If you stay outside the city.. than you have at least a half hour commute to get to any of the sights. Forget about driving and parking in the District.
Personally, I would try to stay in the city, Arlington or Crystal City. I know it is more expensive, but you won’t get stuck in the commuter traffic. Traffic around here is unlike anywhere we have ever been.
If you want to take the metro in from outside town, you may want to go on the metro website to check the times. The metro from Springfield to the Smithsonian is a lot longer than I ever expected.
One final thing, if you are here on the weekend you can usually find a parking place down around the Smithsonian if you are there by 9:30am. The exception to this rule is when there is a major event on the mall.
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill this past summer with my family.
+great hotel
+fabulous pool and workout area
+5 minute walk to Union Station [where we did most of our traveling]
+15 minute walk to Chinatown [great authentic food]
+great view of the capitol
+good service
+modern-ish looking building
+top level of the hotel offers luxuious suites
Hyatt Regency website:
If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask me!
whatever you do, make sure you can get to a metro station easily. depending on where you’re from, the price of hotels here might be a little shocking (near dupont circle and downtown can be $300+ per night), so arlington might be a better idea.
anyplace you’ll be staying as a tourist will not be in high-crime areas, so don’t let that deter you.
for reference, a 20-minute metro ride from downtown can get you as far as dunn loring (va) on the orange line, king street (va) on the blue/yellow, and silver spring (md) on red.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Jorge
Stay in the suburbs. They got decent motel and hotel prices.
You can ride mass transit to the national landmarks and stuff.
These are good places to find decent lodging:
Wheaton
Greenbelt
Rockville
Tysons corner
Springfield
Falls church
April 1st, 2009 at 7:09 am
Bill
It is safer ‘outside’ the city.
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Terri
If you stay outside the city.. than you have at least a half hour commute to get to any of the sights. Forget about driving and parking in the District.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Ben
Personally, I would try to stay in the city, Arlington or Crystal City. I know it is more expensive, but you won’t get stuck in the commuter traffic. Traffic around here is unlike anywhere we have ever been.
If you want to take the metro in from outside town, you may want to go on the metro website to check the times. The metro from Springfield to the Smithsonian is a lot longer than I ever expected.
One final thing, if you are here on the weekend you can usually find a parking place down around the Smithsonian if you are there by 9:30am. The exception to this rule is when there is a major event on the mall.
Hope you have a wonderful visit!
April 8th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Gene
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill this past summer with my family.
+great hotel
+fabulous pool and workout area
+5 minute walk to Union Station [where we did most of our traveling]
+15 minute walk to Chinatown [great authentic food]
+great view of the capitol
+good service
+modern-ish looking building
+top level of the hotel offers luxuious suites
Hyatt Regency website:
If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask me!
April 12th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Jill
whatever you do, make sure you can get to a metro station easily. depending on where you’re from, the price of hotels here might be a little shocking (near dupont circle and downtown can be $300+ per night), so arlington might be a better idea.
anyplace you’ll be staying as a tourist will not be in high-crime areas, so don’t let that deter you.
for reference, a 20-minute metro ride from downtown can get you as far as dunn loring (va) on the orange line, king street (va) on the blue/yellow, and silver spring (md) on red.