amamax2

Hi,

We will be in D.C. for a few days, then heading to VA to visit friends and down to Williamsburg for the remainder of our stay.

We will take a taxi from the airport to our hotel the first night (staying by the Capitol South metro stop), but will need to rent a car when we leave D.C. to head to VA.

Is our best bet to taxi or metro back to the airport (Reagan) and rent a car there, or find an office in the downtown area? I've read that driving in D.C. is terrible...

Thanks for any advice!

PS We would be leaving D.C. on a Saturday.

Michelle

vjpblovesitaly

It is not a big deal to drive in DC on a Saturday if you are leaving early.

Check rates in town and at DCA to see where the better deal is.

artsbabe

Agree with vjp. Driving in DC on Saturday is no problem. Just get good directions from the car rental place to get on 95 south.

amamax2

OK, sounds good. Thank you all!!

yestravel

Union Station is very near to where you'll be staying. Their rates should be less since there is a fee for picking up at the airport.

artsbabe

Excellent suggestion from yestravel.... If you want to mapquest the route first from Union Station, you might want to post the directions here and we can tell you if they are accurate.

Anonymous

Most of the car rental agencies also have offices scattered around downtown, in addition to Union Station and the airports. IMHO, the little local offices are more convenient than Union Station, where the "offices" are on the lower level, near the train gates, and the cars are way up in the garage.

amamax2

Thank you all for your suggestins!! This is really great information. I will look into both Union Station and the local offices and see what works best. I'll definitely post the directions, too, to make sure they are accurate - I know sometimes mapquest steers you wrong, lol.

amamax2

Hi,

I'm baaack, lol!

So we are getting ready to leave on our trip and I am looking at directions from DC to Ft Belvoir, VA. Since you all offered to check what I find from mapquest/google, I thought I'd take you up on it. Also, my friend in VA said to come on the Geo Washington Pkwy (looks like the 400 to the 235 on the map), but the 395 to the 95 looks faster, so if you could advise if there would be a reason to go the other way? She hasn't lived there very long and always takes the metro into the city, so she just looked on a map herself and did not give me very detailed instructions.

So the directions I have say:

From Union Station/Mass Av, circle around and turn left on 1st Av NE.

Turn right on D St NE to D St NW.

Get on the 395 S.

Get on the 95 S.

And then I have directions from my friend once we get close to the Fort.

So what do you think?

TIA!!

kayd

Once you are pointed south on I-395 you are on your way. It becomes I-95 (no "the" with highway numbers around here, but we do say "the GW") without any effort on your part as you get to the beltway about 12 miles into Va. Well, it may take some effort not to get confused by all the signs at the "Springfield mixing bowl" but just aim straight toward Florida.

amamax2

So you think going I-395 is the better way to go rather than the GW as my friend suggested? (OOOh, so hard not to say "the," lol, thanks for the tip.)

Thanks!

Beaucoup

Your friend gave you very good advice! The GW Parkway and Rte. 235 will (1) take you directly to Ft. Belvoir, (2) be much more pleasant to drive, and (3) have far less traffic than I-395/95. At the south end of the 14th Street Bridge (crossing the Potomac as I-395) simply take the right exit marked GW Parkway/National Airport. This puts you on the Parkway southbound. The Parkway ends at Mt. Vernon, and Rte 235 continues to U.S. Rte 1. Both Rtes. 235 and 1 traverse parts of Ft. Belvoir; perhaps your friend can provide specific directions from, say, Mt. Vernon (about 15 miles south). This is not only a convenient way to get to Ft. Belvoir it is also one of the most picturesque drives in the Washington area.

Enjoy your trip!

amamax2

Wow - thank you so much!!

Yes, she gave me specifics from Mt Vernon - Google maps said it was shorter the other way, so that is why I was confused, but I will follow your's and her's advice.

obxgirl

I agree with Beaucoup about taking the GW Pkway route to Fort Belvoir. As noted, it might be shorter distance wise, but traffic congestion can really slow you up. The Pkway route is actually very simple.

glimmer2

We recently picked up a car at Union Station for a one way rental to NYC. We went with Enterprise because it was 1/3 the price of Hertz for a one way rental. Union Station was the closest office for pick up. Union Station was easy to get to but we had to lug our luggage up several flights to pick up the car.
Oh and Google maps sent us on a wild goose chase getting out of DC.

kja

"Union Station was easy to get to but we had to lug our luggage up several flights to pick up the car."

As a rule, escalators are available to reach the area where the cars are.

artsbabe

When you cross the 14th street bridge on 395, the first exit on your right goes the opposite way on the GW Parkway, the next exit, which is right after the first exit, goes the way you want to go. I don't find it particularly well marked, so I wanted to point that out for you.

TDudette

If possible, listen to 103.5 fm (WTOP) on your radio-they give traffic and weather reports on the "9s" (9 after, 19 after, etc.) Since you now have more than one option, you can adjust in case of traffic problems. But, as said above, Saturday a.m. is usually pretty good unless some giant event is occurring.