Metro vs driving on vacation in DC? (rental car, rental)
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My family (5 people) is going on a vacation to DC in July and we are staying at a hotel in Rosslyn that's near a metro station. We are trying to decide which will be more cost and time efficient, driving or metro?
Option 1:
I am looking at the WMATA website and there are so many different types of "passes". Which one would I want? I don't really understand what the differences are. (we are going to be in town for 5 days)'
Option 2:
Would it be cheaper to pay per trip instead of getting passes? We plan on doing 2 trips a day for 5 days on rush hour (so 50 rush hour fares in total for whole family). The website for the metro doesn't give me specific prices, just ranges. Does anyone local know what the rush hour fares are like?
Option 3:
We are leaning towards taking the metro, but not completely closed to driving as well if it's cheaper and doesn't take forever to find parking since there are five of us. Which major attractions have parking and which don't?
Option 4:
Maybe do a combination of driving on some days and pay per trip on the metro on other days?
Places we're going: (as you can probably guess)
Day 1: National mall area (might go to another museum close by if we have time - like Holocaust museum)
Day 2: Pentagon and National Cemetery area
Day 3: Natural History & Air/Space area
Day 4: Spy/Crime Museum area
Any help would be appreciated! Trying to not blow our wallets on this trip. Thanks in advanced!
Buy the smart trip cards. Paper cards have a $1 surcharge per ride. I dont think the multi day passes are a good deal. I'd buy the cards and put $10 each on them and add as you run short. You dont want to look for parking in downtown DC.
1. Do not go during rush hour, go to a resturant. Spend some time walking. Whatever you do avoid transit and roads. People will be rude to you, and you will deserve it. I cannot understate this. Most of us who live and work in the district see tourists as annoyances, especially during rush hour.
2. Buy smart trip cards. As noted paper tickets have a surcharge.
3. Cars in DC are a bad mix. You as a tourist will not understand our street parking. You will get ticketed, and likely towed. Leave your car at home and do not rent a vehicle. Many a DC tourist has gotten burned on this issue, and many a dc resident has basically said, we warned you, and we do not care. We say if you must drive, park in a garage. Then again, this all ads to the cost. I advise metro. You being from the FL are not used to driving in DC.
4. Remember, on escalators, stand the the right. If you do not stand to the right, people will be rude to you and you will deserve it.
Almost everything you listed is around the same vacinity downtown. In fact you can walk to Arlington Cemetary and some of the monuments from Rosylyn. Likewise you can also walk to Georgetown (highly recommended).
Most of the Smithsonian and National Gallery museums are free. In fact that is the advantage of DC...everything you listed save for the Spy and crime museum are free. My advice...skip the crime museum, hit the National Portriat Gallery Instead. The Crime museum is really poor. Spy Museum is a different story. The other good commercial museum in DC is the Newseum. All of these are around the same area...DC is really not that big.
Thus the best advice of all, when possible...WALK.
Definitely take Metro and don't drive. Street parking is extremely competitive and the commercial garages are a good distance from a lot of the popular tourist sights. Metro can get you closer and saves you from dealing with the area's notorious traffic.
Forget the passes and just buy a Smartrip card for each person or so. Put $20 or so on each card and add more money if the balance gets down to $3 or so.
To reiterate above: riding the Metro is extremely easy but just remember to stand only to the right when riding the escalators and do not block the left lane or you WILL get yelled at.
Places we're going: (as you can probably guess)
Day 1: National mall area (might go to another museum close by if we have time - like Holocaust museum)
Day 2: Pentagon and National Cemetery area
Day 3: Natural History & Air/Space area
Day 4: Spy/Crime Museum area
Day 1 - Metro and a lot of walking
Day 2 - Metro station at both locations
Day 3 - Metro station nearby. Same as Day 1
+Day 4 - Metro station nearby.
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For the weekend, if you are feeling really lazy, you can park in the Reagan Building on 12th street atop the Federal Triangle Metro station for like $13 or so. Also, the meters on Sunday are free south of the Mall and you usually can find a few within a few blocks of Independence Ave.
Definitely don't drive. Even if Metro is slightly pricey, it's cheaper than parking, cheaper than a rental car, and WAY cheaper than getting towed. Plus driving in downtown DC is highly stressful--whereas most tourists find the novelty of the Metro rather fun. Here are some promotions they're running: Metro - Fares - SmarTrip Deals & Discounts
If I were you, I'd stay in a hotel in Old Town Alexandria. It's super-quaint and walkable, with great views of DC. There's a bike/walking trail that goes along the water. You can take a transit bus into DC, or the Metro(rail), though unless you stay at the one hotel across from the King Street Metro (Hilton or Hyatt, can't remember), it will be a bit of a hike through Old Town to get to that Metro station (less than a mile though). There's a Kimpton there. Or you could stay in Crystal City (Arlington), near DCA.
OR you could stay in Rosslyn (part of Arlington)--just across the river from the main part of DC and a quick walk across the Key Bridge from Georgetown (a touristy but non-monument part of DC). Rosslyn has the most commuter options, and you could easily walk to Theodore Roosevelt Island (super fun!) or take a very short Metrorail ride into DC. Rosslyn is not as fun or picturesque as Old Town, but it's a good bit closer to DC.
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