Signature Tours of DC

Do NOT book this tour through Unilocal.You will get charged, receive an email and 2 emails but then be turned away by the tour company. We had booked the night tour for our last night in D.C. so we didn’t get to see any of the monuments by night as we had planned. Now I have to deal with trying to get Unilocal to refund me by money. Sucks!

We did both the 3 hour nite tour (Monday 11÷9÷15) and the 6 hour day tour (Wednesday 11÷11÷15). Duane was our tour guide both times. We had a great experience and found both tours to be perfect. The night tour offered great lighting effects of the monuments, while the day tour offered more detailed photos. The bus was very clean and both drivers were absolutely professional. Duane is an incredible tour guide and we felt lucky to have him for both tours. He was born and raised here in DC. He is very knowledgeable and entertaining and has awesome communication skills. 5 stars for sure!

If you get the chance to take the night tour with Liam, do it! He was friendly, incredibly knowledgable, and had a great sense of humor. The tour was very informative, and the monuments are beautiful at night. We had a great time.

Our pickup was quite late, but the tour guide Du-​Wayne, was very good.
He was entertaining and informative, organized and professional.
We joined the tour mainly to see the monuments without having to walk to each one. This tour accomplished that pretty efficiently.

The bus picked us up from our hotel for the «3 hour» tour just after 7pm. After driving a few blocks, we pulled over to pick up some more people. A few minutes later I look outside the window to see our bus driver talking to someone on the phone. At some point the people leading the tour realized that there were too many people on the bus. They then take the time to ask every.single.passenger to see their ticket. We left at least half an hour later than scheduled. When the tour finally started, we met our tour guide. An older man with a very loud and irritating voice that was only magnified by his microphone. I know that tour guides are supposed to be enthusiastic, but he was a little too in-​your-​face for me, and for the rest of my family.
It’s now 10:52, and the tour is still not over. I am literally writing this review from the back of the bus with clenched teeth.
I paid for and expected a 3 hour tour of DC. We couldn’t find any shorter tours and already thought this would be too long. I expected to be back in my hotel an hour ago and still have no idea where we are. Right when I thought we had made our last stop, and we got back on the bus around 9:45, he said «oh now we’re going out of DC, and into Virginia!» This is not okay with me.
Tl;dr If you don’t get tired out too easily, then go ahead. If you actually want a 3 hour tour, then unfortunately you’re out of luck.
Only pro was we got free waters.

Arlington Plus Tour w a family of 4. Amazing time (8 hours) with our awesome tour guide Dwayne! Very informative, engaging and he definitely knows DC, born and raised!!! Very impressed and it’s clearly evident that he takes pride in his work as a tour guide.
Highly recommend this tour company! They also have flexible tours — after our Arlington tour in the morning, we were joined by 3 and 6 hour tourists to complete the day.
If you want to see Arlington though, I recommend the Arlington plus tour. And get Dwayne — AWESOME!!!
The driver was great and the shuttle was clean, newer, and the AC was blasting and was great to come back to after each section of the tour.

Excellent night monuments tour with courteous service and knowledgeable, upbeat guides. I’m usually skeptical of doing bus tours, but I learned so much and the experience was definitely worth the time and money. I arranged this tour for some visiting relatives at the end of their stay, but I wish we had done this tour at the beginning, because our guide gave us so much advice for how to enjoy the city. I definitely recommend!

Thanks to Liam for the amazing bus tour he provided us that night with mucho fun facts.
If you happen to go on a bus tour, make sure to get this guy. You won’t be disappointed.
It’s best when visiting DC for a short weekend. This is a 3 hour tour.

The bus was comfortable and took us to all the good places. I grew up in Virginia and thought myself a US history geek, but Liam blew me away with his knowledge and his interesting stories about everything and the people and events being remembered. My only regret was that we took only the morning tour and didn’t stay for the afternoon.

3 HOUR MUST SEE DC tour was PERFECT!
We had only a few days in DC without a car, so I booked the morning 3 hour bus tour to maximize the number of sights we could see in one morning. Although I’m told the NIGHTTIME tour is more impressive, we were so jet lagged that I don’t think we would have stayed awake for the nighttime tour.
PRICE: Adult $ 59, child $ 39. Look for online booking promo codes!
BUS STOP: We caught our tour bus from the corner of Penn/​9^th St NW, across from the Navy memorial, on the same side of the street as Archives. (The Archives metro stop will put you on the opposite side of the street from the bus stop)
TOUR GUIDE: Our tour guide was born and raised in DC. Not in Virginia. Not Maryland. He knew a ton of stuff and if you weren’t paying attention, he’d sneak in hilarious commentary. Shoot I can’t remember his name but it wasn’t Liam… Liam came in the bus a little later. Anyway, I totally enjoyed the live tour guide.
TICKET: Bring your confirmation with you. I will repeat. BRING A HARD COPY OF YOUR CONFIRMATION. They don’t have a list, and they won’t accept your iPhone email as a ticket. Make sure you bring that paper copy with you.
BUS TOUR
Our bus was air conditioned. No restroom on board but at one point it started pouring rain and they handed out complimentary ponchos to everyone. We drove past all of the following, and actually got to walk through or hop off and snap pictures of the ones with ** next to it. What I liked about this tour was that they dropped us off at FDR, we walked through FDR and MLK and then got picked up from MLK. Efficient. We saw all of the following in 3 hours.
**Washington Monument
J. Edgar Hoover Building
National Archives Building
Grant Memorial
**The Capitol Building
**Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
The Kennedy Center
**Korean War Memorial
**Japanese Cherry Trees
Peace Monument
Freedom Plaza
National Mall
District of Columbia War Memorial
Holocaust Museum
National Gallery of Art
Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Bureau of Engraving & Printing
**World War II Memorial
**Lincoln Memorial (bathroom stop)
**The White House
Jefferson Memorial
**FDR Memorial (bathroom stop)
**Vietnam War Memorial Wall
Nurses Memorial

We took the DC by Night tour. Our guide Liam was wonderful! It is nice to tour a city with a local who passionately loves the city he lives in and the material he is speaking about. The coach seats were nice and the windows were clear. The complimentary water was a pleasant, welcoming touch. Their prices, although VERY competitive for DC, are still just slightly high. That is my ONE and ONLY criticism. I would absolutely recommend this company! Even if it is just a little extra coin!

Fresh off the bus… exhausted since it was a long day in conferences but so thrilled with the three hour tour that I had to post before going to bed. He night tour was amazing. The drivers, Paul was the best! He was always the first off the bus and extended his hand to help you down. Classy and a true gentlemen. His driver was stellar — smooth and he focused on what the guide, Liam was saying and slowed down when he should. Great experience. Now for Liam (spelling), this guy is so kind, witty and knowledgeable. There wasn’t a question he could not answer. Never for a moment were we bored. Highly recommend. No complaints and you will regret if you don’t try this tour wih these folks. Signature Tours must know that Liam and Paul are an asset… first class service!

Nothing but praises! Edgar (navigation specialist) and Liam (Tour guide extraordinaire) knew the ins and outs of our nation’s capital.
The bus picked us up promptly on time and I found it to be impeccably clean. After showing my confirmation email from my phone I found the seats were very comfortable and the air kept us more than cool. We had an overhead area to keep any extra items, such as backpacks/​jackets (or in our case, raincoats, umbrellas and ponchos!).
It rained during part of our tour and they were fully prepared by handing out ponchos and extra umbrellas. This company will be hard to beat. Save your time in reading all the reviews; Signature Tours is THE best. If you’re looking for a private your, they offer that as well. Very satisfied customer!

whatever you do, do not use this service. I am unable to find my ticket on-​line so I can print them. If you don’t print your tickets you don’t get on the bus. Even if you have them on your smart phone. How am I suppose to print them if I can’t find them. I then called the agency and a very rude Brenda was of no help. She interrupted frequently without listening to my question. She then hung up on me without helping. I was already charged. If you don’t like your job get a new one. One that does not require dealing with the public.

I don’t usualLy write reviews, but had to get the word out about Signature. This is THE tour you want to take for a DC night tour. Don’t be scared of the sparse number of reviews — this is a smaller, local, family run company, which means that it’s not as advertised as others. It was $ 50/​person for a 3-​hour bus tour.
Make no mistake however, this is not some unprofessional, low grade experience. We stopped at all the standard night tour stops. Unlike Monuments by Moonlight and DC After Dark, however, Signature tours provided a tour guide as well as a driver — the tour guide gets off with you and shows you the monument personally. This is similar to the DC The Lights tour, but less expensive and starts a bit later.
The tour guide was casual and friendly, yet still thorough and knowledgable. You meet right in front of the national archive building in a clearly marked, albeit poorly lit location. Our group was only 6 people, but we still ran the full tour. However the real kicker for me — they dropped us off at our hotel! (the palomar) this is no guarantee and is not included in the itinerary, but since the group was small they were like ‘why not?‘
It’s that kind of customer commitment and casual small business attitude that gives the Signature tour an edge over the competition. Seriously consider them if looking for a good night tour.