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Getting There and Getting Around
Home » Washington, D.C. » Washington, D.C. Overview » Getting There and Getting AroundMost people prefer to visit Washington in the spring or the fall. The summers can be scorching and the winters often have temperatures well below freezing, but spring and autumn offer both comfortable temperatures and the city’s most beautiful natural colors. The Cherry Blossom Festival in March makes for a particularly beautiful visit.
You’ll likely arrive in DC via one of the city’s three major airports. Reagan National Airport has the most central location (near the Pentagon), but it primarily offers only domestic flights. Dulles International Airport (IAD) is often cheaper than National and it offers international flights, but it is twenty-five miles west of the city. Finally, if you are staying on the Maryland side of DC, check out the Baltimore airport (BWI), which is about thirty miles north of downtown DC.
If you don’t want to fly, the train and the bus are also good options. Amtrak offers daily train service from Union Station to Boston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and many other destinations. Greyhound bus trips take longer, but cost less than train rides.
If you are driving to the city, you will probably come in on I-95, which runs north to Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. I-95 and I-495 form the Capitol Beltway, which circles the city. Breaking the loop from the west is I-66, and I-395, I-295, and I-270 also intersect with the beltway.
Driving in downtown Washington, however, can be frustrating, as both parking and directions are often difficult. Within the city grid, north-south streets are numbered and east-west streets are lettered, but the same names occasionally appear on different streets, so pay attention to the quadrant (e.g. SE) as well as the street name.
With this in mind, you may want to consider riding the Metro or walking instead of driving. Most of the major sites, including Capitol Hill, the Capitol Mall, the White House, and the Smithsonian are within walking distance of each other, and the Metro has good coverage throughout DC and the surrounding communities.
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