North East US trip Fly to Washington Return from NYC .

Well I'm certainly pleased i posted on here , some great advice thanks to you all ....Buckguy you certainly given me a lot to look into... cheers

Also a suitable lovely beach resort to relax for a day or two, is Atlantic city any good?

Atlantic City, no. As buckguy says the best beach places starting from DC are the places in MD and Delaware, Rehobeth, Bethany Beach, Ocean City. From those places you can easily do a daytrip to visit Assateauge island, which is one of the best wilderness beaches on the USA east coast. No way do you have time to visit North Carolina.

If you want to stick to the coastal route, you can take the Lewes - Cape May ferry to go between Delaware and New Jersey.

If you go to SE Penn. you can easily go to Penn Dutch Country. Stay in historic Strasburg and see the Amish Village and ride the Stasburg Railroad steam train.

Many thanks for your help....
So the trip back up to NYC via Cape may etc is worth doing ....may stop over for a night or two here , any suggestions on nice places to stay over where there is good selection of restaurant s etc ....as you may have read during our trip we wish to experience the US as best we can , is there a theme park which is worth a visit in the areas we are traveling?
One last question , I do not fancy driving into Manhattan so I'm looking for a nice safe place to stay the night before about an hour or so away from NYC where there is a good transport link to NYC and suitable for car rental drop off .....I know I'm asking a bit much but this would certainly make our trip rum smoothly .....

I have finally got round to booking digs for DC and NYC ...any advice on whether it's best to pre book in advance accommodation when visiting towns cities or is it possible to roll up and find somewhere if we like the feel of a place ?

Thanks in advance to you all for any help you can offer ... regards David

is there a theme park which is worth a visit in the areas we are traveling?

Six Flags in Maryland (outside DC) and New Jersey. Hershey Park. I'm sure there are others I don't feel like looking for.

about an hour or so away from NYC where there is a good transport link to NYC and suitable for car rental drop off

Do you realize how far an "hour away" is?
Just drop the car off at Newark airport and take the train in to the city.

any advice on whether it's best to pre book in advance accommodation when visiting towns cities or is it possible to roll up and find somewhere if we like the feel of a place ?

In the major cities, you will always find something. It may not be "cheap," but you'll find it. In small towns, rural areas, you may or may not find something. And it may not be "cheap," either.
In general, you'll get cheaper rates if you book ahead. Plus, you won't have to spend valuable time in your trip figuring out where to stay.

Very helpful thank you ,with us coming from the UK the US will seem huge I'm sure , hence some of these silly questions !
Will certainly look into your helpful suggestions ...cheers

nice safe place to stay the night before about an hour or so away from NYC where there is a good transport link to NYC and suitable for car rental drop off.

#12's suggestion to drop off at EWR maximizes convenience, but not an attractive place to spend the evening and morning. If you rent from Enterprise, you can drop off in Princeton NJ, with its hotels, campus, museums, restaurants, and train shuttle to the NJ Transit line into NY Penn Station all in walking distance from there.

You could also drop off in Philadelphia and take the Amtrak from there, not much more than an hour.

nice safe place to stay the night before about an hour or so away from NYC where there is a good transport link to NYC and suitable for car rental drop off.

#12's suggestion to drop off at EWR maximizes convenience, but not an attractive place to spend the evening and morning. If you rent from Enterprise, you can drop off in Princeton NJ, with its hotels, campus, museums, restaurants, and train shuttle to the NJ Transit line into NY Penn Station all in walking distance from there.

You could also drop off in Philadelphia and take the Amtrak from there, not much more than an hour.

Cheers for the recommendations will look into these ....very helpful regards