Where to stay on holiday, near Washington DC? (hotels, airport)

[Red UK]

Hi
We are visiting the US later in the year from the UK and want to visit Washington. We are flying into Dulles Airport and hiring a car. We do not fancy hitting heavy traffic near Washington so we were thinking of staying 30 min to 1 hour outside of the city.
Can you tell us of a suitable town that is easy to get to, interesting and is on a rail link to Washington ?
After Washington we are heading into Virgininia.

Thank you

[irisheyes13]

Here are two places to consider. The one got a a good review from someone who stayed there and it is close to the metro. The other is also in a great location but a real no frills place.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...-2-hotels.html