White House Tour Washington.

[robd]

Just been googling White House tours, which apparently, are available by contacting the Australian Embassy in Washington to book.

A search of the forum returned nothing. Just wondering if anyone has done the tour and whether it was worth the trouble?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Tried to sort one out but the Australian Embassy site says that the White House website is incorrect and that they're currently not open to foreigners. A shame really!

 

[robd]

Tried to sort one out but the Australian Embassy site says that the White House website is incorrect and that they're currently not open to foreigners. A shame really!

Shame. I will look into it further.

 

[Fifa]

We did a White House tour a few years ago. US friends who live in Florida were able to organise it through (I think) their local congressman and we were their guests.

We received a pre-allocated time slot and were advised not to take any personal possessions including wallets, cameras and phones (we did have to carry and show ID).
It was certainly a 'once in a lifetime' experience .

In the afternoon we visited the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery which were fantastic.

Of course the following days included lots of other sightseeing.

 

[Pushka]

Our local Federal member was able to organise a tour of Congress but not the White House. You can visit the Visitor Centre easily.

 

[Isochronous]

Get an American to Organise through their Congressman or Senator. That's how I got access. Even got a sneaky photo of the East Wing.

 

[mole]

There is quite a lot of information on the Washington DC Tripadvisor forum, this link is a to a blog by an Australian Woman who was successful 5 Steps to Tour the White House for Foreigners - Rebecca Earl

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

There is quite a lot of information on the Washington DC Tripadvisor forum, this link is a to a blog by an Australian Woman who was successful 5 Steps to Tour the White House for Foreigners - Rebecca Earl

Thanks for the info here, I tried last year via the Australian Embassy but no luck so will give this a go

 

[clazman]

I believe the tours have been unavailable until recently

 

[Himeno]

Every time I've looked into it, you had to be an American citizen to get a tour.

 

[QF029]

I've also read reviews where the consensus was it's not worth the effort as the don't see any significant rooms.

 

[Hamila]

I just recently did the White House tour a few weeks back.

I organised the tour myself (I'm an Australian citizen) through Congresswoman Norton (District of Columbia). It may have helped that I submitted my application from my government email address, however I researched this and understand that she is the best opportunity for a foreign traveller to get a tour booked.

I submitted my application about five months out and received confirmation about two weeks before my tour date. Only had one minor issue when presenting my passport to security which was my birthdate was the opposite way to their list - a ten minute wait to confirm all is well and I was back in the queue for my allotted time - I did meet two other people who had the same problem, they were from England, so I would say this is somewhat of a common occurrence and nothing to be worried about if it happens to you when you arrive.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I understand that in the last week, they have lifted a forty year ban on taking photos inside the White House.

 

[coyote25]

I remember lining up and seeing the White House way back in December 1999. Got in trouble for having a bottle of tomato sauce in the daypack, no problems with the Swiss Army knife however

Obviously things changed big time 21 months late