Touring Washington DC by moonlight

I've been downtown after dark and find it to be much quieter and a fantastic time to visit. This past weekend we decided to take a bus tour by moonlight (more details on that in a later post) and it was a first for my family. Usually, we're down during the day and/or walking around on foot, so seeing DC on a guided tour was a new experience and a treat.

Driving by the Washington Monument about 7:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Currently, the Capitol is undergoing some restoration, this is one of the first stops you see when taking a bus tour at night

Seeing Washington DC at night gives an entirely different perspective of the city (especially if you go during the very late hours - it's amazing to sit at the Lincoln Memorial and just gaze at the entire Mall in its serenity - I did this in 2012 during a spontaneous visit around midnight).

Most of my photos were taken approximately between 9 and 10 p.m., so there were still a lot of people visiting the monuments. All in all, a great tour! Would love to do it again sometime.

The Washington Monument looks so beautiful reflecting in the Tidal Basin day or night. (The cherry blossoms age getting close to reaching peak for 2015 - you can see a bit of it here)

I tried to get a good shot of the Jefferson Memorial but was not sitting on the side of the bus where I had a good angle so didn't have time to focus. This was taken a little earlier than the other photos - maybe 8:15-8:30 pm

Lincoln Memorial at night