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My partner and I are traveling to Washington D.C. and New York in 2 weeks. Neither of us have been to Washington before and we had some questions about it.
1. My partner is attending a medical conference at Gaylord National Hotel but we want to stay near the capital. I have noticed that it is is quite far from the city. How easy is it to get from there to the Capital Mall? Is there a bus or train route? Or would we need to rent a car to get between the two?
2. We are flying in at Dulles international. What is the best way to get from there to the capital mall without renting a car?
3. Does Washington D.C. have any kind of gay areas?
4. Is their a tourist attraction that we absolutely can not miss?
5. What is the best area to shop in? We live in Australia and refuse to buy clothes here. We both want to buy a whole new wardrobe while in America.
Taxi. Best way. Everything in DC is now in construction or renovation. I would recommend the space museum, and natural history museum. That and the art museums (Concord and Portrait gallery).
I wouldn't recommend taking the metro. You probably don't want to, if you're not use to it.
But really, just like anywhere else, you need to find a local and hang out at some seedy places to the East or Upper West. Like H street Corridor, or Adams Morgan. If you wanna play safe, Dupont, downtown or even Chinatown.
Best way to not pay is to get your hotel to pick you up in a shuttle. Call a cab, tip the dude some money, get right with the guy, then call him the whole time you're here. He'll probably hook you up.
Honestly, the best clothes places aren't in DC, unless you wanna spend some money for a suit. NYC is where its at.
Taxi. Best way. Everything in DC is now in construction or renovation. I would recommend the space museum, and natural history museum. That and the art museums (Concord and Portrait gallery).
I wouldn't recommend taking the metro. You probably don't want to, if you're not use to it.
But really, just like anywhere else, you need to find a local and hang out at some seedy places to the East or Upper West. Like H street Corridor, or Adams Morgan. If you wanna play safe, Dupont, downtown or even Chinatown.
Best way to not pay is to get your hotel to pick you up in a shuttle. Call a cab, tip the dude some money, get right with the guy, then call him the whole time you're here. He'll probably hook you up.
Honestly, the best clothes places aren't in DC, unless you wanna spend some money for a suit. NYC is where its at.
My 2 cents.
Thanks, that is really helpful. What kind of construction are you talking about? Will it have an impact on our trip?
1. DC to National Harbor--Normally, I think it's best for visitors to DC to skip the rental car. But the Gaylord National resort really is in the middle of nowhere. It's a nice area with some things to see and do, but it's completely separate from the city and is fairly generic...it doesn't give you the feeling of being in Washington. There is a bus that takes you to the last station on the metro green line. Google "Wmata NH1 bus" for the schedule. The round trip into the city would probably take about 45 minutes. So it's not a terrible option, but not a great one, either. That end of the Green line will take you some of the less-affluent parts of the city. For some, going through a completely un-touristy part of town is a plus, while others are uncomfortable avoid it. In actuality, it's really no big deal at all. Overall, I'd actually say the metro is pretty easy to use.
2. Transit to/from Dulles airport--there are a few options: the easiest and the cheapest is the Wmata 5A bus (about $5). It goes directly from Dulles to L'Enfant Plaza, which is less than 1km from the National Mall. Google the bus schedule. It doesn't run quite as frequently as I wish it did, but it works for most people. You can also take the Washington Flyer bus to the Metro, and then the Metro into the city (about $12). There is also something called "Super Shuttle," which is basically a shared taxi (about $25). Or you can take a regular taxi ($50?).
3. Gay life: Dupont Circle is the traditionally gay area, but it's subtle enough that you might not notice it.
4. Can't miss: The National Mall. DC is a city where I'd advise sticking to the tourist trail pretty closely. Not because the rest of the city is bad, but just because the tourist sites are THAT good. Spend a day or two wandering the mall and hitting the museums and monuments. Depending on how you're schedule works out, all of the major monuments are great during the day and even a little more magnificent at night. Georgetown and Dupont Circle are worth a visit, but not quite "can't miss" like the mall.
5. Shopping: Pentagon City (on the Metro) is a large shopping mall. It's neither cheap nor expensive; I'd probably say it's slightly on the higher end of mid-range. It has all of the big stores. I don't know much about cost of living in Australia or the exchange rates, but it's possible it could save you some money vs shopping at home. In the city itself, Metro Center is an area of downtown about 1km North from the National Mall. It has a Macy's (large department store), H&M, Zara, Forever 21, Anthropologie, and a few more stores. A few blocks over, Chinatown has some more (American Apparel, Urban Outfitters). That's a concentration of mid-range shopping right in the middle of the city. If you want to go upscale, look at Friendship Heights. For lower-end but still somewhat fashionable, there's a Target in Columbia Heights near the Metro (and a few Targets in the suburbs if you rent a car.) If you want to make a day of it, you can drive to the Leesburg Outlets.
1. DC to National Harbor--Normally, I think it's best for visitors to DC to skip the rental car. But the Gaylord National resort really is in the middle of nowhere. It's a nice area with some things to see and do, but it's completely separate from the city and is fairly generic...it doesn't give you the feeling of being in Washington. There is a bus that takes you to the last station on the metro green line. Google "Wmata NH1 bus" for the schedule. The round trip into the city would probably take about 45 minutes. So it's not a terrible option, but not a great one, either. That end of the Green line will take you some of the less-affluent parts of the city. For some, going through a completely un-touristy part of town is a plus, while others are uncomfortable avoid it. In actuality, it's really no big deal at all. Overall, I'd actually say the metro is pretty easy to use.
2. Transit to/from Dulles airport--there are a few options: the easiest and the cheapest is the Wmata 5A bus (about $5). It goes directly from Dulles to L'Enfant Plaza, which is less than 1km from the National Mall. Google the bus schedule. It doesn't run quite as frequently as I wish it did, but it works for most people. You can also take the Washington Flyer bus to the Metro, and then the Metro into the city (about $12). There is also something called "Super Shuttle," which is basically a shared taxi (about $25). Or you can take a regular taxi ($50?).
3. Gay life: Dupont Circle is the traditionally gay area, but it's subtle enough that you might not notice it.
4. Can't miss: The National Mall. DC is a city where I'd advise sticking to the tourist trail pretty closely. Not because the rest of the city is bad, but just because the tourist sites are THAT good. Spend a day or two wandering the mall and hitting the museums and monuments. Depending on how you're schedule works out, all of the major monuments are great during the day and even a little more magnificent at night. Georgetown and Dupont Circle are worth a visit, but not quite "can't miss" like the mall.
5. Shopping: Pentagon City (on the Metro) is a large shopping mall. It's neither cheap nor expensive; I'd probably say it's slightly on the higher end of mid-range. It has all of the big stores. I don't know much about cost of living in Australia or the exchange rates, but it's possible it could save you some money vs shopping at home. In the city itself, Metro Center is an area of downtown about 1km North from the National Mall. It has a Macy's (large department store), H&M, Zara, Forever 21, Anthropologie, and a few more stores. A few blocks over, Chinatown has some more (American Apparel, Urban Outfitters). That's a concentration of mid-range shopping right in the middle of the city. If you want to go upscale, look at Friendship Heights. For lower-end but still somewhat fashionable, there's a Target in Columbia Heights near the Metro (and a few Targets in the suburbs if you rent a car.) If you want to make a day of it, you can drive to the Leesburg Outlets.
Thank you for all of that. That was extremely helpful.
The question about transportation to National Harbour has been answered many, many times on the Maryland forum of Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor . National Harbour's own website also gives information about their own express bus shuttle service to central Washington, which is faster and more direct than the combination bus and metro ride offered by wmata.org which is quite cumbersome. Taxicabs are also plentiful at National Harbour, which is a gleaming new complex consisting of 6 hotels, abutting the River, and quite frankly, separated from the rest of Washington by several miles of low-income "ghetto" neighborhoods.
To clarify, the "National Mall" is un-related to shopping. The term refers to a 2-mile long, green park in central Washington which contains the many, (all free of charge) museums of the Smithsonian , the Capitol building itself, as well as several famous monuments honoring great people and historical events. The Chinatown-Penn Quarter neighborhood (1 km from it) is currently very popular with younger people. Dupont Circle (in central Washington) is the original traditional district for Gay people, their culture and social life (the Australian Embassy is near there, incidentally), but Gay people and their culture can be found in many other central neighborhoods such as U-Street (which has a thriving night-life) and Logan Circle.
Pentagon City Mall (and Ballston Common Mall) are the most accessible shopping centers to central Washington. (They are also names of stations on the Metrorail system). The vicinity of Friendship Heights metrorail station also has numerous large, high-end stores, and there is a Target department store at the Columbia Heights metrorail station.
You may also want to visit Old Town Alexandria, a historic 260-year old district, one mile directly across the River from National Harbour via a water-taxi shuttle. As you get off the boat (from National Harbour), you will be in the heart of the Old Town tourist area with many shops and eclectic restaurants, and also next to the Torpedo Factory Arts Center (containing 2 floors full of working artists' studios).
Last edited by slowlane3; 09-14-2013 at 08:27 PM..
Urg, as others mentioned, National Harbor is famously remote. The event may run shuttle buses to downtown hotels -- check into that first.
Well-meaning straight people will prattle on about Dupont Circle, which is a convenient and worthwhile neighborhood in its own right, but it was last a "gay ghetto" in maybe the 1990s. For at least a decade, gay nightlife has been well dispersed across a wide swath of the city north of downtown.
If you'd like a city experience, walking around town, most any hotel in downtown, West End, Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, or Dupont Circle will offer that. However, parking a car and/or taking a cab to National Harbor will be expensive. A reasonable middle ground may be to stay near Pentagon City, where you can take Metro into the city, shop at the mall there, and easily drive to/from National Harbor.
I'm really surprised no one's mentioned Georgetown for fashion. It has the usual assortment of US & European chains along M and Wisconsin, plus more selective chains (Barneys Co-op, Suitsupply, Bonobos), a few old-school preppy outfitters, and some local menswear boutiques (Hugh & Crye, Lost Boys) hidden on the side streets. Unless you're looking for department stores or super-luxury, there's no need to fight your way out to the suburban malls. That said, the grass is always greener... American men, and their clothing, are usually boring and bloated.
DC has one of the largest gay communities in any US city, but (maybe as a result) it's dispersed across the city. If there is a "gay center" it might be 17th St NW between P and U Streets. There are 3-4 popular bars along that strip, although there are many other venues in other parts of NW DC.
Once you are in town metro is a perfectly good way to get around (although it doesn't run very often on weekends anymore). In addition to the tourist sites, consider visiting U St NW, 14th St. NW, Eastern Market, or some of the other neighborhoods for dining and nightlife.
My partner and I are traveling to Washington D.C. and New York in 2 weeks. Neither of us have been to Washington before and we had some questions about it.
1. My partner is attending a medical conference at Gaylord National Hotel but we want to stay near the capital. I have noticed that it is is quite far from the city. How easy is it to get from there to the Capital Mall? Is there a bus or train route? Or would we need to rent a car to get between the two?
2. We are flying in at Dulles international. What is the best way to get from there to the capital mall without renting a car?
3. Does Washington D.C. have any kind of gay areas?
4. Is their a tourist attraction that we absolutely can not miss?
5. What is the best area to shop in? We live in Australia and refuse to buy clothes here. We both want to buy a whole new wardrobe while in America.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
1. Water Taxi from National Harbor to Georgetown or metrobus route #NH1 to Branch ave station on the green line and take it into the city.
2. Metrobus route #5A goes from Dulles to Rosslyn and SW DC (L'eFant Plaza), its the best way.
3. Dupont Circle is very gay, same for Logan Circle but all in all DC is very gay friendly.
4. Just make sure to visit Georgetown, U street NW, H street NE, Penn Quarter, Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle and, Old Town Alexandria.
5. Georgetown, Tyson's Corner, Pentagon City, Wheaton Plaza, DCUSA mall @ Columbia Heights, Arundel Mills Outlet (25-30 min drive from DC towards Baltimore), and Potomac Mills Outlet (25 min drive from DC towards Fredericksburg).
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