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We are from Europe and will be driving to Washington from New York. We want to just spend a whole day there, not overnight. I dont know whether to drive into the city or park and catch a train/bus from outside the city. Which do you all recommend? We will probably only spend the day there, doing a bus tour and visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln, White House etc. Thank you
If your DC destinations are all just inside of DC, then you would be fine without a car. There are a lot of interesting destinations that are a little bit further out, but if you are only visiting for one day, I'd stick with downtown and metro.
It might be tough to make a day trip if you are driving from NYC. One thing to consider is the most direct route to DC takes you through many major metropolitan areas. If it is a weekday, you could get stuck in various rush hours. On the weekends there could be big-city scale events that cause traffic to go up. I'd consider spending the night to get the most out of it. But if you can manage it here's some advice:
Definitely park and ride the Washington Metro (website:Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ). Parking around the National Mall area (where the major sites are) can be a nightmare. You could spend all day parking or end up paying through the nose. The Metro is fairly efficient and there are many stations that extend into the subburbs, convenient to the US Interstate highway system.
From NYC you would take I95 south and find 495/"capital beltway" (called capital beltway on the washington metro map above), which loops around DC. I believe that coming from DC, the Greenbelt metro station would be very convenient for your visit. Here's directions to the station: from: new york city to: Greenbelt Metro Drive, Greenbelt, MD 20740 - Google Maps
We are from Europe and will be driving to Washington from New York. We want to just spend a whole day there, not overnight. I dont know whether to drive into the city or park and catch a train/bus from outside the city. Which do you all recommend? We will probably only spend the day there, doing a bus tour and visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln, White House etc. Thank you
You really might want to rethink this.
NY to DC is 4 hours, if you speed and don't get gas or stop to go to the bathroom. Add traffic and that number spirals upwards. Plus you want to add time to stop at a Metro, switch to a train, and then come into the city (about 30 minutes).
All told, you are looking at 4:30/5:00 hours of transit. Each way.
If you leave at 8:00 am, you'd get to DC around lunch time / 1:00. Eat and it is 2:00. Sightseeing and all that for 4 hours maybe, and then get dinner, and leave about 7 or so, fight the traffic back to NY. You'll get home at midnight.
That is a pretty rough day.
A lot of folks take the trains or fly it. Would give you more time in the city (4 hours, especially when using buses and what not, doesn't leave you much time to see things). Or you may want to consider making it an overnight. Stay at a cheap hotel somewhere.
Anyway--I'd encourage you to look at the maps and really plot out every hour. There is a lot to see in DC, and given that all the museums are basically free, it would really suck to have to run through everything at a brisk pace so you can make it back to NY in time.
If you decide to spend a night here, you need not spend a night in the center of DC (which could get pricey). I recommend finding a hotel near a metro station on the outskirts of town and taking the Metro in. In fact, I recommend this for visiting any large city unless you just have some money to spend.
You can spend a night in the Crown Plaza in Silver Spring and take the Red line (Metro) from the Silver Spring stop into the city. There is a Marriott in Bethesda just inside the 'beltway' (495) where you can stay and drive and park your car in Grovesnor Metro and take the Red line into the city, too. The restaurants in Bethesda, MD are better than in Silver Spring.
With normal traffic conditions and one 15-minute stop, you cannot make downtown NYC to downtown DC in much less that 4:45. It's not my call, but I would not even consider trying to make that run twice in a single day. I've done it on consecutive days at least a dozen times, and that's a strain. If you insist on one day, I would seriously consider the train. You can leave NYC at 7:00 in the morning and be in DC at 10:30. You could do the reverse trip at the same hours that evening. It's $69 each way. If you insist on driving, I would skip the change to Metro in the suburbs idea. It will only add 20 minutes to your trip each way, more if you forget to buy a SmartTrip card so you can get out of the parking lot. Better to drive straight downtown and park wherever you can. Parking garage would be best. Ask when they close so your car doesn't get locked up overnight.
But the better idea to me, as to others, would be to plan on spending a night in DC. You can stay (if it isn't booked up) at the Hotel Harrington in the heart of downtown. The most expensive room in the house is $169 a night. This is the last family-run hotel in DC, and while it isn't the velvet-rope, glass-elevator type of place that most are, it's a safe and solid night's lodging for not many dollars, and you'd be right on Pennsylvania Avenue, one block from Metro Center, Freedom Plaza, Ford's Theater, the Old Post Office, and the Tourmobile and Trolley stops. Can't beat the location or the price.
Anyway, that would be my take on the NYC/DC idea...
I've done the DC-NYC trip and reverse quite a few times in one day. It's a lot of driving in one day and I can't imagine cramming a day's worth of sightseeing in addition to that commute. Like everyone else has said, train would be best if possible, and if not, I'd really recommend staying for at least one night. Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Mystic, Poconos...those are doable day trips, but once you get beyond a two hour drive, it becomes much more difficult.
Sorry I am misleading everyone with my post. We only have time for a day in Washington BUT we can stay outside Washington the night before and after (its seems too expensive for us to stay in the city). Thank you so much for all the advice. Its so handy - what a great forum website and good people! I was reading all the posts re: living in Washington etc and some make it sound dreadful. I live in London in England and its big and noisy and the motorways are always getting jammed up - its the same the world over. I just have to see Washington - there is so much history there. We went to NYC a few years ago and was very moved by the cruise out to the Statue. We then drove up to CT and yes, visited Mystic (jammed with sightseers) and stayed somewhere near Clinton. It was the Fall and CT was a dream to drive through.
I like the idea of staying somewhere on the edge of the Beltway and catching a train to Union Station about 8-9am and then onto a bus (probably the hop-on-hop-off), go right round to get our bearings and then start visiting the must-visits, Lincoln on his seat, the Vietnam War Memorial, not enough time for the Smithsonian probably, and whatever else we see on the bus tour that looks interesting.
Once again thankyou all so much, I will absorb your suggestions thoroughly.
By the way, where would you suggest to go outside of Washington to get a good understanding for the Civil War. Gettysburg? Also any suggestions for particular scenic drives and pretty towns? We leave 17th Dec from NY and have to be back there on the 24th so we have a bit of time to drive into Virginia, or wherever you good people think would be worth it. We may not be back for a while!
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Washington and surrounds
