Hey. I'm planning a trip to DC with my family of 5. My plan is to stay at a hotel near a metro...my husband is thinking about staying somewhere further out for a better rate, renting a car and parking at a metro station lot and riding the metro in.

Any insight or advise or pros/cons would be greatly appreciated.

I've only been to DC once, and that was 13 years ago and I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed at all the info out there. Are there any good links for info that I should know about?

Thanks in advance.

I recommend the Holiday Inn that is about a block off the Mall. Walking distance for a lot of the museums and there are a couple metro stations really close.

We stayed in Chevy Chase and it was pretty inexpensive and a very nice hotel. It was a little ways out, but it was definitely worth the drive.

Not sure when you are going, but the weekend rates aren't usually that bad

Are you an AAA member? Maybe look at Priceline or hotwire? Are you planning on doing daytrips outside the DC area? If not save your money on car rental and try to fly into Reagan from which you can just take the metro to your hotel closer to DC.

Just my 2 cents:

Get a hotel very, very close to the train stop. DC has lots of different stuff and people could very likely split up to go see the things that interest them the most. Being able to walk from the train to the hotel prevents you from having to coordinate when you go, when you get back, etc. Being able to come and go as you please would be a big help.

STAND RIGHT; WALK LEFT

I would suggest looking into the Holiday Inn in Rosslyn in VA. It is a few minutes walk to the metro (blue and orange line = direct path to the National Mall), next to Key Bridge across from Georgetown, and near Arlington Cemetery.

My uncle works for the govt. They contract with Holiday Inn and he used to stay at the one near L'Enfant Plaza. Likes this one MUCH, MUCH more than DC. It is a nice, clean hotel. If you ask for a room facing the river, you can look out over Georgetown, seeing the National Cathedral in the distance.

And finally, agreeing with Jock....the obligatory "STAND ON THE RIGHT, WALK ON THE LEFT!" People here take that seriously. My father almost got tossed down the escalator breaking this rule. Hey, I warned him.

Don't the metro lines go a heck of a long ways out? We stayed in Alexandria and were just a few blocks from a metro stop. Our hotel had a shuttle to/from the metro.

You do not want to be way out and drive to a metro. Traffic will be hell on Earth and parking can be tough to find at the stations unless it is the very end ones, and you will be smothered in traffic regardless. There are lots of hotels with shuttles to the metro though, so be sure to look into that.

Hated driving in DC. In Jan. we stayed in Alexandria as well. Arrived in National on Friday bought 20$ train pass and had 5$ left on Tuesday which I gave to an excited Obama supporter. Never took any cabs.

Stay close enough to the train station that a hotel shuttle isn't needed. It sucks getting off the train after a long day and waiting for a van to haul you back to the hotel. It is equally frustrating to wait around at the beginning of the day, all ginned up and ready to see some cool stuff, only to be delayed by the damn van.

If I had it to do again (and I will someday) I'd stay near the King Street station in Alexandria. Close to Reagan, Blue or Yellow gets you into town, walking distance to food and drink in Alexandria.

Have a great trip though.

check out crystal city, virginia for hotels. there are several there. alexandria is a stones throw away and downtown dc is a 15 minute ride by metro (metro station very accessible in crystal city). crystal city is where all of the a&m student interns stay for their semesters up there. commuting is a breeze

Hotel cost usually isn't an issue when we travel their because nearly everything you will do while you're there is free, with the exception of food of course. If you get by what the nightly rate is and do the math on the total cost of the trip, it's really a pretty good bang for the buck.

I would recommend staying in downtown Bethesda off the red line - you're walking distance to the Bethesda station and all the great restaurants in Bethesda. Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan/National Zoo are a couple stops up and Metro Center is about 25 minutes away. It's not too bad of a ride at all. FYI, you can only park at the last three or four stations on each line (park and ride).

I don't understand the logic of staying further out to save money on a hotel, only to spend the money on a rental car to take you to a train station. The rental car would only be a hassle to deal with. If you are wanting to make trips to places where there is no train service, save those for a single day, and rent the car for that one day only. Staying close to the rail is very much worth it, because by the end of the day, you are ready to chill out in the room, especially if you have kids. Getting off the train and loading into a car only makes the end of the day seem longer. In addition to all of that, many hotels charge for parking, so that's another cost you might avoid by not renting a car.

Now for other tips.... If you are wanting to tour the White House, write your congressman's office, and request the tour ASAP. They have a limited number of slots open each day, and they fill up quickly (up to 6 months in advance). If you want to go to the top of the Washington Monument go the the National park service website and get your tickets online. They are free, but they are limited too, getting them online will help avoid any disappointment of not getting to do go up. Now, if you can't get a ticket to go up in the monument, go to the Old Post Office. It has a tower you can go to the top in to get great views of the city, and it isn't near as crowded as the monument.

Check in advance on the things you want to see. Some places may be closed for remodeling.

Be prepared for long lines, and security checks to go into all of the buildings.
I would say the longest lines in order when I went last year were...
1)Capitol Building 2)National Archives 3)Natural History Museum 4)Library of Congress 4)Air & Space Museum

BTW, everyone and their grandparents, nephews, nieces, and second cousins thrice removed are visiting DC this year, probably because there is so much free stuff to do and see. It is really crowded out there this year.

Personally I find it a lot more convenient to stay in town near the White house, museums, etc. and as a matter of fact I'll be there next week.

And if you don't go up the old post office ask the people at the capitol for the super secret dome tour. The password is schmo-po

[This message has been edited by Jock 07 (edited 4/11/2009 3:30p).]

Oh and make sure to hit up the Air & Space museum out by Dulles; it's 10x better than the one on the mall

As someone who lives in the DC metro, it's been insanely crowded the last month or so - tons of visitors and the metro can be a mess on the weekends, so be prepared for crowds - especially at the Smithsonian and Metro Center stops.

Your best bet is to stay around the Downtown/Capitol - I know you can get the Capitol Hilton (4 star hotel) for $89/night on priceline. If you are going to stay further out, I'd stay somewhere that has a lot to do such as shopping and restaurants and has easy access to the metro (ie Bethesda or Alexandria).

If you're staying longer and want to get a car to check out other things in the area, you can go to the Hazy Center (the best part of the Air & Space Museum - out at Dulles), Mount Vernon and the Civil War battlefields (Manassas, Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville, Antietam, Gettysburg) are within 1.5 hours.

Thanks for all the good advice. I really appreciate all the info.

I'm in D.C. right now for business. There are kids EVERYWHERE!!!! Tour groups are insane. I have nothing to compare how it usually is, but visiting the Lincoln memorial gave me a headache because of all the kids running around and screaming. I'm officially getting old.

I'm staying at the Willard next to the White House. I heard the guy checking in next to me say he got his price on priceline. That seemed like a good deal.

Just my paltry two cents.

Yeah it's been insane lately - Easter/Cherry Blossom Festival/Spring Break/bad economony + free museums have made it very crowded, especially on the weekends (and the metro too).

The Hazy Center is awesome, but it's hard to get to unless you rent a car. The Smithsonian ran a shuttle from the Air & Space, but that was discontinued. One way cab fare from Dupont Circle is $60. Metro MUCH cheaper, but at least a 2 hour trek via red line to Rosslyn, tranferring to a Metro bus to Dulles, transferring to a local VA bus to the Center and then reversing makes for a REALLY long day.

I did it via the orange line to rosylin, I think, then a shuttle to dulles, then a small smithsonian bus to the museum. It was a pain in the ass but definetly worth it. Spent all day there and still didn't see as much as I wanted to.

Thanks for all the great info.

We just booked our hotel. We went through hotwire and picked a 3.5 star in Bethesda/Silver Spring for $63 a night. We ended up getting the Hilton Silver Spring. I'm really happy with what we got because they have an indoor pool. We can deal with the two double beds.

Thanks again for taking the time to post.

Just to let you know, Bethesda and Silver Spring aren't really that close - they are on the same side of town (Northwest) but you would have to get on the Beltway to get to one or the other (opposite ends of the red line on the metro as well).

There is a lot to do in downtown Silver Spring though - I stayed there when I was interviewing for my current job. It is nice to be on the red line though because you can access Metro Center and Gallery Place, which will put you on any of the other lines.

Don't have anything ot add other than I'm in the Library of Congress as i type this. Having a great time.

You will only be a metro stop or two away from one of the more impressive churches I have ever seen in the USofA: The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the grounds of the Catholic University of America (and a short 5 min walk from the metro station). It is worth checking out, Catholic or not. The mosaic tile artwork is out of this world.

Nik is right, that structure is beautiful.

I would add the National Cathedral to the list. I lived directly across the street from it and had multiple views of it from my 7th floor place.

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I have seen the enemy, and he is us.

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Losers make excuses while winners go home with the homecoming queen.

That's the church I went to while I was living in DC. Easiest one to get to without a car.

Our daughter lives in D.C. and gripes every spring about all the Jr. High kids running around in tour groups.

I delight in reminding her that she was once one of those kids.

I complain about ALL tour groups....and the buses that bring them.

bump...


we are going to visit family in late December - early January in Maryland. We are flying in/out of Reagan. We leave to come home on the 3rd, but our flight isn't until late in the day. Is there a place that will store/hold our luggage until we need to go the airport? Can we check luggage that early? This would be our only day to spend time in DC during our trip. Thanks for any info.