Arlington Cemetery Layover, Washington DC
Part of the full Washington DC Layover: The National Mall, IAD
Arlington National Cemetery has a metro station at its own gate, under ten minutes from the National Mall in Washington, and the walk up its hill takes in the Kennedy family’s eternal flame, Arlington House on the ridge and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
A sentinel of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment has been on the plaza in front of the marble sarcophagus without a break since 1937, through every night and every storm since. The ceremony that replaces one with the next runs every half hour between 1 April and 30 September and every hour on the hour the rest of the year, and it is precise enough that people stop talking without being asked to.
Admission to the cemetery costs nothing and it opens every day of the year at 8am, closing at 7pm from April to September and at 5pm from October to March. A guided walk with a historian is worth considering if you want the context rather than just the route, since almost nothing here is signposted with more than a name and two dates.
The grounds cover more than 639 acres, about a square mile, and the walk from the entrance up to the Tomb climbs the entire way without a flat stretch anywhere in it, which makes a wheeled suitcase a genuine tax on the one thing you came to do.
Arlington House and the eternal flame on the slope below it
The flame on the Kennedy terrace was lit at the burial in November 1963 and has not been put out since. It sits on a flagstone circle partway up the hillside, with the simple slate markers for the president, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and two of their children set into the paving around it, and a low wall in front carrying passages from the inaugural address.
Directly above it, on the crest of the ridge, stands Arlington House, a Greek Revival mansion built by George Washington Parke Custis between 1802 and 1818 and later Robert E. Lee’s home until the Army took the estate for burials in 1864. The Park Service runs it, free, and the reason to climb the last stretch is what you see from the front steps: the Potomac below, then the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome in a straight line east. The site was chosen for exactly that view.
Arlington Cemetery is its own stop on the Blue Line
The station sits at the cemetery gate, which is unusual enough to matter: no connecting walk, no shuttle, just the faregates and then the welcome centre. The Blue Line reaches it from the National Mall in under ten minutes, and from Rosslyn on the Virginia side in three.
For the airport, change at Rosslyn onto the Silver Line and stay on it to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), roughly an hour of riding once the transfer is counted, plus five to ten minutes in the indoor tunnel from the airport station to the terminal. Budget an hour and a half from this gate to the check-in desk and work back from three hours before departure. If you would rather spend the afternoon in the city proper, the main Washington itinerary stays east of the river, and a hop-on trolley pass covering the cemetery and Old Town Alexandria is the way to do both ends in one afternoon without walking the distance twice. Old Town is also two metro stops from Reagan National if that is the airport you are flying out of rather than this one.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do during a layover near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.?
Walk up from the welcome centre to the Kennedy gravesite, where the eternal flame burns on a flagstone terrace below Arlington House, then carry on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the changing of the guard. That is roughly two hours at a steady pace and costs nothing. With more time, Arlington House itself is open at the top of the ridge and the view from its front steps takes in the whole Mall across the river. The one fixed point to plan around is closing time: 7pm from April to September and 5pm the rest of the year.
How often does the guard change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?
Every half hour from 1 April to 30 September, and every hour on the hour from 1 October to 31 March. The Tomb is guarded continuously, all day and all night, every day of the year, by sentinels of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, so the guard is there whenever the cemetery is open. Arrive a few minutes early if you want to be at the front of the plaza rather than behind it.
How much walking is there inside Arlington National Cemetery?
The grounds run to over 639 acres, roughly a square mile, and the route from the welcome centre up to the Kennedy graves and on to the Tomb climbs the whole way on paved but steadily rising roads. There is no flat version of that walk. Allow two hours for it at an unhurried pace and more if you want to reach Arlington House at the top, and treat anything you are carrying as a real cost rather than an inconvenience.
Is Arlington Cemetery easy to reach from central Washington?
It has its own station, Arlington Cemetery, on the Blue Line, and the ride from the National Mall takes under ten minutes. The station is right at the cemetery's entrance, so there is no connecting walk at that end. Coming back out, the same Blue Line gets you to Rosslyn or across the river into the city, and for Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) you change at Rosslyn onto the Silver Line.