Looking to visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate?
On a recent road trip, we were visiting the DC area and decided that we wanted to cross Mount Vernon off of our bucket list.
We thought we could just spend about 4-5 hours here since we had a full schedule in DC, but if I did it all again, I’d plan to spend at least 6-8 hours here to see and do it all without feeling rushed.
While most of the actual Mansion is currently being renovated, you can still walk through it and there is so much more to visiting Mt. Vernon than just the Mansion.
At a minimum, plan to do the in-depth tour that takes you through the Mansion, the grounds, and the tribute at the tomb.
But I also recommend leaving extra time to watch the movie about George Washington, walk more of the grounds, and enjoy a meal at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant.
Mount Vernon Day Trip Itinerary
When we started planning our visit, there was so much on the website to pour through and build out an itinerary based off of specific tour times and movie times while being on a time crunch.
So we created this itinerary by tweaking the trials and errors from our visit, so you can be more efficient with your time.
Really the biggest thing is to plan to spend most of your day here and don’t schedule anything immediately after that puts you on a time crunch.
Then look at the in-depth tour times and the George Washington movie times and everything else can be done around those times!
Recommended Itinerary
Arrival: Parking, Tickets, Security
Virtual Mansion Tour: short film at the entrance
In-Depth Tour: tour the Mansion, grounds, and tribute at the tomb
Free Time: explore any activities that pique your interest
Museum & Movie: there’s a small museum & a movie about George Washington
Dining: enjoy a meal at Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant
Total Time: 6-8 hours
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Virtual Mansion Tour
When you enter Mount Vernon, the main building will have a theater in the back where they are showing a virtual Mansion tour, which is included with admission.
I recommend starting with this so you’re not going back and forth across the property too much (it’s pretty big) and to just have an introduction to your visit.
Much of the Mansion is currently under construction, so this is a great way to see areas you won’t be able to see on tour currently.
You’ll be given a timed ticket for this and it pretty much runs continuously, so you’ll never have to wait too long to see it.
In-Depth Tour
After the virtual tour, you’ll get to go out and explore the property however you’d like.
You’ll have a map that shows you all the different spots where there are things to see and do – definitely keep this with you!
I recommend scheduling your visit so that the first thing you do is the in-depth tour.
The in-depth tour covers the Mansion, the grounds, and the tribute at the tomb.
So if you do this tour first, you’ll cover a lot of the Mount Vernon to-do’s right away and not have to backtrack anything.
Essentially the in-depth tour starts with the Mansion Tour and then the rest of the grounds are visited after.
This tour concludes with the Tribute at the Tomb, so you don’t have to make a special trip over to do this activity either before or after your tour.
If you’ve seen the National Treasure movies and want to know about the scenes filmed here and the alleged secret tunnels, this tour will answer all of your questions near the end!
Free Time
I definitely recommend building in some extra time to explore other activities that interest you.
There are many areas where they do demonstrations about life back in the 1700s.
Different activities are available on different days, but to get an idea of what’s there, here’s what was offered during our visit:
- Patriots Path: A Revolutionary War Encampment
- Forging Iron at the Blacksmith Shop
- Textile Demonstrations
- Sheep Shearing Demonstrations
- Music of the Revolution
- Tribute at the Slave Memorial
There are also some other tours available at times (some are seasonal) like:
- Hamilton The Musical Tour
- The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon Tour
- Gardens and Landscape Tour
- Preservation at Mount Vernon (seasonal)
- Photo Cruise (seasonal)
- Through My Eyes Tour
Always check the website before you go to see what’s available during your visit.
Click Here To Book Your Mount Vernon Grounds Admission Ticket Today!
Washington’s War: Revolutionary War Movie
Once you’re done exploring the grounds and experiencing all the interactive activities, start to make your way back to the entrance.
This movie is only 22 minutes and conveniently starts every 30 minutes on the hour and the half hour, so it’s easy to schedule into the itinerary.
The movie covers George Washington’s role in the Revolutionary War and the strategies he used to help win the war.
I would say it’s at a level that would be interesting and digestible for anyone as young as maybe 10-11.
Museum
One last thing to do before you’re finished visiting everything there is to do at Mount Vernon is to walk through the museum exhibit that has artifacts from the estate and George Washington’s life in general.
It’s not a huge exhibit, so depending on how much you like to read about different artifacts, you could spend up to an hour here.
We personally just skimmed through it in about 10-15 minutes since we were ready for lunch.
All the buildings up at the front are close together, so you could do the movie or museum in either order if you have time to spare before the next movie showing begins.
Click Here To Book Your Mount Vernon Grounds Admission Ticket Today!
Dining at Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant
The Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant is at the front entrance of the property, so it just makes sense to plan to have a meal here during your visit.
There are several dining rooms that are each uniquely decorated.
We ate here for lunch and shared a few different things.
For appetizers we shared the Peanut Soup and the Hoecake.
We had peanut soup at a tavern in Williamsburg and it’s really only on menus in this region of the country, so we knew it was definitely something we wanted to try here too.
The hoecake is essentially like cornbread made as a pancake.
For my entree I had the Butternut Squash Risotto.
It’s honestly so rich I couldn’t eat it all in one sitting.
It’s better as a side dish or shared with the table, but still delicious.
JP loves cajun food, so he had the Jambalaya.
Most of the time the cajun foods are too spicy for me to enjoy, but this one wasn’t.
All of it was so good.
We really wanted to try some of the desserts, but we were just too full.
Conclusion: Mount Vernon Day Trip Itinerary
When you plan your visit, the most important thing is to start with tour times for the in-depth tour.
Then look at movie show times for the George Washington movie.
You don’t have to worry about the Mansion tour times or the tribute at the tomb times because your in-depth tour will cover both of those.
Everything else you want to see and do on the property can be done in-between the tour and the movie.
Then plan to end your visit with a meal at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant.
Click Here To Book Your Mount Vernon Grounds Admission Ticket Today!
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