosing a seat, a kerb and a guide.
The coaches carry 40 to 53 people. That is the trade: a fare below most vans and a guide on foot, in exchange for a crowd at each stop and a start time you cannot move.
On the coaches the guide does not just talk from the front. The best seller's guide is on and off the bus with you, and the Archives coaches promise a guide who walks you through each site. You stand at the memorial and hear the story there, not through a window.
Most coaches make nine stops of 15 to 20 minutes, and the Smithsonian coach makes twelve short ones. That is enough to climb the steps at the west end of the Mall and walk the length of the Vietnam wall.
Each coach meets at a fixed kerb, and each kerb sits by the Metro. Navy Memorial Plaza is outside the Archives station; the Smithsonian coach meets at the station's own entrance. You can arrive by train and leave the same way.
The coaches from outside the National Archives sell an optional upgrade: a timed pass for the next day to the Washington Monument or a Smithsonian museum. It is never night admission, and you use it on your own. Our guide to the ticket upgrades says when it is worth the money.
The best seller's route crosses to Arlington for the flag raisers, whose flag flies day and night. Several other coaches do too; check the stop list on the tour you book.
The other shared way to see the memorials lit up is a van of 9 to 13. Here is what changes when you move from the big coach to the small one.
| Night bus tour | Van or open-air cart | |
|---|---|---|
| People aboard | Up to 40 to 53 | Up to 9 to 13 per vehicle |
| Where it starts | A downtown kerb by the Metro | A kerb, or named pickup points on some |
| Typical stops | Nine to twelve, 5 to 20 minutes each | Six to ten, 5 to 20 minutes each |
| Who talks | A guide on and off the coach | A driver-guide, or an audio link on one |
| Start time | 7:30pm on the biggest | Set by the operator; some offer sunset slots |
| Typical fare | $58 to $69 a person | $48 to $99 a person |
If you want the most time on foot for the least money, take the coach. If you want to hear the guide without a crowd around you, the small-group night tours are the better buy for about the price of a meal more.
Nine stops with a guide who walks with you, and the option of a next-day museum or monument ticket. The coach leaves at 7:30pm sharp.
Check availabilityEvery stop the coaches make is described in the memorials one by one, and our night tours compared sets the coaches beside the vans, the cars and the bikes.
Would a smaller vehicle suit you better? Every way to ride is compared on Washington Night Tours.