This post is a visitor's guide to Mount Vernon Estate, the home and final resting place of George Washington.
We provide tips on tickets, tours, directions, what you will see, and other planning advice.
Our guides have been offering tours of Mount Vernon for over a decade. It is a staple for school groups coming to Washington, DC.
We don't just give tours to school groups; we offer private tours of Mount Vernon to help with the logistics of touring the grounds, the mansions, the education center, and more.
It's a popular topic of discussion in our Facebook Travel Tips Group because it can be a confusing attraction, but it's also a location that we love visiting.
My favorite part of Mount Vernon is the view from the porch, but my children (ages 5 and 7) love visiting the animals, especially in Spring when there are often babies.
The school groups I bring usually discuss the re-enactors we encounter - from an enslaved person to Martha Washington herself.
Why Visit Mount Vernon?
A trip to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, is a great idea and will be a rewarding addition to any trip to Washington, D.C.
Washington wrote that he knew of no place that was more pleasantly situated than his plantation, and he may well have been right!
This place offers the opportunity to observe George Washington's transformation from a Farmer, Soldier, Statesman, and Husband – the qualities that earned him the title of being "the first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
Washington's home is amazing, the grounds are gorgeous, there is a second-to-none interpretive education center, and so much more!
PRESERVATION UPDATE: Extensive preservation work will continue at both the mansion and the education center until 2026.
- At the Mansion the Mansion's New Room is not on display.
- In early September 2025, only the New Room, Servants’ Hall, and Kitchen will be open. All other rooms in the Mansion will be off-view.
- From July 8 last year through 2025, the Education Center exhibit will be closed.
We still think Mount Vernon is worth a visit during the preservation work. There are so many exhibits and different parts of the grounds that you can still have a worthwhile visit.
Can you visit George Washington's Mount Vernon without tickets?
Tickets are required to enter Mount Vernon's grounds, tour the house, and visit the Education Center and Museum Galleries.
You cannot walk around the grounds of Mount Vernon without paying for a ticket.
You do not, however, need a ticket to visit the gift shops or the on-site restaurant.
If you'll be visiting the area and are interested in the legacy of our first president, Mount Vernon is worth the visit.
MOUNT VERNON TICKETS
Admission tickets are cheaper online ($2 less), so if you know what day you'll be there, it is definitely worth booking in advance.
You must book 3 days in advance to receive a discount.
General Admission Prices:
- $28 - Adult (ages 12-61)
- $15 - Youth (ages 6-11) - Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.
- Free - Child (ages 0-5)
- Book your tickets here.
Important: Tour tickets to the mansion require an additional $2 booking fee. You will select a time to enter the mansion when booking your ticket online or at the gate.
Tickets for the same day can be purchased at the gate on a first-come, first-served basis. They tend to be in high demand, particularly during weekends and often sell out quickly.
It is recommended to choose a mansion time 15-20 minutes after your arrival time.
Military members, first responders, and medical professionals are eligible for $3 off the admission price through id.me.
EBT cardholders can receive in-person discounts.
Also, if you purchase entry here within an hour before closing time, you can get your ticket authenticated which allows entry to the next day without any charge.
In addition to self-guided tours of the grounds and the mansion, Mount Vernon also offers specialty tours.
In this section, we help you plan your time at the estate.
There are so many great things to see and do that you could easily spend an entire day enjoying Mount Vernon and its grounds.
Most guests in our Washington DC Travel Tips Facebook Group spend half a day at Mount Vernon.
A common thing to do is visit Old Town Alexandria and/or Arlington National Cemetery before or after Mount Vernon and make a "Virginia day trip."
Hours of Operation
Mount Vernon is open 365 days a year.
From April to October, it is open from 9 am - 5 pm (17:00). From November to March, it is open from 9 am - 4 pm (16:00).
How to Get to Mount Vernon
There are four ways to get to Mount Vernon: drive there, take the Metro, take a bus tour, or take a boat cruise. Additionally, you can also take a rental bike to reach here.
It is located at 200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, VA 22121, in Northern Virginia, south of Washington, DC, and a short drive from Old Town Alexandria.
Public Transportation - Metro
The estate is reachable by public transportation and the journey is relatively simple, but it will take approximately 75 min to arrive.
How you transfer will depend on your starting point, so we recommend using this Google Maps link for directions.
Be sure to read our guide on using the DC Metro trains.
Regardless of where you start from, you will end up on Metro's Yellow Line Train to the Huntington Station in the state of Virginia, the final stop of the line.
From the platform, head downstairs to the lower level. Follow the signs for (Huntington Ave.).
Board the Fairfax Connector Bus #101 (Fort Hunt Line) from Bus Bay E at Huntington Station for the 20-minute trip to Mr. Vernon's front entrance gate.
Buses run about every 30 minutes Mondays through Saturdays and every hour on Sundays.
You can use your DC SmartCard on the Fairfax bus system.
If you use a SmartCard, the trip per person round trip should be approximately $10.50.
For maps and schedules for the bus trip visit the Fairfax Connector Website.
Driving to Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is at the southern end of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The drive should take you 30-45 minutes, depending on your starting point and barring any major traffic.
Parking at Mount Vernon is free, and there are two lots. You will be directed to an overflow lot if those lots fill up.
If you are planning to drive during the busy spring break and summer months, you should definitely arrive early, as spots can fill up quickly.
Best Time of Year to Visit Mount Vernon
Updates on holiday-specific activities are on the Mount Vernon official tourist website.
From March to June and to a lesser extent in October, expect the grounds to be crowded with school groups in the morning as they are allowed in earlier than the general public.
An afternoon visit will be much quieter for individuals and families, but still, expect energetic 13-14-year-olds roaming around the grounds.
The closing hours are rolling as the last guest leaves the mansion.
Generally, the grounds close 30 minutes after closing time, and the museum and gift shop open 1 hour after closing time.
Tip: The visit is all about your mansion time.
A visit to Mount Vernon includes a grounds pass, which allows access to the historic area, outbuildings, gardens, tomb, and more.
A tour of the Mansion requires a separate ticket, which can be purchased online in advance or at the gate when entering.
Whenever your mansion time is, make your timed ticket work for you, not against you.
If you arrive in the busy summer months and have a later mansion time, check out the Education Center or visit the tomb or Pioneer farm first, before heading to the line for the mansion.
An early mansion time is ideal at any time of year, but having a later time is not necessarily bad, it just means you will need to see some of the other things first if you arrive early.
Conversely, in the winter time, a later mansion time is a better idea, that way you can stay inside in the morning and be outside when the day is warmest.
Security
Mount Vernon has a required bag check upon entering the Ford Orientation Center, right after your ticket has been scanned.
Large bags or parcels are not permitted, and below is a partial list of prohibited items:
- All food and beverages (except bottled water)
- Knives/blades, clubs, hammers
- Spray paint, aerosol cans, paint, markers
- Flammable liquids, gases, fireworks, explosive devices
- Weapons that are not in compliance with Virginia state law
Eating at Mount Vernon
There is both a food court and a restaurant at Mount Vernon, so all of your dining needs are provided for as well.
The food court has family fare such as pizza, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, coffee, etc.
You don't usually think of a food court as anything special, but us tour guides will abandon our groups to make sure we snag the famous croissant breakfast sandwich before they stop serving them at 1030am!
The Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant is a sit-down restaurant with colonially inspired food, in a beautiful space that will remind you of the mansion that you just saw!
It is a beautiful place for a quick meal, a romantic meal or a special lunch with your family.
If you want to eat at the restaurant, definitely make reservations in advance, as they tend to be very busy.
Handicapped Accessibility
Mount Vernon has done a great job making the historic area as handicapped accessible as possible.
All of the newer buildings, the Ford Center, the Education Center/Gift Shop/Restaurant are all wheelchair accessible.
There are ample handicapped parking spaces in the lots on either side of the entrance, and dropping off in the traffic circle is always an option.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO
Mount Vernon is large - you can easily spend all day here. We suggest the following route to get the most out of your visit:
- Orientation Center
- Mansion & Outbuildings
- Tombs
- Education Center & Gift Store
- Eating at Mount Vernon
Additional sites to see are the:
Orientation Center
Upon arrival at Mount Vernon, the first place you will enter will be the Ford Orientation Center.
There are plenty of maps in the Orientation Center and docents to help you interpret them.
Use the bathrooms while you are here; once you get up to the mansion, bathrooms are harder to find.
The highlight of the Orientation Center is the miniature Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon in Miniature is an incredibly detailed, handcrafted model of the mansion that you are about to see.
It was a gift from the State of Washington and took 50 people over five years to complete!
The miniature has walls that move and shift so you can see the inside of the rooms, some of which you will see on your tour.
It also details some rooms you can’t see in real life, like closets and storage spaces, as well as back passages for servants.
It has furnishings based on the real pieces in the mansion and artwork on the walls meant to represent Washington’s real artwork.
There is even miniature wine chilling in buckets waiting for a dinner party!
Orientation Films
Directly behind the Miniature are the theaters showing the orientation film. The films run in a continuous loop and take about 25 minutes together.
The first is an orientation film with Pat Sajak telling you about Mount Vernon and what you will see there.
Tip: Skip the small gift store in the Orientation Center
There is a small gift store in the Orientation Center, but most of the stuff they have is also available in the much larger and better main gift store in the Education Center.
The Mansion and Out Buildings
See our note at the top of the page about the preservation work happening until 2026, some rooms may be closed during your visit.
After the orientation films, it is time to head up to the Mansion. As you exit the theater, you will wind around a path toward the mansion.
A separate ticket is required to tour the mansion.
It is an essential part of the visit to Mount Vernon.
The mansion tour itself takes about 15-20 minutes once you get to the front of the line.
You will be escorted through many public rooms where George Washington lived, dined, and visited with his many guests.
One of the things to note in the main hallway is a key to the Bastille, which the Marquis de Lafayette presented to Washington after the American Revolution.
The tour continues upstairs into several of the bedrooms on the upper floor, including the room where Washington died in 1799.
The mansion tour concludes with his office and exits through the main kitchen.
Tip: Ask Questions
Perhaps the most common complaint about Mount Vernon in the summer months is that the guides in the mansion don’t have a lot to say.
While it can be crowded, the guides are historical interpreters, not guards or docents, so make sure to ask them whatever questions you have.
Outbuildings
Once you have exited the mansion from the kitchen, you will find yourself presented with the backyard of Mount Vernon on your left-hand side and a series of smaller buildings on your right.
The buildings on the right are called outbuildings and were used for various purposes.
In Washington’s day, anyone who could afford to have several of these outbuildings next to their main house, anything that was smelly or potentially hazardous was taken care of in one of these buildings to keep such odor or hazard away from the main house,
So, kitchens were usually detached from the main house, as were food storage areas and animal enclosures.
Sometimes you can even watch the Blacksmith working in his shop.
Feel free to check out as many of these buildings as you want.
The View
The yard at Mount Vernon is also a wonderful area to explore, enjoying the amazing view that Washington would have looked out at every day!
Feel free to sit on the chairs on the back piazza, or walk right out onto the lawn.
The area on the other side of the river was purchased by the non-profit organization Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, or simply Mount Vernon Ladies Association, to preserve the view that Washington would have known. Therefore, construction is not allowed across the river.
And to do so, they rely on private contributions and don't accept government funding.
Washington's Burial Site and Family Tomb
For an extra special treat, visit the tomb at 10 am or 3 pm during the summer season (it is at 12 pm in winter). Wreath-laying ceremonies honor General Washington's memory here.
After seeing where Washington lived, you can also pay your respects at his final resting place, which is also on the Mount Vernon property.
Washington has two tombs, and you can visit both of them.
He has two tombs because there were plans to create an elaborate tomb for Washington, but he died earlier than expected, so he was buried on the Mount Vernon property (the Old Tomb), while his current tomb was being prepared.
While there is nothing in the Old Tomb any longer, it is worth a visit, and it's also close to the current tomb.
At the current tomb, Washington is buried next to his wife, Martha Washington, and in the back of them is a crypt filled with Washington’s relatives.
Several obelisk markers outside the tomb honor members of the Washington family, including his nephew, John Bushrod Washington, who was the last family member to own Mount Vernon.
The Slave Memorial at Mount Vernon
Behind Washington's tomb is a path toward a different marker, the Slave Memorial at Mount Vernon.
The Slave Memorial was added in 1983. It marks the spot where freed and enslaved persons were buried, often in unmarked graves. If there were any markers, they did not survive meaning that the identities of those buried there have been lost.
Though this cemetery was acknowledged from the beginning in the 1920s, it was overgrown and often skipped part of the grounds until the 1980s when a proper memorial was established.
A short column, representing an unfinished life, stands at the center. Three circles around it and three steps leading to it represent Faith, Love, and Hope.
Local legend has it that the enslaved Africans were buried facing east, indicating their wish to return to Africa.
As a child, Washington inherited 10 enslaved people from his father. At least 577 enslaved people lived and worked at Mount Vernon during Washington's life.
Upon his death, the enslaved people he directly owned were to be freed after Martha Washington's death.
Washington's evolving views on slavery and his direct involvement with it are discussed at Mount Vernon through the various Slavery at Mount Vernon exhibits.
Education Center and Gift Store
The Education Center will be closed for renovations from September last year through the end of 2025.
One of the highlights of any visit to Mount Vernon is a trip to the fascinating Donald W. Reynolds Education Center full of immersive programs and museum galleries.
The Education Center is very close to the Ford Orientation Center, where you entered the property.
If you have already been up to the mansion, you will get to the Education Center by heading back the same way you entered and following its signs.
The Education Center can take up several hours on its own, so definitely budget your time accordingly.
There are so many exhibits, movies, hands-on learning, and a Museum so there is something for everyone.
The newest exhibit is fun for all ages.
Be Washington is an interactive experience. Its 30-foot screen plays out different events, and touch screens allow the viewer to receive new information and make split-second decisions.
At the end of the exhibit, you can see what decision Washington made (and that others in your group have made).
Of particular interest, especially with kids, will be the main movie: Revolutionary War, which is a 4-D movie!
The movie is an incredibly immersive experience, involving the rumble of cannons, and "snow."
The movie is about 20 minutes so the lines can be long in advance of the movie. The film is shown in the Revolutionary War Theatre.
If you're short on time, head there first to get in line and watch the film, then spend the remainder of your time visiting the exhibits.
The Education Center also contains Washington’s false teeth, which, as you will learn, are not made of wood.
Gift Store
In the same building as the Education Center is the main Gift Shop at Mount Vernon, down a hallway toward the front of the building, and it is not to be missed.
The Gift Shop consists of two large rooms on either side of the main walkway leading out of the building.
It is chock full of clothing, books, jewelry, and much more.
Plenty of food and candy is made right at Mount Vernon, as well as beer and wine made from grapes grown on the property!
You can even buy toys similar to the kind used in Washington’s day.
Pioneer Farm
Washington considered himself a gentleman farmer. The grounds of George Washington's home include a variety of farms, plantings, orchards, and more.
The Pioneer Farm is open at Mount Vernon in the summer months, and it is well worth a visit.
It is down the hill at the wharf and is a complete working farm designed to replicate the kind of farm that Washington would have had at Mount Vernon.
There are live demonstrations, animals to see, and a slave cabin to walk through to learn how slaves lived at Mount Vernon.
There is also Washington’s 16-sided barn, his own invention to aid with the treading and preparation of wheat, which was his biggest crop.
The Pioneer Farm is included in Mount Vernon's admission price and is about a 15-minute walk from the Mansion.
A shuttle runs from the Education Center down to the Farm, but if you’re going to walk it, be aware that it is down the hill, and what goes down must eventually come back up.
Gristmill & Distillery
The Gristmill, built in 1770-1771, is on the far side of Mount Vernon's grounds.
It's nearly three miles from the main gate, so it's a good stop before or after visiting the grounds.
You can drive to the Gristmill & Distillery located at 5514 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22309
The regular admission cost includes Admission to the Gristmill & Distillery.
It still works to this day! You can taste Rye Whiskey made using the General's recipe at the Mount Vernon Inn or buy a bottle to take home at the gift shop.
These two sites are open seasonally, Saturdays and Sundays from April through October, 10 am to 5 pm, and are closed during winter months. You can visit them for $10 without a ticket to Mount Vernon.
Things to do with Kids
Mount Vernon is an excellent idea for kids; there are so many things to do and see.
The Hands-on History Center is a big part of the Education Center. It will teach your children all about George Washington and allow them to learn for themselves.
Children’s programs are held Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Activities are designed for children ages 5-10. Children must be accompanied by an adult; space and supplies are limited.
The Education Center also contains the 4-D movie and lots of information about the efforts to forensically recreate Washington and his life at Mount Vernon.
For outdoor activities, there are so many grounds and gardens to walk around and check out, as well as the Pioneer Farm, which is sure to entertain your kids.
They have demonstrations of what farming was like in Washington’s day, as well as farm animals who would love to meet your kids!
