Excellent experience - Education center and New Room were closed due to construction for new renovations, but everything else was very nice. Good value for the price, especially since a tour of the distillery and grist mill down the road were included in the ticket price. I was unable to purchase tickets online on the website, but the cashier at the ticket booth on the property allowed me to use an online discount with no questions asked.

Another Plantation Tour - I had always wanted to visit Mount Vernon. This visit to DC, I went by boat through City Experiences. The boat ride was quite tranquil and included an audio tour that wasn't the best. Upon arrival, I was able to walk a short uphill trail to the tomb of George Washington. But looking around, i suddenly dawned on me that I was on a plantation. George Washington was a plantation owner. I think it is very important that we remember that while "George Washington slept here" this is a place where over 300 people were enslaved and made to work. It's a bit of a contradiction. The curators have endeavored to make this apparent. You can tour the slave quarters and all workers are referred to as a enslaved individuals. Unfortunately, I think in reading this place, the overwhelming majority of visitors will see a beautiful, pastoral estate where the first president lived and ignore the concentration camp where the majority of residents were made to work against their will. It's a lovely estate. But in visiting, please don't overlook the people who suffered and died here. This is a plantation tour.

Worth spending a day - Going through this gives such a great picture of what our first president was like as well as colonial life, albeit from a wealthier family perspective. I added the mansion interior ($2) and had the luxury of spending almost the whole day on the property. It was all worth it, including the museum, which helps fill in the gaps in making history come alive. If nothing else, do not miss the 4-D film on the Revolutionary War. Restoration of the house to try to have it the way it was when the Washingtons lived there is impressive and I appreciate the work the Mount Vernon Ladies Association did to save it that continues. Only wish the Mount Vernon Inn was open for dinner - they close when the grounds do.

An excellent site that’s been improved since last visit - Mount Vernon used to be a regular haunt but that was twenty years ago Returning to visit was like visiting an old friend by it had been enhanced in quality and information The visitor centre is an excellent space and a welcome addition rather than the little hut on the left hand side of the entrance. The welcome video and displays are all new additions The house was undergoing renovation but you could still see limited rooms but enter from the back entrance rather than through the front door which is a shame as it was always a treat to leave the house and sit on the porch overlooking the Potomac Another addition is the identification of the slaves graves although the slaves memorial and George Washington Grave remained as I recalled An excellent addition is the shuttle to the river especially up the hill on a very hot day

Great way to pass 3 hours - Everything was very well organised - it's a beautiful location. The grounds were very well-maintained with good signage and a lot to see. The staff were all friendly and professional, and the mansion tour was excellent. Allow at least 2.5 hours to see everything.

Nice - I enjoyed seeing the house and grounds. This place was really busy with tourists. The guides do a good job describing the various rooms and areas within the home. The people dressed in costume on the grounds and farm area knew their lines, but weren't as engaging or helpful with whatever they were supposed to be teaching or sharing.

Visiting Mount Vernon is a must for everyone who likes American history. - We made our reservations several months before our actual travel date. It was only when attempting to make reservations at the Mount Vernon Inn for lunch that afternoon did we find out there was a big event planned for the same date as our visit. Happily there was absolutely no problem changing from Sunday to Saturday for our visit and mansion tour, plus we were able to have lunch at the Inn. Unfortunately our "talk" about George Washington was cancelled and there were several tents set up for an evening event that definitely blocked the beautiful views from the back porch of the mansion. AND, as with so many historical buildings half the mansion and much of the front was blocked off for renovation. Having said that, this was our third visit to Mount Vernon and definitely worth our time. Our travel partners had never been there before and were VERY impressed with the entire estate and the tour. HINT: Be sure to take time to visit the museum. It is full of artifacts from Washington's day, plus information about the women who got together to save Mount Vernon from dereliction. We took UBER from our hotel in downtown DC which was $45.00 each way. Traffic was crazy on the way back to our hotel and we were all very glad not to be driving . Added bonus of seeing the gorgeous views from the G W Parkway.

A site to see, but to avoid staff - The beautiful grounds along the Potomac, with the trees and the carefully sculpted gardens are worth the trip. As others have advised, I would not do the mansion tour more than once. It was like being herded like cattle, and the photos of the interior of the museum are good enough for that experience, The museum exhibits have some very cleverly demonstrated information, from basic to more detailed, and evolving material, which is also worth the trip. What is discouraging, and what I noticed on my second trip as well, is that for some reason the staff and visitor center personnel can be very rude and immature in a youthful inexperienced way, and for some reason, this behavior continues to be noticed across people’s visits. I wish this sort of thing was not tolerated because the grounds can really tire out a visitor and there’s a need for support sometimes and often they just find a snotty young person that makes him feel bad. I would suggest to anybody to take the basic tour and avoid staff as much as possible. It’s also true that most of the bad apples there give a bad name to the truly kind couple of older, more experienced staff members.

Disappointing lack of respect for our founding father - Grounds are beautiful. Employees we encountered were not enthusiastic about their jobs, with the exception of the lady at the front gate she was very welcoming. We expected to hear about Washington’s legacy and the sacrifices he made to form this country and the important meetings he had at Mount Vernon, instead all we heard was how poorly he treated the people he enslaved. Very disappointed with the lack of respect shown to our founding father.

Overpriced and misleading - The grounds are gorgeous, but the tour prices are over priced and the website is outdated and has misleading information, which made our visit unpleasant. First, it leads you to believe that you make a "reservation" to tour the mansion if you reserve up front. This is not the case, they don't stop selling tickets after the time slot is full. Instead, they over sell the time slot and you need to wait like cattle for 30-45 minutes once your time slot arrives. Because of this, we were unable to wait for the tour. If you are offering reservations, actually save slots so you can enter at the time reserved! Second, the website says that there are shuttles to the distillery. Because of this (we didn't have a car), we purchased tickets to the whiskey tasting at the distillery, which is 3 miles away. When I asked about the shuttle, I was rudely told that that "hasn't happened since pre-covid", like I was supposed to know that. There were even signs every where at the distillery for shuttle drop off. We had to take an Uber. We then did the whiskey tasting, which was an outragous $60 per person for 4 tiny samples. This would have been fine, but it was literally a tiny tent with zero effort - it was a set up that most farmer's markets offer for free. This place has a "for profit" feel. I am from the northeast, where we have tons of revolutionary war history and it is reasonable prices with a much less "price gouge like" feel. Do better Mount Vernon!