Washington, D.C.

D.C. is a walking town. It's no surprise that it has been cited as the fittest city in the country for several years running; residents and visitors get a lot of exercise simply getting around the city! Even if you plan on taking the Metro, bus, or driving not recommended to get downtown, you will often find yourself walking for the remainder of the day. Most of the city's attractions are located near each other, such as the museums and monuments along the National Mall, which makes driving or taking Metro between locations either impractical or in some cases impossible. Therefore, when touring around Washington make sure to wear good walking shoes and, especially during the spring and summer, wear comfortable and light clothing, apply sunscreen, and drink lots of water. During the summer, visitors would be wise to visit air-conditioned museums during the day, saving monuments, neighborhood tours, and other outdoor attractions for the cooler early morning and evening hours.

Washington, D.C. has a variety of public transportation options that make the city extremely easy to get around without the use of a car. Trains, buses and bikes are affordable and widely used. The District Department of Transportation provides information about all modes of public transportation available in the city on their tourist-friendly goDCgo website (http://godcgo.com/).

City Layout

The city is split into four quadrants of unequal size, which radiate out from the Capitol Building: Northwest NW, Northeast NE, Southeast SE, and Southwest SW. The NW quadrant is by far the largest and SW the smallest. Addresses in the city always include the quadrant abbreviation, e.g., 1000 H Street NE. Take note of the quadrant, otherwise you may find yourself on the exact opposite side of town from your destination!

City streets are generally laid out in a grid, with east-west streets primarily named with letters A–W and north-south streets named with numbers. Complicating the grid are the numerous diagonal avenues, many named after states, that serve as the city's principal arteries. The street numbers and letters increase with distance from the Capitol. The grid has a few peculiarities that are a legacy from the city's foundation. The City of Washington originally occupied only a portion of the total area of the District. As a result, outside of what is now often called the "L'Enfant City" streets do not strictly adhere to the grid system. However, you will find that many street names were simply extended where practical and, past the letter "W", east-west streets loosely follow other alphabetical naming patterns.

Curious to note, visitors to Washington will quickly discover that there is no "J" St. This is because, until the mid-nineteenth century, the letters "I" and "J" were indistinguishable when written. Following that same idea, "I" Street is often written as "Eye" Street, to distinguish it from the letter "L" and the numeral "1", and "Q" Street, is often written "Que," "Cue," or "Queue."

By taxi

D.C. seems to be one of the last bastions of a free taxi market; there are tons of small cab companies to choose from. The largest operators in the city are D.C. Yellow Cab (http://dcyellowcab.com/), ☎ +1 202 544-1212 +1 202 TAXICAB, and American Cab Association, ☎ +1 202 398-0529. The D.C. government also provides an alphabetical list of all licensed taxi companies (http://app.dctaxi.dc.gov/...). Taxis cost $3.00 for the first sixth of a mile and 25¢ for each additional sixth of a mile. There is no rush hour fee, although meters do charge 25¢ for each minute stopped in traffic or traveling under 10 mph. Each additional passenger over the age of five is an extra $1.50, and bags range from an extra 50¢ to $2.00 depending on the size. Cabs almost always refuse credit cards, so bring cash. All D.C. taxis have the ability to print receipts on request.

The largest suburban companies in Maryland are Barwood (http://barwoodtaxi.com), ☎ +1 301 984-1900, for Montgomery County and Silver Cab (http://silvercabofpg.com/), ☎ +1 301 277-6000, for Prince George's County in Maryland; in Virginia, Red Top (http://redtopcab.com/), ☎ +1 703 522-3333, services both ArlingtonCounty and Alexandria City.

Taxicab drivers are required to take passengers anywhere within the Washington Metropolitan Area, although they grumble about going out to Maryland and Virginia. D.C. cab fares for interstate trips are the same as the standard rates, except that there is no maximum fare. Please note that with the exception of rides to and from the airport, it is illegal for non-D.C. cabs to pick up passengers within the District; the same rule applies for D.C. cabs in Maryland and Virginia.

By Metrobus

And then there is the old reliable Metrobus (http://wmata.com), with hundreds of routes throughout the greater capital region. It's geared towards commuters and is not visitor-friendly as there is no central terminal, most stops do not show the route map, and routes take convoluted trips through residential neighborhoods. Nevertheless, Metrobus will take you places hard to reach via Metro or the Circulator, and can be a really convenient, comfortable way to travel if you know which bus to take. WMATA's website publishes maps and timetables for all individual routes (http://wmata.com/bus/time...), as well as system maps for its routes in D.C. (http://wmata.com/pdfs/bus...), Maryland (http://wmata.com/pdfs/bus...), and Virginia (http://wmata.com/pdfs/bus...). Most routes cost a flat fare of $1.70 $1.50 with SmarTrip card. Seniors pay half fare, up to two children ages four and younger ride free per one paying adult.

The following important routes provide reliable and direct service along the city's most well-traveled corridors, running about every ten to twenty minutes:

16th St Line

S2, S4, S9 (http://wmata.com/bus/time...) — north-south service on 16th St between the Silver Spring Metro Station on the Red Line and East End. It's the route of choice to reach the Fitzgerald Tennis Center and Carter Barron Amphitheater at Rock Creek Park.

Massachusetts Ave Line

N2, N4, N6 (http://wmata.com/bus/time...) — runs along Massachusetts Ave between the Friendship Heights and Farragut West Metro stops. The bus provides an excellent view of the 50+ embassies located along Embassy Row. It's also a good way to go from Dupont Circle to the hard-to-reach National Cathedral, as well as to American University.

U St-Garfield Line

90, 92, 93 (http://wmata.com/bus/time...) — runs a great cross-town route from the Zoo at Woodley Park through Adams Morgan/18th St, U St, Gallaudet University, and then on to Eastern Market.

Pennsylvania Avenue Line

31, 32, 36 (http://www.wmata.com/bus/...) - another good cross-town route along Pennsylvania Avenue through Capitol Hill, downtown, Georgetown, and neighborhoods along Wisconsin Avenue. These buses run around the clock and will take you to areas not serviced by Metrorail such as Georgetown, Glover Park, and the National Cathedral.

Metrobus has a very handy feature called NextBus. Every bus stop has a number written on it, which you can enter on NextBus' website (http://wmata.com/rider_to...) or by phone +1 202 637-7000 to get a highly accurate estimate of when the next bus will arrive, including active tracking on Google Maps.

By Circulator Bus

Once intimidating to visitors, D.C.'s bus system has become more visitor-friendly and reaches destinations that are hard to reach by Metro.

The tourist-friendly D.C. Circulator (http://dccirculator.com/) buses are akin to shuttles since they operate on a predictable fixed route and schedule, and run principally between main attractions and the city's most popular neighborhoods for visitors. All D.C. Circulator routes run every ten minutes and cost $1. There are currently five routes:

Georgetown-Union Station

"Yellow" Line — runs between Georgetown and Union Station Su-Th 7AM-midnight, F-Sa 7AM-midnight and midnight-2AM between Georgetown & Farragut Sq.

Union Station-Navy Yard

"Navy" Line — runs past Eastern Market between Union Station and Navy Yard near the Nationals Stadium M-F 6AM-6PM. Extended and weekend service is provided on Nationals game days.

Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square

"Green" Line — runs a limited-stop route through the "Liquorridor" between the Zoo, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, U Street, Logan Circle, and McPherson Square Su-Th 7AM-midnight, F-Sa 7AM-3:30AM. These neighborhoods are home to some of the best restaurants, shopping, art galleries, local theaters, and nightlife in Washington.

Dupont-Georgetown-Rossyln

"Blue" Line — runs service between the Rosslyn Metro station in Virginia across the river to Georgetown and Dupont Circle Su-Th 7AM-midnight, F-Sa 7AM-2AM.

Potomac Ave-Skyland

"Orange" Line — runs between Capitol Hill and the Skyland Shopping Center via Barracks Row and historic Anacostia M-F 6AM-7PM between Oct. 1 and March 31, M-F 6AM-9PM & Sa 7AM-9PM April 1 - Sept. 30.

By bike

Cycling is an increasingly popular form of transportation among D.C. residents. A 2009 survey found that Washington had the 5th-largest share of bike commuters in the country. Recent initiatives by the city government aim to make the District even friendlier towards bicyclists by adding dedicated bike lanes to streets even iconic Pennsylvania Avenue now has them, introducing new bicycle traffic lights, and increasing the amount of available bike parking.

As a result, bicycling has become a great way for tourists to visit D.C.'s neighborhoods. The mid-city area generally bordered by Massachusetts Avenue to the south, Columbia Road to the north, Connecticut Avenue to the west, and Georgia Avenue/7th Street to the east features many quiet streets lined with bicycle lanes. In addition, both Capitol Hill and Georgetown neighborhoods feature architecture and amenities that are perfectly enjoyed by touring around on bike.

D.C. also became the first city in North America to start a bike-sharing service. That pilot program was replaced in 2010 by the new Capital Bikeshare (http://capitalbikeshare.com) network, which has over 1,100 bicycles available at more than 100 stations across the entire city. Visitors may use the service for $7/day or $15 for 3 days, payable by using a credit card at the automated kiosks attached to every Capital Bikeshare station. The daily pass allows for an unlimited number of one-way trips—there's no need to return a bike to the same station where you got it! However, the service has heavy usage fees after the first half-hour, which escalate from $2-8 per half hour. This is intentional to encourage people to use the system for short place-to-place trips. If you plan on using a bike for an extended period, it is best to simply rent a bike from a local shop. (http://capitalbikeshare.c...)

Be aware, however, that to the uninitiated cyclist, traveling by bike on some of D.C.'s streets may be downright harrowing. Locals all have horror stories of cycling through quiet, residential streets only to come across extremely-busy traffic on some of D.C.'s main commuter thoroughfares. Bicycling on the sidewalk is legal in D.C. except in the downtown Central Business District, which generally consists of the area between Massachusetts Avenue and the National Mall. However, biking in the street is perfectly legal everywhere in the city and bike lanes are available on many downtown streets. Ride The City: DC (http://ridethecity.com/dc) can help you plan your routes to avoid the most dangerous areas for bicyclists.

Tourists may also take advantage of some of the Washington area's fantastic biking trails (http://bikewashington.org...):

The immensely-popular Capital Crescent Trail (http://cctrail.org/) is a major bike commuter trail and recreational path that connects Georgetown to Bethesda and Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Metropolitan Branch Trail (http://metbranchtrail.com/), connects Union Station to Silver Spring, Maryland and is a great, safe way to view some of the beautiful historic neighborhoods in Northeast D.C.

The Chesapeake and Ohio towpath offers a fantastic ride along a shaded trail from Georgetown all the way to Cumberland, Maryland. Local bike shops offer bicycle rentals to visitors wishing to spend a day riding along the canal. It's also a great way to get to see the Great Falls of the Potomac River, 15 miles up-stream from Georgetown.

The 18-mile Mount Vernon Trail (http://bikewashington.org...) offers a direct bike connection between the National Mall, downtown Washington, and Alexandria, VA.

Washington's BikeStation (http://bikestation.com/wa...) allows visitors to rent bikes, have their bikes repaired, or arrange for temporary storage in a controlled environment at Union Station. Cycling information can be obtained here as well. If you'd rather relax than pedal, there are several neighborhood-based pedicab companies that have a prominent presence at most tourist facilities. Rates are generally affordable and negotiable although sometimes more expensive than taxis. D.C. Pedicabs (http://dcpedicab.com/), Capitol Pedicabs (http://capitolpedicabs.com/), and National Pedicabs (http://www.nationalpedica...)

The downtown core, including the Mall, is largely level terrain, with more hills and steeper streets generally as one rides west and north although many neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River are also quite hilly.

By car

Driving in D.C. is difficult. Even most Washingtonians avoid driving downtown. Limited and expensive parking, ruthless parking enforcement, sadistic traffic circles, fines from automated red light cameras and absurd speed traps, a pothole epidemic, frequent street direction changes, some of the worst congestion in the country, street closures without warning—take the Metro. Forbes Magazine declared the D.C. metro area to have the worst traffic in the nation; Allstate Insurance reports that you are statistically more likely to get into an accident in D.C. than any other American city, with an accident rate 95.5% worse than the national average. And the grid is deceptively tortuous. Washingtonians will proudly tell you that the plan was intended to confuse invading armies though it's actually a myth. For a fun challenge, try to drive on Massachusetts Ave from Wisconsin Ave to RFK Stadium—it's like riding a bucking bronco!

If for whatever reason you ignore all the above advice and do choose to drive in Washington, here are a few tips: Street parking downtown is limited to two hours only even at meters, so be prepared to park in a private lot or garage, which cost anywhere from $10-25 per day. Avoid driving and parking during rush hour weekdays, 6-10AM and 4-8PM, since this is when the majority of the city's traffic congestion, street direction changes, and parking restrictions are in effect. If you do park on the street, pay close attention to traffic signs. Most streets downtown restrict parking during rush hour and visitors often return to the spot where they parked only to find that their vehicle has been ticketed and towed!

Local opposition prevented the construction of interstate highways through Washington, steering resources towards building the Washington Metro system instead. The two freeways that feed into the city from Virginia, I-66 and I-395, both terminate quickly. Washington and its innermost suburbs are encircled by the Capital Beltway, I-495, which gave rise to the expression "Inside the Beltway."

Washington boasts several scenic drives:

Pennsylvania Ave from Fourteenth St NW toward the Capitol.

Rock Creek Pkwy, which follows the Rock Creek through D.C.'s own central park, then traces the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial.

Reservoir Rd from Georgetown through the leafy Clara Barton Pkwy, continuing to the Capital Beltway.

Embassy Row, Massachusetts Ave between Scott Circle and Wisconsin Ave.

George Washington Memorial Pkwy, which follows the Potomac on the Virginia side of the river to Mount Vernon.