Vacationers tend to fall into two groups. There are the planners, who research a destination well in advance, make restaurant and theater reservations and cram as many activities as possible into their time off.
Then there is the go-with-the-flow group. They prefer to step off the plane, breathe the local air and then see what`s what.
There are advantages to both approaches, but when it comes to visiting the White House, the planners have the edge.
If you know about your trip to Washington ahead of time and call your congressional representative a few months before, you can request VIP tickets to tour the White House. This entitles you to a ticket for a tour between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., before the general tours begin.
If it sounds like you have to be a VIP to get a VIP ticket, you don`t. Any constituent can get the ticket, although they are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. On the VIP tour, as on the regular tour, visitors view five of the mansion`s 132 rooms: the East Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room and the State Dining Room.
Congressional offices get only 10 tickets a week, said Cindy Gordon, a staff assistant for Anthony Beilenson (D-California). So constituents need to call early.
”During the summer months, it is particularly bad,” she said. ”In June, we`re booked up to September. April also rivals August as being a busy month. You need at least six weeks` notice, and in some cases much more.”
October through March are less busy. Consequently, your chances of getting these VIP tickets on shorter notice are better then, she added.
Foreign visitors can get these VIP passes through their respective embassies.
If you don`t-or can`t-plan that far ahead, free tickets for same-day tours are available to those who line up early at the ticket booth on the Ellipse, the circular park directly behind the White House (1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.). The line for tickets can be long, especially during peak summer months. Public White House tours are conducted between 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets have specific times stamped on them, so visitors can return at the appointed time of their tour without having to wait around.
From Memorial Day through Oct. 31, tickets are distributed beginning at 8 a.m. (November through May, tickets are not needed.)
The White House is closed Christmas Day, Thanksgiving and on a case-by-case basis when the president is welcoming visiting dignitaries or hosting state functions. Call 202-456-2200 for more tour information.
