The White House is opening its doors to the public once again. Well, sort of. You can't just walk up to the front door and ask to look around.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, requests for a glimpse inside the White House had to come through a congressional representative.
So you can make your request through a representative's or senator's website, and it needs to be submitted at least three weeks before you want to tour.
But it's first come, first served, so you'll have a better chance of landing a tour if you make the request up to three months in advance.
But don't try to game the system. Submitting requests through multiple members of Congress is a surefire way to get denied.
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If space is available and your background check comes back clear, your representative's office will notify you of your White House tour date.
The hurdles don't stop there. If you arrive for your tour with any prohibited item — like a purse, stroller or even a bottle of water — you can't go in.
If you're over 18 years old, you won't be allowed on the premises if the information on your supplied photo ID or passport does not exactly match the information you provided when the tour request was submitted.
After that, enjoy your 45-minute, self-guided tour. Yep. Self-guided. So make sure to read the plaques in each room.
But at the end of the day if you can't get into a tour of the actual White House, there's always Google Street View.
As of March 7, White House tours are available Tuesday through Saturday, beginning at 7:30 a.m.
