Washington D.C. metro?

Ok, so I just asked about transportation in D.C. and a bunch of ppl said to take the metro...so here is a second question...We are coming down from NYC by bus, we want to go to the basics like the white house, washington memorial, ect. How will we know what metro to catch and when to get off, ect.??

Which bus station are you arriving? If Greyhound, you will be near the Union Station where you can get the RED line metro toward Constitution Ave and the Mall. When people in DC say "Metro" they often mean both the bus and the subway system. You can check out the subway system at: http://www.wmata.com/maps/maps.cfm?fromM...
and use the clickable map.
Once you are on the RED line (from Union Station you want to travel toward Shady Grove) but you will have to change at METRO CENTER to the BLUE line toward SMITHSONIAN station. Once you get in the general area, you can walk to most of the museums. One note about travelling the "subway", you will have to buy your ticket at one of the kiosk machines before you get on and you will need your ticket in order to exit. You have to prepay based on what you calculate your trip to cost. If you try to exit without enough credit on your ticket, you have to pay to get out! Have fun!

Buy a map. When I go into DC and use the metro, I google all the metro stops I need to get off at beforehand, and on the metro itself there are little maps telling you where you are and what the next stop is.

Actually, most of the major tourist attractions, including each of the ones you mentioned, are centered around the National Mall and in walking distance from one another. You might need to use the Metro to get to and from your hotel, though, depending on where you're staying. If you add to your question some information on where you're arriving by bus (the Greyhound station?), and the area where your hotel is, we can provide more detailed guidance.

Go to the Metro website for downloadable maps .... there's even a map that you can download to an Apple iPod !

http://www.wmata.com/maps/maps.cfm

Use this map.

It has all the tourist destinations, and all the Metro Stops and lines shown. The colors or the metro lines are also shown, so you will know which color line goes to which stops.

Also, Metro Center and Gallery Place are the stops where you can change metro lines. (Gallery Place stop is kind of hidden under Verizon Center).

every station has a map as well as employees who can guide you. Not to mention other passengers.

you will also want to look into getting an all day pass, especially on the weekends, which allows you unlimited use of the metro all day for one price. If you plan on seeing several spots, this is the most cost effective.