By car
D.C. is primarily served by the coastal superhighway, I-95 from Baltimore or Richmond. It does not go into the city itself, dodging the District by running along the eastern portion of the Beltway I-495. Coming from the south, I-395 serves as a sort of extension of I-95 going past the Beltway into the city. The intent was to run I-95 straight through the city towards Baltimore, but locals scuttled the plan, leaving this section's terminus in the East End.
I-495 is the Capital Beltway. The Beltway is reviled across the nation for its dangerous traffic patterns and impressive congestion particularly during rush hour, when it rivals the Cross-Bronx Expressway in New York City as the most miserable highway in the United States. Still, the Beltway is often the only practical way to travel between suburbs. Because the Beltway is a circle, the direction of travel is often referred to by which "loop" is being used. The Inner Loop runs clockwise around the city, and the Outer Loop runs counter-clockwise around Washington, DC.
Other particularly notable routes include: I-270, which connects I-70 in Frederick to I-495 in Bethesda; I-66 starts at the western part of downtown and goes 75 miles west, ending near Front Royal, Virginia; US-50 traverses D.C. primarily along city roads eastâwest, heading east toward Annapolis and Ocean City the latter by way of the Bay Bridge, and west across the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge into Northern Virginia and then all the way cross-country to Sacramento, California; the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy also "B-W Pkwy" starts at I-295 in Anacostia, crossing Central Maryland, passing near BWI Airport and terminating in Baltimore. Note that connections between the southbound B-W Pkwy and the Southeast-Southwest Fwy in D.C. are difficult due to incomplete interchanges.
Inside the Beltway, I-66 is HOV-2 only all cars must have at least two passengers eastbound 6AM-9:30AM and westbound 4PM-6:30PM. The HOV-2 restriction applies to the entire highway, not just specific lanes. US-50, US-29, and the George Washington Pkwy are the alternatives.
Parking deserves special treatment. On weekdays, visitors to the city will have to pay for a garage spot. On-street parking is limited city-wide by meter or by residential zone. Metered parking is present throughout commercial areas, and meters will be limited to two hours during, roughly, daylight hours. Zone parking is free, but limited to two hours starting from when you first park in each zone per day, until 8PM. So, presumably, you could move your car around the eight zones throughout the day and then find a metered spot to ditch your car overnight, but that clearly would not be practical. Weekends are more accommodating to guests, as parking restrictions ease a bit on Saturdays, and are mostly gone on Sundays. Be forewarned, though, that the city has potential near-term plans to extend zone and meter restrictions into the weekends.
So if you are coming by car, what to do? Your hotel will likely offer you a spot in their garage for as much as $30/day, although you could probably get that rate down to $15 if you look aroundâthe giant $20/day lot at Union Station is a good bet. If you have a friend in the city, they can go to their local district police station to get you a temporary visitor parking permit, good for fifteen days (http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/pa...). You can usually find better parking rates just outside the city near outer Metro stops three of which (http://wmata.com/rail/parking/ have a very limited number of multi-day up to ten days parking spots: Greenbelt, Huntington, and Franconia-Springfield). And if you just don't want to pay for parking period, head over to a residential area in the suburbs near a Metro station to ditch your car, then walk or catch a bus to the station and head into D.C.!
By plane
Washington, D.C. IATA: WAS for all airports is served by three major airports.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport IATA: DCA, (http://mwaa.com/national/) is the closest and most convenient airport to D.C., located three miles to the south in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River. However, it can only serve destinations in the United States. International service is limited to airports in Canada and the Caribbean that allow U.S. customs preclearance. In addition, airspace and runway restrictions restrict the number of long-haul flights available at Reagan, especially to the nation's west coast.
To get to D.C. from the airport:
Metro's
Blue and Yellow Lines (http://wmata.com/) stop at the airport. The trip to downtown takes approximately fifteen minutes and costs approximately $2.Taxi
service costs about $15 to downtown.Washington Dulles International Airport IATA: IAD, (http://mwaa.com/dulles/du...) is located 26 miles west of D.C. in Dulles, Virginia and serves as D.C.'s primary international and intercontinental airport. It is an architectural masterpiece, but unfortunately some functionality was scrapped in pursuit of aestheticsâyou will have to take a train between the main building and the concourses. If you have extra time, consider taking the VRTA Air and Space Museum Shuttle (http://vatransit.org/bus_...) to see the Smithsonian Museum's collection of spacecraft and aircraft fifteen minutes away in Chantilly. The shuttle departs every 45-60 minutes 10AM-5:30PM daily, costing 50¢. A taxi to the museum runs about $15.
To get to D.C. from the airport:
Metrobus 5A
(http://wmata.com/bus/time...), operates between the airport and L'Enfant Plaza Green, Yellow, Blue, and Orange Metro Lines, located a few blocks south of the National Mall. The bus makes stops in Herndon, Tysons Corner, and Rosslyn Blue and Orange Metro Lines. It generally departs from the airport every 40 minutes on weekdays and hourly though not on the hour on weekends, taking 40-50 minutes to the Rosslyn Metro Station and 50-60 minutes to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station. The fare is $6 one-way no change given. The bus stops near Curb 2E outside of the terminal.Washington Flyer Coach
(http://washfly.com/coach.html), operates coach service every half hour on :15 and :45 to and from the West Falls Church Metro Station Orange Line. It takes 25 minutes and costs $10 one-way, $18 round trip. From there, the Metro to downtown takes another 20â25 minutes.Washington Flyer Taxi
(http://washfly.com/Taxi.html) is the exclusive provider of taxis from the airport. A taxi trip downtown costs around $60-80 and takes about 40-60 minutes.SuperShuttle
(http://supershuttle.com/) operates a popular door-to-door shared ride service to anywhere in the D.C. area. The fare to downtown D.C. is $29 for the first passenger in your party, $10 for each additional passenger. At location 1E-1D, tickets at 1G entrance. Credit cards accepted. Shuttles leave when full or 20 minutes after the first passenger bought a ticket.Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport IATA: BWI, (http://bwiairport.com/) is 30 miles northeast of D.C. and 10 miles south of downtown Baltimore, near Glen Burnie, Maryland. It is clearly the farthest-flung, but also offers the nicest in-airport experience.
To get to D.C. from the airport:
Metrobus B30
(http://wmata.com/bus/time...) operates between the airport and the Greenbelt Metro Station Green Line. The fare is $6 one-way no change given and takes about 40 minutes. From there, the Metro to downtown takes another 25 minutes. The bus stops on the lower level outside terminals A Southwest Airlines and E the international terminal.ICC Bus 201
(http://www.mta.maryland.g...) operates hourly service between the airport and Gaithersburg, with a stop at the Shady Grove Metro Station Red Line. The fare is $5 one-way no change given and takes about 70 minutes. From there, the Metro to downtown takes another 35 minutes. The bus stops on the lower level outside terminals A Southwest Airlines and E the international terminal.MARC
commuter-rail train (http://mtamaryland.com/) and Amtrak (http://amtrak.com/) operate between BWI Rail Station and Union Station, also stopping at the New Carrolton Metro Station Orange Line. A free "Amtrak/MARC" shuttle bus runs from the airport terminal to the BWI Rail Station every 12 minutes. The journey takes 10 minutes. If you are in a rush, you can can take a taxi for $8-9. MARC service to BWI is available on the "Penn" line and costs $6 one-way, but only operates on weekdays. Amtrak service starts at $13, but runs closer to $22 on weekends when it does not have to compete with MARC.SuperShuttle
(http://supershuttle.com/) operates a popular door-to-door shared ride service to anywhere in the D.C. area. The fare to downtown is $37 for the first passenger in your party, $12 for each additional passenger. Shuttles leave when full.Taxi
service to downtown takes 60-90 minutes and costs roughly $100.
By train
Amtrak trains arrive from all over the country, particularly the Northeast Corridor Boston-to-Richmond. All stop at Union Station Red Line Metro, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building. The Capitol Limited comes from Chicago, passing through Pittsburgh. A few lines also stop in adjacent Alexandria, Virginia, very close to the King Street stop on the Blue/Yellow Metro lines. If coming from the south, it might be easier to stop there, depending on your destination.
Maryland Rail Commuter MARC (http://mtamaryland.com/se...) provides weekday service to Baltimore's Camden Station and Penn Station, via the Camden or the Penn Line, both of which operate from D.C.'s Union Station. Only the Penn Line stops at BWI Airport. MARC also provides service on the Brunswick line towards western Maryland through the suburbs of Silver Spring, Kensington, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown, on the way out to Frederick and on to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Virginia Railway Express VRE (http://vre.org) provides weekday rail service to Union Station from the southwest, starting in the Virginia suburbs of Manassas and Fredericksburg.