Visiting Monuments at Night --- Safety?
 

I'll be in town for a couple of days and would like to see a couple of the monuments at night and get some pictures, but the only opportunity I'll have will be after 8PM. I'm staying near the Mall and plan on cabbing over there quickly. Is it safe for a gal by herself to visit that time of day?

The incidence of crime near the major monuments (e.g., Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam, Roosevelt, World War II) are very rare - they simply aren't located in areas where muggers and youth gangs typically hang out. And until around 11pm there are still likely to be a number of tourists and tour groups making the rounds. Still, exercise common sense. If the place looks completely deserted it would be a good idea to have the cab wait for you while you take your photos.

Last year there were crime problems on the mall. I haven't heard of much since then.

When I was in college I used to lead tours of high school kids on the Mall at night and we were NEVER the only tour group. This was typically at about 9pm.

My girlfriend and I will occasionally go down to the Mall for a walk in the evening near the Lincoln and there are always huge tour groups around. There also tend to be USPS Rangers and Park Police around during the early evening. You might consider calling USPS and asking about ranger guided walks which can be quite informative and ensure that you are in a group.

This is true as far as it goes - muggers and gang members are not tolerated on the Mall - tourism is too damn important for it. As noted in another post, there was some trouble last year and the cops clamped down so fast and so tight that even the criminals could see that they should take their business elsewhere.

This is great info everyone! Thanks!! Now I can plan for a good two hours to take in the monuments at night when everything is so pretty!

Enjoy yourself! Just keep your eyes open if afterwards you wander up to GTown or Adams Morgan for a drink.

just be very careful and aware of your surroundings if you are going alone. last year there was a series of muggings at knife point and at least one of the robbery victims, who was with someone else, was sexually assaulted. the national park service has increased surveillance on the mall but outside the immediate area of the monuments there is very little lighting.

I try to include a tour of the monuments at night for any out of town visitors, it's really beautiful then. As others said, be aware of your surroundings keep your phone handy (and have a phone # for a cab company with you in case you need one and there aren't any around) and have a good time.

You should be fine, but think twice about walking out behind the WW II memorial to the Vietnam/Lincoln/Korea memorial area, instead I'd recommend using Constitution even though it's longer and will likely be pretty empty itself. If you want to see Jefferson or the FDR, I recommend the cab and asking them to wait.

You're more than fine. As others have noted, there was an incredibly brief crime stint last summer. It lasted about 8 seconds before the DC police came down with such a presence you couldn't sneeze without getting a police officer wet.

I often go out running - at night, mostly alone, without any issues. I generally stay around the mall/monuments, but it'll easily be 12AM, 1AM and there are still plenty of people and police out.

You might consider an organized night tour of the monuments. When I first moved to D.C., I took such a tour and it was great. It is several hours and there are multiple companies that operate such tours. No worries about parking, taxis, security, etc.

Thanks, Alan. I actually looked at a couple of the nighttime tour schedules online, but they all seem to start at around 6:30 or so. Does anyone know of ones that start later?

DC gets a bad rap when it comes to crime. There is plenty of it, but, it is almost never in the areas where tourists go (like the Mall and Monuments) and is mostly poor DCers against poor DCers.

Bottom line: go where you want on the Mall, even at night. It is very safe.

PS: I spent many years running on Haines Point, the Mall, the Georgetown tow path, etc. Including many, many late night runs. Never had a problem, never saw anything that gave me any cause for concern.

Check out the Twilight Tour offered by Tourmobile.

http://www.tourmobile.com/tours_seasonal.php

That's been the traditional wisdom and may be true today, but I'd
still be cautious, as
last year there was a spate
of crime there.