All day parking in DC Tomorrow-Tuesday
 

Hi there,
My boyfriend and I will be in DC tomorrow through Tuesday checking out the museums and visiting with friends. We still aren't sure what to do with the car. We are staying in the Capitol Hill area and would like to take public transportation to get around, but we are driving to the city.

The hotel charges almost 50$ a night for valet parking and I am hoping there is a better option. We have no issue walking a bit.


Any help is appreciated!

Good luck on that one, although there are certainly garages that charge less than $50. But they will be expensive. I used to live on Capital Hill and at that time, we had residential parking permits, I assume they still do. Which means you probably can't park on the street long term, even if you can find a spot (which isn't that easy in parts). A lot of garages are not open 24/7, either, you know. If you just want to leave your car and not have access to it, that is less of a problem as I think you can leave them overnight but you just can't access them in the middle of the night.

There is a parking garage in Union Station that I suggest you use. I use it when I take the train to NYC for the weekend, you are certainly allowed to park overnight there and the fare isn't that bad, you probably won't do much better for a garage. And there is a metro station there, so it is about the most convenient I can think of off the top of my head for you. It is $22 per day, a lot better than $50. And since it is a train station, if you need to take a taxi to/from it to your hotel with luggage, no problem.

info
http://www.unionstationdc.com/parking

Cool, Ill check that out. We would likely not need to get to the car the entire time we are there.

D.C. parking meters are not enforced on Sundays and they won't be enforced on New Years Day either, so you might save yourself some money if you want to move your car out of the garage on those two days.

Excellent!

There is residential parking in most of CH, but as with the parking meters, parking restrictions will not be enforced on Sunday or New Year's Day. The Union Station garage is a good option when u need to get it off the street. Have fun in DC -- its cold!

I have parked at the Greenbelt Metro station for free and rode the Green Line into the city. Greenbelt Maryland is the east end of the Green Line.
I try to avoid staying in DC with my own car. The last time I was in DC my DD brought me in to pick something up at Union Station. She parked about halfway between the station and the Capitol Building and stayed with the car while I ran my mission.
Amtrak Union Station is on top of the big Metro station.

I don't think it would be worth one's time to park their car at Greenbelt for a vacation for a few days and shlep on the metro to/from their hotel (which would involve a transfer, also, and trains often have long waits nowadays on weekends due to unending repair work), but that does depend how much they value their time, of course, vs. the savings.

It is only $5 a day and free and weekend/holidays, though, that's true so would be an option if you want to spend the time doing that, although the metro ride would cost several dollars in from there, also. And it would depend on how much that adds on to you regular trip time, also, so go over to that station to park and leave from there. If you were coming from the west, not so attractive.