TAM Transportes Aereos Flights from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (GIG) to Washington (IAD)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on TAM Transportes Aereos, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (GIG) to Washington (IAD) regularly scheduled to depart at 11:05pm and arrive at 6:23am. Usually a Boeing 767-300 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to Washington, DC is 10 hours and 18 minutes.
During your Washington vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Union Station
In Washington, D.C., even the very train station where you arrive is an attraction. Union Station, built between 1903 and 1907 in the great age of rail travel, was painstakingly restored in the 1980s at a cost of $160 million. The station was designed by noted architect Daniel H. Burnham, who modeled it after the Baths of Diocletian and Arch of Constantine in Rome.When it opened in 1907, this was the largest train station in the world. The Ionic colonnades outside were fashioned from white granite. The facade contains 100 eagles. In the front of the building, a replica of the Liberty Bell and a monumental statue of Columbus hold sway. Six carved fixtures over the entranceway represent Fire, Electricity, Freedom, Imagination, Agriculture, and Mechanics. You enter the station through graceful 50-foot Constantine arches and walk across an expanse of white-marble flooring. The Main Hall is a massive rectangular room with a 96-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and a balcony adorned with 36 Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculptures of Roman legionnaires. Off the Main Hall is the East Hall, shimmering with scagliola marble walls and columns, a gorgeous hand-stenciled skylight ceiling, and stunning murals of classical scenes inspired by ancient Pompeiian art. Today it's the station's nicest shopping venue.In its heyday, this "temple of transport" witnessed many important events. President Wilson welcomed General Pershing here in 1918 on his return from France. South Pole explorer Rear Admiral Richard Byrd was also feted at Union Station on his homecoming. And Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral train, bearing his casket, was met here in 1945 by thousands of mourners.But after the 1960s, with the decline of rail travel, the station fell on hard times. Rain caused parts of the roof to cave in, and the entire building -- with floors buckling, rats running about, and mushrooms sprouting in damp rooms -- was sealed in 1981. That same year, Congress enacted legislation to preserve and restore this national treasure.Today, Union Station is once again a vibrant entity patronized by locals and visitors alike, all 25 million of them yearly. Every square inch of the facility has been cleaned, repaired, and/or replaced according to the original design. About 120 retail and food shops on three levels offer a wide array of merchandise. And you'll be happy to find that most of the offerings in the Food Court are not fast-food joints but an eclectic mix of restaurants. The skylit Main Concourse, which extends the entire length of the station, is the primary shopping area as well as a ticketing and baggage facility. A nine-screen cinema complex lies on the lower level, across from the Food Court. The remarkable restoration, which involved hundreds of European and American artisans using historical research, bygone craft techniques, and modern technology, is meticulous in every detail. You could spend half a day here shopping, or about 20 minutes touring. Stop by the visitor kiosk in the Main Hall.
The White House Visitor Center
Even -- especially -- if you are not able to tour the White House, you should stop here. The Visitor Center opened in 1995 to provide extensive interpretive data about the White House and to serve as a ticket-distribution center (though that function is suspended indefinitely). It is run under the auspices of the National Park Service and the staff is particularly well informed. Try to catch the 30-minute video about the White House, Where History Lives, which provides interior views of the presidential precincts (it runs continuously throughout the day). Before you leave the Visitor Center, pick up a copy of the National Park Service's brochure on the White House, which tells you a little about what you'll see in the eight or so rooms you tour and a bit about the history of the White House. The White House Historic Association runs a small shop here. The association operates an informative website, www.whitehousehistory.org. Before you leave the Visitor Center, take a look at the exhibits, which include:Architectural History of the White House, including the grounds and extensive renovations to its structure and interior that have taken place since its cornerstone was laid in 1792.Symbol and Image, showing how the White House has been portrayed by photographers, artists, journalists, political cartoonists, and others.First Families, with displays about the people who have lived here (such as prankster Tad Lincoln, who once stood in a window above his father and waved a Confederate flag at a military review).The Working White House, focusing on the vast staff of servants, chefs, gardeners, Secret Service people, and others who maintain this institution.Ceremony and Celebration, depicting notable White House events, from a Wright Brothers' aviation demonstration in 1911 to a ballet performance by Baryshnikov during the Carter administration.White House Interiors, Past and Present, including photographs of the ever-changing Oval Office as decorated by administrations from Taft through Clinton.
Freer Gallery of Art
Charles Lang Freer, a collector of Asian and American art from the 19th and early 20th centuries, gave the nation 9,000 of these works for his namesake gallery's 1923 opening. Freer's original interest was American art, but his good friend James McNeill Whistler encouraged him to collect Asian works as well. Eventually the latter became predominant. Freer's gift included funds to construct a museum and an endowment to add to the Asian collection, which now numbers more than 28,000 objects. It includes Chinese and Japanese sculpture, lacquer, metalwork, and ceramics; early Christian illuminated manuscripts; Iranian manuscripts, metalwork, and miniatures; ancient Near Eastern metalware; and South Asian sculpture and paintings.The Freer is mostly about Asian art, but it also displays some of the more than 1,200 American works (the world's largest collection) by Whistler. Most remarkable and always on view is the famous Peacock Room. Originally a dining room designed for the London mansion of F. R. Leyland, the Peacock Room displayed a Whistler painting called The Princess from the Land of Porcelain. But after his painting was installed, Whistler was dissatisfied with the room as a setting for his work. When Leyland was away from home, Whistler painted over the very expensive leather interior and embellished it with paintings of golden peacock feathers. Not surprisingly, a rift ensued between Whistler and Leyland. After Leyland's death, Freer purchased the room, painting and all, and had it shipped to his home in Detroit. It is now permanently installed here. Other American painters represented in the collections are Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Dwight William Tryon, Abbott Henderson Thayer, John Singer Sargent, and Childe Hassam. All in all, you could spend a happy 1 to 2 hours here.Housed in a grand granite-and-marble building that evokes the Italian Renaissance, the pristine Freer has lovely skylit galleries. The main exhibit floor centers on an open-roof garden court. An underground exhibit space connects the Freer to the neighboring Sackler Gallery, and both museums share the Meyer Auditorium, which is used for free chamber-music concerts, dance performances, Asian feature films, and other programs. Inquire about these, as well as children's activities and free tours given daily, at the information desk.
Swann House
At the rate it's going, Swann House may one day be known as "the inn that launched 1,000 marriages," for all of the couples who have become engaged while staying here. This stunning 1883 mansion, poised prominently on a corner 4 blocks north of Dupont Circle, has nine exquisite guest rooms. The coolest unit is the Blue Sky Suite, covered in blue and white toile, with the original rose-tiled working fireplace, a queen-size bed and day bed, a sitting room, a gabled ceiling, and a roof deck. The most romantic room is probably Il Duomo, with Gothic windows, a cathedral ceiling, a working fireplace, and a turreted bathroom with angel murals, a claw-foot tub, and a rain showerhead. The Jennifer Green Room has a queen-size four-poster bed, a working fireplace, an oversize marble steam shower, and a private deck overlooking the pool area and garden. The Regent Room also has a private deck overlooking the pool, as well as a king-size bed in front of a carved working fireplace and a whirlpool. There are three suites. You'll want to spend some time on the main floor of the mansion, which has 12-foot ceilings, fluted woodwork, inlaid wood floors, a turreted living room, a columned sitting room, and a sunroom (where breakfast is served) leading through three sets of French doors to the garden and pool. Free high-speed Internet access is available in the public rooms, and wireless access is available in most guest rooms. No smoking.
Hamilton Crowne Plaza Washington, DC
A much needed renovation in 2002 updated the appearance and amenities in the guest rooms, adding handy items like CD players and wireless Internet access (the latter for $9.95 per day), handsome features such as royal blue robes and dark wood armoires and headboards, and comfortable accommodations like the seven-layer bed. Not much they could do about the size of the rooms, though, so those with king-size beds feel a bit tight, those with two double beds a little roomier. K Street-side rooms overlook Franklin Park, which is pleasant, and those on the upper floors offer views of the city skyline. In keeping with the times, the hotel has a designated "women's floor," accessible only to those with a special elevator key. This is a well-placed hotel, sort of central between the two sections of downtown: the K Street side and the section that's fast being revitalized around the MCI Center. The hotel's restaurant is popular with office workers at weekday lunch, thanks to a generous buffet of soups, salads, and rotisserie items, for $15.In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies, 2-line speaker phone w/dataport, coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron, safe, robes, CD player/clock radio, wireless high-speed Internet access ($9.95 per day).
Wardman Park Marriott Hotel
This is Washington's biggest hotel, resting on 16 acres just down the street from the National Zoo and several good restaurants. Its size and location (the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station is literally at its doorstep) make it a good choice for conventions, tour groups, and individual travelers. (Warning: You can get lost here, and I have.) Built in 1918, it is also one of Washington's oldest hotels. A massive $100 million renovation completed in 1999 replaced bed and bath linens, carpeting, and wall coverings in all the guest rooms, upgraded the ballroom and meeting rooms, restructured the outdoor pools, revamped the restaurants, and topped the lobby with a soaring four-story dome. More recently, the hotel remodeled all of the guest room bathrooms, replacing walls, floors, and fixtures. The hotel has also added outdoor seating to Harry's Bar and an outdoor cafe to its Starbucks, set in the center of beds of blooming flowers. Wireless Internet access is available in the Lobby Lounge, Starbucks, and the atrium.From the outside, the hotel resembles a college campus: There's an old part, whose entrance is draped by stately trees, and a new part, preceded by a great green lawn. The oldest section is the nicest. The 86-year-old redbrick Tower houses 205 guest rooms, each with high ceilings, ornate crown moldings, and an assortment of antique French and English furnishings. This was once an apartment building whose residents included presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, and Johnson, as well as actors like Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and authors such as Gore Vidal.The hotel has 125 suites in all, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms. Best are the 54 suites in the Wardman Tower, many of which have balconies overlooking the gardens. The size of the hotel enables it to accommodate requests for different setups: two double beds, king beds, and so on. All rooms offer high-speed Internet access, for $9.95 per day.Facilities: 2 restaurants (American, Mediterranean); pub (serves meals); deli/pastry shop (offers to-go gourmet dinners, which you can heat up in the shop's microwave); lobby bar; Starbucks; 2 outdoor heated pools with sun deck; well-equipped fitness center; concierge; business center; salon; room service (6am-1am); in-room massage; babysitting; coin-op washer/dryers; same-day laundry/dry cleaning; concierge-level rooms; 32 rooms for those w/limited mobility, 10 with roll-in showers.
