Washington Night private tours put your party alone in the vehicle, collect you from your door on most, and let you choose the stops and the start. They are priced per vehicle or tiered per person, so read the basis under each fare.
A licensed guide collects you from your hotel or rental, and you pick up to nine stops together. The from-price covers one to four guests; a larger grade seats up to ten. Umbrellas or ponchos come out if it rains.
From $595 per group (up to 4)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own air-conditioned minivan for up to five, picked up in the city, with six stops of 10 to 25 minutes, the Pentagon Memorial among them. Listed as wheelchair accessible, with booster seats on request.
From $275 per group (up to 5)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A sedan for up to three or a minivan for up to six, from your hotel or any address. The driver acts as an informal guide, not a licensed one, over five stops of half an hour to an hour. Fuel, tolls and Wi-Fi are in the fare.
From $157 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
No vehicle at all: two and a half hours on foot with a private guide, from the Mellon Auditorium on Constitution Avenue to the White House. Listed as wheelchair accessible. You make your own way there and back.
From $185 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A driver-guide picks you up anywhere downtown for four hours: six stops, half an hour of it at the Lincoln steps, and a drive past the Kennedy Center and Georgetown. Commentary in English, Spanish or Portuguese.
From $275 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your guide cycles to your lodging at a time you pick between 5pm and 9pm, bringing bikes, head and tail lights, snacks and a water bottle to keep. The from-price covers one or two riders; larger parties book a bigger grade.
From $595 per group (up to 2)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four hours in a private vehicle for up to six, from your door or the Navy Memorial visitor center, with nine stops of about 20 minutes at your pace. Water and snacks are on board. It cannot be refunded once booked.
From $940 per group (up to 6)
The booking is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason.
A licensed guide, an air-conditioned vehicle and up to nine stops you choose together: $595 for one to four guests, about $148 each when all four seats are used.
See this tourIt is the same loop of lit memorials, with nobody else in the vehicle. A driver or a guide comes to your hotel or rental, you agree the stops, and you stay at each one as long as you like. When you are done, you are dropped back at your door.
That changes three things. You set the start time, so in summer you can wait for full dark. You set the pace, so an older traveller or a child is never rushing back to a coach. And you can add places the shared tours pass by, such as the Pentagon Memorial or a drive through Georgetown.
Private here also covers two ways of going without a vehicle: a guide of your own on foot along the Mall, and a guide of your own on a bike.
Most private tours collect you from your hotel, a vacation home or any address you give, and drop you back. After a long day, that is the difference between a tour and a trek across downtown to a kerb.
The car from your hotel builds the evening with you, up to nine stops. The four-hour custom tour gives nine stops of about 20 minutes at your own pace. On the driver-guide car, half an hour of the evening is at the Lincoln steps alone.
One driver-guide car gives its commentary in English, Spanish or Portuguese. On nearly every shared tour it is English only.
The minivan for five and the four-hour custom tour are listed as wheelchair accessible, and so is the private walk. Most of the cars take strollers, and the informal-guide car and the custom tour offer infant seats.
A shared van of up to 12 or 13 is the nearest alternative. Here is how the two compare for a party of four, using the fares as captured.
| Private night tour | Shared van | |
|---|---|---|
| Who rides | Your party only | Up to 12 or 13 people |
| Pickup | At your hotel or rental on most | A set kerb, or a downtown hotel on one |
| Stops | Chosen with the guide, up to nine | Fixed, six to ten |
| Start time | Set with you | Set by the operator |
| Price basis | Per vehicle, or tiered per person | Per person |
| Four people pay | About $148 each in the car for four | $99 each on the Grand Hyatt van |
Check the private tour from $595
At four people the private car costs about half as much again as a van seat, and it comes to your door. At two, it costs several times more. The small-group night tours are the better buy for a couple on a budget.
$275 for the vehicle, about $55 each when five ride. Six stops of 10 to 25 minutes, pickup in the city, and wheelchair access listed.
Check availabilityOur one-evening plan shows how to order the stops, and the memorials one by one tells you which are worth the longest time.
Is a shared seat enough? Every way to ride is compared on Washington Night Tours.