Arlington Cemetery & Changing of the Guard - Semi-private Tour

Badge of ExcellenceWashington DC, USA

Small Group Walking Tour of Arlington National Cemetery

From $73.14

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Visit the graves of service members, military commanders, and American leaders on a small-group walking tour of Arlington National Cemetery. Pay your respects to President John F. Kennedy and General Sheridan, and see memorials to lost space shuttles, unknown soldiers, the U.S.S. Maine, and Robert E. Lee.

Arlington National Cemetery walking tour
Visit key graves and memorials
See the house of Robert E. Lee
Small group tour
Led by a local guide

What's Included

Semi-Private Walking Tour
Semi-Private" Means Group Size Is Never More Than 8 Guests Maximum
Professional Tour Guide
Duration 2.5 Hours
Tour Will Run, Rain Or Shine

Hotel pickup or drop-off
Gratuities (optional)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Arlington National Cemetery Welcome Center
1 Memorial Ave, Fort Myer, VA 22211, USA
Please meet by the gates near the welcome center.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Make your own way to Arlington National Cemetery, where you’ll meet a guide and group for this small-group tour, limited to eight people for a more personal experience of the site.

Walk between the gravestones of the more than 400,000 service members and their families in Arlington, and learn the stories behind the cemetery’s most famous tombs. See the final resting place of President John F. Kennedy and visit the graves of General William Sheridan, the renowned boxer Joe Louis, an Audie Murphy, one of America's most decorated soldiers.

Visit the memorial to the space shuttles Columbia and Challenger, then see the mast of the U.S.S. Maine, which sank in the Havana Harbor during the Cuban revolt. If possible, you’ll have the chance to watch a Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Before leaving the cemetery, visit the Arlington home of Robert E. Lee, which eventually grew into the 624-acre (253-ha) site that’s still used today.

Throughout the tour of Arlington National Cemetery, the guide will share stories about the site’s history and traditions, for a unique glimpse of United States heritage. This tour concludes at Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
It is imperative that you provide us with guests MOBILE PHONE NUMBER (including country code)

Minimum numbers apply. This tour will not run without a minimum of 3 guests to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative date or full refund
Children must be accompanied by an adult
A maximum of 10 people per tour allowed
Notes: The tour route may be affected by national celebrations. When this occurs, we will provide guests with an alternative route still being able to see all the highlights on the tour. In these cases we are unable to provide refunds or discounts. No large bags or suitcases are allowed during this tour. We recommend comfortable shoes, a bottle of water, umbrella in case of rain and hat during summer. Due to increased security measures at many attractions some can’t be visited from the inside.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

76 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 76 reviews

Washington DC

CHARLES_B, May 2024

We had an awesome guide for our tour of Arlington. She gave us lots of good info and behind the scenes info.dc tour

Great tour. Great guide!

Chris_O, Mar 2024

Our guide Maribeth was excellent. She knew the cemetery inside and out with historical insights. So many stories behind the markers.

Very interesting! Lots of walking!!

Deborah_D, Apr 2023

My siblings and I just took this tour of Arlington Cemetery. Our guide was "Bess" who was punctual, pleasant, informative, and interesting. We saw most of the major items of interest and learned a lot of interesting facts. My only tiny, I won't call it a complaint, more of a disappointment, was that we spent some valuable time at the start of the tour just sitting on a bench at the visitor's center getting background information. While that was certainly interesting, it used up about 15 minutes or so of our tour time and then we were rushed through the tour and didn't see everything. It would have been better to get going immediately and talk and walk! We weren't able to tour the house and missed one or two interesting graves for lack of time. The tour should probably be extended another 30 minutes. But the cemetery is absolutely beautiful, very moving and interesting. Everyone should visit it at least once in their lifetime!

A humbling experience

Maria_E, Nov 2022

Humbling standing at the beautiful grave of JFK ; Annemarie had an in-depth knowledge of the cemetery, the history and its surroundings- very grateful for all we learnt. Thank you

Arlington

Lynn_B, Sep 2022

Great tour. Donna was fantastic and knew her history and topic. We really enjoyed the tour, so much to see.

Jennifer gave us a very...

Donald_R, Aug 2022

Jennifer gave us a very personal and informative tour with the time to make it relaxed. She gave us so much knowledge that the shuttle tours would never be able to do. We were able to go to grave sites that most people would never have a chance to see. Many thanks to her.

Arlington Cemetery private tour was GREAT!

Ann_F, Jul 2022

The tour was AMAZING. Our tour guide Doug did a fantastic job leading us around Arlington Cemetery. He kept it interesting for my 11 year daughter, my husband and myself. Definitely recommend!

It was enjoyable but we...

Robin_K, Jul 2022

It was enjoyable but we were there on one of the hottest days of the summer. Bess our tour guide did a good job.

Do it again

Wesley_A, Jul 2022

The changing of the guard was a very serious yet sentimental experience. Donna was a great guide with lots of knowledge.

Great trip to DC with our granddaughter

Jason_H, Jun 2022

The presidential motorcade What past us when we were at the Washington monument . Lincoln Memorial excellent Our tour guide Tom is super wonderful job

Our Arlington Experience

Dianne_W, May 2022

The Changing of the Guards Ceremony was the best experience of our entire trip. Also, our tour guide, Tony gave us wonderful insight and background history along the way! Amazing experience!

Great Guide

Tara_W, Apr 2022

Our guide, Donovan, not only showed us the most historical locations in the cemetery, but also gave us back stories on some of the lesser known graves that added to the historical context.

Wonderful experience!

Vicky_J, Feb 2022

It was an awesome tour, Meagan was amazing. You can tell she is very passionate about what she does, we learned so much. It was beautiful!

Great destination

Jeremy_C, Oct 2021

Arlington was a great place to visit and I would highly recommend the location to anyone visiting the area. However the experience will be highly dependent upon the guide that you or your group is assigned. We were instructed to be at least 10-15 min early, our guide was ~15 min late. Additionally our guide didn’t seem happy when the party discussed the history and stories of the area amongst ourselves.

Excellent Experience

Linda_P, Oct 2021

Enjoyed all the information our guide gave us. She was very helpful and friendly. Enjoyed the history and historical information that was presented.

Moving Experience

George_W, Sep 2021

Had a wonderful tour, hitting the highlights. Got to see my uncle’s grave after the tour. Changing of the Guard was very special.

Great Experience at Arlington Cemetery lots of history to take in

Paul_D, Jul 2021

Our tour guide was Awesome! Thank you Tony for such a memorable experience! Tony was such a wealth of knowledge!

Great tour

Yvonne_V, Jul 2021

The Arlington National cemetery tour was great. A time to stop and reflect. Brenda, our tour guide was very friendly and informative. Highly recommend this tour.

Great Guide

Kelly_H, Jun 2021

Great guide, we saw way more this way, learned so much we didn't know. The guide customized the tour, helped us get perfectly timed tickets to the Arlington House. She even texted us ahead of time where to meet and what she looked like with good directions. Awesome! Took away all the stress.

Fantastic.

lori_h, Jun 2021

Fantastic tour with an excellent guide. I would take this tour over and over again. Everyone should take a guided tour.