Dc trip question

In the past when I went to dc I remember being told to stay outside the city and ride the train in, to afford parking costs and such. Sadly I can't remember decent areas to stay? I Am moving to VA for a year and the family wants to fly from seattle to dc this summer for a visit.

Any ideas?

you looking for an apt, hotel, or house?

Dusten said:

In the past when I went to dc I remember being told to stay outside the city and ride the train in, to afford parking costs and such. Sadly I can't remember decent areas to stay? I Am moving to VA for a year and the family wants to fly from seattle to dc this summer for a visit.

Any ideas?

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Sorry, I haven't been to DC in 20 years. I hear it's quite the swamp.

RDJ said:

you looking for an apt, hotel, or house?

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More so an area. I prefer airbnb type places to a hotel. Just somewhere near a metro station in a decent neighborhood.

Me and wife stayed in Alexandria when we went to visit, only driving we did all week was from the hotel to the train station, the rest of our commuting was via train and we grabbed an uber twice. Lots of walking lol

Dusten said:

More so an area. I prefer airbnb type places to a hotel. Just somewhere near a metro station in a decent neighborhood.

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Then I would stay in the VA suburbs and not DC. Alexandria, Arlington, McLean, if you don’t mind driving. Try to find something close to a subway stop. Biggest thing you can do is plan what you want to hit before you get there. There is so much to see and do that without a plan you can easily get frustrated trying to plan the day you go out. You can spend months at the smithsonian and not see everything.

RDJ said:

Then I would stay in the VA suburbs and not DC. Alexandria, Arlington, McLean, if you don’t mind driving. Try to find something close to a subway stop. Biggest thing you can do is plan what you want to hit before you get there. There is so much to see and do that without a plan you can easily get frustrated trying to plan the day you go out. You can spend months at the smithsonian and not see everything.

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Yea, I know about all the sites. I've been there 2-3 times. This will be a first for the family. Thanks for the towns. I'll give them a look

Vienna, Tysons area. Plenty to see , shop, and great restaurants.


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lOOKnGO said:

Vienna, Tysons area. Plenty to see , shop, and great restaurants.


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Except his wife and kids won't get the important stuff. They are good places to stay tho if you can afford it. Kinda like McLean.

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Springfield or Springhill Suites on Eisenhower in Alexandria. Metro station is right across the bridge.

RDJ said:

Except his wife and kids won't get the important stuff. They are good places to stay tho if you can afford it. Kinda like McLean.

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Yes, they are all close. McLean, Vienna, Tysons. Several Metro Rail stations within walking distance. Very low crime areas. I have stayed at the Hilton in Tysons for around a $100 a night. It's an older Hilton, but clean and I believe it has shuttle too. Fairfax city maybe a good place to find a Airb and use the Vienna Metro station into DC.


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I was there couple summers ago and we stayed at the Holiday Inn right by the L'Enfant metro station. Perfect location for museum stuff and for getting all around the area IMO. Wouldn't venture too far south of it at night though.

I can highly recommend two area because A) You won't need a car, B) very close to DCA and, C) very kid/family friendly.

Check out Crystal City. There are many good hotels all within walking distance to the Metro. Crystal Drive and also 23rd Street have very good restaurants for kids and adults, and all within walking distance.

Also, check out King Street in Old Town. Also very good restaurants for everyone and is walkable, however there might not be as many hotel choices.

Both of these locations are very close to DCA.

Another recommendation is to Uber or Lyft into the District rather than Metro. They have been doing quite a bit of work on the Metro tracks causing long delays. This work happens mostly at night and weekends but it happens through out the day too.

mammothcar1 said:

I can highly recommend two area because A) You won't need a car, B) very close to DCA and, C) very kid/family friendly.

Check out Crystal City. There are many good hotels all within walking distance to the Metro. Crystal Drive and also 23rd Street have very good restaurants for kids and adults, and all within walking distance.

Also, check out King Street in Old Town. Also very good restaurants for everyone and is walkable, however there might not be as many hotel choices.

Both of these locations are very close to DCA.

Another recommendation is to Uber or Lyft into the District rather than Metro. They have been doing quite a bit of work on the Metro tracks causing long delays. This work happens mostly at night and weekends but it happens through out the day too.

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I'll have a car regardless due to the fact I have to drive up from norfolk. But thanks for the area, I'll look into it.

I was going to suggest the Kingstowne area, about 9 miles away from Alexandria and all the capitol area congestion. Nice neighborhoods, outside of the beltway, and the train is close.

Vienna is the southern most spot to access the metro, and by far the most forgiving. Huge parking lot and rather cheap parking. I think you can reliably find bus transportation to the Vienna metro as far south as Fairfax.

They have since added some stations between, but it used to be 30-45min metro ride from Vienna to the National Mall in DC.

The further you get away from DC, the cheaper it gets. If you opt to pay less in cost of living, and drive more, expect heavy traffic during rush hour.

66 > 95, unless you want to pay out of the ass for the EZ Pass Express Lanes. It will take you from Fredericksburg to 395/495, getting on and off the express lanes is still kind of a bitch if you ride it to the end, either way. Look towards Springfield.

66 heading North, expect heavy pockets of traffic most every morning at Manassas, Centreville/28 North, Fairfax/50, Vienna, 495 interchange, it finally thins out a bit, and you can roll right to the gates of hell.

Once in DC, it just sucks due to the amount of pedestrians and intersections. Try to get out of there before 3 on the week days, not too bad on the weekends. Most parking is expensive, be careful parking on the street as streets change direction certain times of day. Parking lanes turn into turning lanes. Come back and find your shit parked on the sidewalk with a parking ticket (around the National Mall for sure).

I gladly drive 86 miles each way, 1/4 of the trip in traffic, instead of living near that cluster ****. The commute sucks don't get me wrong, but the cost of living is outrageous, and I like nice things.

SirShaun said:

Vienna is the southern most spot to access the metro, and by far the most forgiving. Huge parking lot and rather cheap parking. I think you can reliably find bus transportation to the Vienna metro as far south as Fairfax.

They have since added some stations between, but it used to be 30-45min metro ride from Vienna to the National Mall in DC.

The further you get away from DC, the cheaper it gets. If you opt to pay less in cost of living, and drive more, expect heavy traffic during rush hour.

66 > 95, unless you want to pay out of the ass for the EZ Pass Express Lanes. It will take you from Fredericksburg to 395/495, getting on and off the express lanes is still a bitch for the most part. Look towards Springfield.

66 heading North, expect heavy pockets of traffic most every morning at Manassas, Centreville/28 North, Fairfax/50, Vienna, 495 interchange, it finally thins out a bit, and you can roll right to the gates of hell.

Once in DC, it just sucks due to the amount of pedestrians and intersections. Try to get out of there before 3 on the week days, not too bad on the weekends. Most parking is expensive, be careful parking on the street as streets change direction certain times of day. Parking lanes turn into turning lanes. Come back and find your shit parked on the sidewalk with a parking ticket (around the National Mall for sure).

I gladly drive 86 miles each way, 1/4 of the trip in traffic, instead of living near that cluster ****. The commute sucks don't get me wrong, but the cost of living is outrageous, and I like nice things.

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Well done!


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Actually I got the answer. I forgot about this. Life hack.

Fredericksburg is the answer, your going to need a nicer car, and a beater. This guy told me this and bout blew my mind.

The VRE takes around 1 hour to get from Fredericksburg to DC. Monthly tickets are priced very reasonably. Cheap living, well relatively in comparison. Plenty to do up and down 95.
https://www.vre.org/service/fares/fare-chart/

Step 1 - Wake up hop in your nice car, drive to the VRE station in Fredericksburg, or one of the commuter lots.
Step 2 - Ride that mother ****er.
Step 3 - Exit VRE and hop into the beater you have staged at the VRE station up North (Free Parking).
Step 4 - Drive to work

Genius, done, money to blow.

On the weekend just drive, catch the metro at the closest convenience, as the VRE doesn't run late or on weekends.