Cherry Blossom Season in Washington, DC

Planning a trip to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms this spring?

Check out these great travel tips to make the most of your visit to Washington DC

Living and working in Washington, DC, I am often asked about planning a trip to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. Until I moved here, I honestly knew nothing about these pretty pale pink blooms that are a symbol of spring here. After 19 years, I have learned a few things about them. To many people, the cherry blossoms represent a quintessential travel bucket list experience. Before we get into the travel aspect of planning the perfect trip to Washington, DC, let me touch a little on the history of these symbolic flowers of the spring.

History of the Washington, DC Cherry Blossom

I suggest checking out this NPS article for the entire story. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm

The plantings of cherry trees originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the people of the United States from the people of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or “Sakura,” is an exalted flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a potent symbol equated with the evanescence of human life and epitomizes the transformation of Japanese culture throughout the ages.

For Washington, DC, it all started in1885. Mrs. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore first saw these beautiful Japanese treasures on a visit to Japan. She first approached the U.S. Army Superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds with the proposal that cherry trees be planted one day along the reclaimed Potomac waterfront. Mrs. Scidmore approached every new superintendent, but her idea met with no success. However, Mrs. Scidmore was persistent with her mission.

In 1909, Mrs. Scidmore decided to try to raise the money required to purchase the trees and then donate them to the city. She elicited the help of another ally who was also familiar familiar with the beauty of the flowering cherry trees. Mrs. Scidmore wrote a small, but history changing note to First Lady Helen Herron Taft. Mrs. Taft lived in Japan and was familiar with the beauty of the flowering cherry trees. Two days later the first lady responded:

The White House, Washington

April 7, 1909
Thank you very much for your suggestion about the cherry trees. I have taken the matter up and am promised the trees, but I thought perhaps it would be best to make an avenue of them, extending down to the turn in the road, as the other part is still too rough to do any planting. Of course, they could not reflect in the water, but the effect would be very lovely of the long avenue. Let me know what you think about this.
Sincerely yours,
Helen H. Taft

After a couple false starts and set backs, Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki and others suggested a second donation be made, and the Tokyo City Council authorized this plan. The number of trees then increased to 3,020. The scions for these trees were taken in December 1910 from the famous collection along the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo, 27 years after Mrs.Scidmore’s first request. A gift to Washington DC was sent on its way, February 14, 1912 – 3,020 cherry trees from twelve varieties were shipped from Yokohama, Japan to Washington. D.C.

March 27: First lady Helen Herron Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin, about 125 feet south of what is now Independence Avenue, SW. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the first lady presented a bouquet of “American Beauty” roses to Viscountess Chinda. Washington’s renowned National Cherry Blossom Festival grew from this simple ceremony, witnessed by just a few persons, to the large parades, celebrations, and festivities shared by tens of thousands of people each year. These two original trees still stand several hundred yards west of the John Paul Jones Memorial, located at the terminus of 17th Street, SW. Situated near the bases of the trees is a large bronze plaque which commemorates the occasion.

In 1965, the Japanese government made another donation of 3,800 trees to Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Many of these trees were planted on the grounds of the Washington Monument.

The first Cherry Blossom Festival was held in 1927, and has since expanded. Now, the celebration spans four weekends in March and April, and attracts more than 1.5 million people from all over the world.

If you would like to know more about Mrs. Scidmore, who is possibly the world’s first Travel Blogger and even has a Glacier named after her, check out this site:  https://www.nps.gov/articles/eliza-scidmore.htm

Travel Plans

When to visit Washington, DC to see Cherry Blossoms

That’s a good question, one I hear a lot. The answer is kind of complicated. Unless you are already tied to specific days in the DC area, try to remain flexible with your plans. If your #1 goal is to view the trees at peak bloom, flexibility is a must. Otherwise, plan your trip around the parade and festival and hope for the best. Honestly, I never go down on peak bloom days to avoid the crowds, but my wife works on the National mall and strolls down yearly. I tend to only go down for the festival and parade and find there are usually still enough blooms to take some great photos. The day the cherry blossoms reach peak bloom is not the only day you can see the flowers. At a minimum, you can expect a beautiful sight for at least a few days before and after the peak bloom date. Sometimes they can be out for a couple of weeks.

Right now is the best time to familiarize yourself with Cherry Blossom Watch to help plan your trip. This website offers the latest updates of the cherry trees. It provides pertinent weather info, chronicles bud stage development, and will predict peak bloom dates. There is also relevant travel information provided for the DC area. They have an Instagram @cherryblossomwatch You can also find good information on the National Park Service’s Cherry Blossom Festival webpage and the official National Cherry Blossom Festival site. All of these have really good info. As of the writing of this article, Cherry Blossom watch is speculating a late March bloom date due to the warm winter.

The 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled for March 20 through April 12. The parade is scheduled for April 4 and Petalpalooza (with fireworks) for April 11. (I personally highly recommend planning your trip around these days).

National Cherry Blossom Festival 2020 Major Events

– All photo and festival info provided by CherryBlossomWatch.com

Unless you live within driving distance of DC, I’m sure you will be looking at Flights to DC. We have 3 major airports near DC: Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD) and Baltimore/Washington (BWI). Unless you are flying Southwest, which does not charge change fees, you will be locked into dates and fairly expensive tickets. Airlines tend to charge exorbitant rates during cherry blossom time, so look for plane tickets as early as possible. However, both BWI and Regan offer decent flights from Southwest, so this could be an option if you must be here for actual bloom date. Otherwise all 3 airports are within a 45 min drive to Washington DC. If you do not plan to rent a car (not needed in my opinion), Regan would be the best choice as it is closet and has direct access to Washington Metro Trains WMTA Map .Dulles (IAD) also offers a bus service to the train, but is not as convenient. BWI has a bus to the nearby AmTrak station that will take you into Union Station in DC. From there, you can take a metro train anywhere in the city. You can always check SkySanner here for current flights, deals, and set price alerts.

Rental Cars / Transportation

Renting a car is easy at any of the airports. Remember, Washington DC has the 2nd worst traffic in the nation, so driving into the city itself can be challenging if you are not accustomed to city driving. If you do rent a vehicle, parking is expensive as NO hotels inside the city limits will grant you free parking. The garages run $25-$50 a night even at hotels. I would certainly suggest looking outside the city limits for a hotel or AirBnb that offers free parking.

Metro and walking is the way to see DC. If you are taking the Metro, the Smithsonian stop is less than a half-mile from the main collection of cherry trees.

Uber/ Lyft and taxi service are also very reliable except during rush hour. You will pay a premium and it will take longer than walking or using the Metro. DC also has bike share and scooter share available for those who are interested.

Where to Stay

Spring is the start of the Washington tourist season and the cherry blossoms draw large crowds from out of town. Hotels can and do fill up. I know! What about peak bloom? Well unlike Southwest, you probably won’t find a hotel willing to change your dates if you wait too long. Chances are the hotel will be booked.

Let’s say you are an all in Cherry Blossom Lover!! You have the Sakura Starter kit and you’re ready to spend whatever it takes to get that selfie under a blooming Cherry Blossom tree on the Tidal Basin. Here are the closest hotels to make your dreams come true.

The very closest to the cherry blossoms is the 5-star Mandarin Oriental, which is directly across the road from the Tidal Basin. Some rooms have views out over the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. Prices are about $485 a night.

The next closest are all in the newly developed southwest waterfront area known as The Wharf:  InterContinental Washington DC – The Wharf, the Hyatt House Washington DC – The Wharf, and Canopy by Hilton Washington DC – The Wharf These are a little more reasonable starting around $150 a night. If you continue to look around using the Metro Map as a guide as you search through Hotels at TripAdvisor you may be able to find better deals in Virginia and just hop on the Metro to the Smithsonian Stop. I cant recommend any Maryland Hotels as the access to Metro is not as good.

Make a Plan

The cherry trees attract large crowds so planning a trip to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms you need to take in consideration that crowds will form throughout the day, and weekends are more crowded than weekdays. If you are available to go to DC on a weekday, you will be able to enjoy smaller crowds. For you Sakura Super Fans, you can snap some really good photos if you arrive before dawn when the lighting is optimal (especially on a Saturday or Sunday when there are less crowds in the morning). Of course lighting will be different during the day as the color and angle of the light can result in significantly different photographs, so make sure to visit often.

Also take time to check out the magnolia trees that bloom in tandem with the cherry trees. Some fantastic samples can be found just past the Jefferson Memorial in George Mason Park. The walk around the Tidal Basin is about two miles, but it is flat, paved and scenic. You will pass some of DC’s most iconic monuments – Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials.

Wear good shoes, bring a good camera, extra batteries for all those photos, and some cash for the food trucks and vendors. Weather is pretty mild in DC at this time of year. You will want to dress in layers to cover the chillier mornings and evenings, but the afternoons can be warm.

This is a good Huffington Post article about some photography tips by Joe Newman:   Photography Tips for Cherry Blossoms

Enjoy and have fun!

Now that cherry blossom season is here, you can say: “The season of sakura is coming! Want to go to hanami?”

Some Japanese kanji:

This is the Japanese character for sakura. The 木 (ki) on the left side means tree/wood and developed from a pictogram of a tree, with the horizontal line as branches and diagonal lines as roots. Sakura is derived from saku 咲, which means to bloom, or alternately to smile/laugh. The 口 in 咲 indicates an open mouth.

花 (hana) means “flower,” and 見 (mi), means “to view.” Together, hanami literally means “to view flowers.” 見 is a combination of the characters for “eye” and “human,” evolving from a pictogram of a human figure with two legs and a large eyeball for a head.

These characters (yozakura) mean viewing cherry blossom at night. 夜 (yo) means night, and 桜 (zakura) is the same as sakura.

Hopefully this helps you while planning a trip to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms.

You can also check out my post for Costa Rica Dreaming which has some ideas for flights and hotel selections. Costa Rica Dreaming