My husband and I are planning on going to Raleigh, NC early October to visit our son. We then thought of taking the train to visit Washington DC. I have 2 questions, first of all do we need to make advance reservations for the Amtrak and has anyone done this type of trip before.

Second question is I'm looking at hotels around DC and everything comes up over $200. We wanted to stay 4 to 5 nights, I'm dying here. We only want something clean and easy access to the Metro to get into DC, am I asking for too much.

Also, would it be better to make these hotel reservations at the last minute to get better deals.

The train is only if you're up for an adventure and time isn't important to you. It will take at least 6 hrs. because it goes way east to Rocky Mount before it goes north, and it moves over to a sideline every time a freight wants to go by. Have NEVER been on time on this train. However, the drive into DC is a bit hairy, too, and once you're there, a car is an albatross hanging on you. Just sayin'. No need to get advance reservations, usually (depends on day of the week) but I would anyway, and consider springing for "business class" just to get a guaranteed seat and the amenity of an overhead TV screen. WARNING: They don't provide earphones, so bring yours (from an airplane or whatever).

Stay in Rosslyn -- cheaper -- and use something like travelocity, hotels.com, or quikbook to find decent rates. Be SURE you either belong to AAA or are eligibile for AARP/senior discount (ditto for Amtrak) -- it'll help.

October is a very busy time of the year, usually, altho may not be as bad with the elections because everyone will be out of town. A $200 is actually pretty reasonable.

As Cassandra suggested, staying outside of DC proper may be an option. Rosslyn is a good choice, so is Crystal City. There are some hotels around Courthouse and Ballston that are very close to the Metro.

Check for hotels in these various parts of Arlington, Virginia. They all have a Metro stop, so it will be easy and relatively quick to get into D.C. : Rosslyn, Courthouse, Ballston, Crystal City, Pentagon City.

You could also fly into Reagan Natl and be a short distance from downtown DC.

As for hotels my advice would be to use Priceline bidding and bid on Dupont Circle, Convention Center, Georgetown in that order. Dupont Circle is great as there are many good hotels and restaurants, second would be the Convention Center area and third would be Georgetown as it's a bit more removed from Metro (subway) and activities. You might just hit a nice hotel for around $100 but you don;t say when in October you're looking for.

Oh, you can also look at the hotels that are on winning bids by looking at biddingfortravel.com and there you'll see Hyatt and Westin listed and the prices that are winning.

Arlington, Rosslyn, Alexandria are also very close neighbors of DC. it will take longer getting into sightsee and to leave the city.

Please stay away from any bidding on Northeast DC.

We're planning on being in DC around October 7. The only thing about bidding with priceline is you don't know what you're getting until it comes up and that's pretty scary.

Maybe we should fly from Durham Airport, NC into DC, either way we'll be waiting in the airport and the train is a lot cheaper. Not sure what to do now.

I just booked the Residence Inn at Pentagon City based on fodorite recommendations. It was $169/night + taxes in August. It is also number one on tripadvisor.

There are two recent threads discussing this hotel. One has Residence Inn (or was it "RI"?)in the title, the other was a trip report something like "65,900 steps in DC".

Please listen to Cassandra's advice about the train. If you like that kind of travel, great, but for me it's like slow death. You will effectively spend 2 full days travelling. That is a lot more time than you'll spending waiting at the airport.

Reagan is the most convenient airport to fly into but you'll pay a premium for that. If you fly into BWI you can do it for under $200 r/t. Southwest has special fares that may go as low as $100-$120 r/t. Public transport into DC is a little inconvenient but doable.

Drive time from Raleigh to DC is 5 hours (ish). If you're any kind of an urban driver you'll be fine. I agree, tho, that having a car in DC isn't necessary and parking can be a pain and an expense. Not to mention what the price of gas may be by October!

I agree with Ryan that $200 a night is pretty reasonable in October. I'd make a cancelable reservation now and keep watching for special rates.

Also don't dismiss Priceline. Looking at the hotels in the Arlington area (which includes most of the Virginia spots people have recommended), the only one I wouldn't stay in is the Virginia Suites (is that now knows as the Inn of Rosslyn?) but even that would meet your "clean and easy DC access" criteria.

You could try it train up and plane back (or vice versa). I actually enjoy what you see out the window of the train as you come into Alexandria and DC -- the monuments, the back waters of the river, the Capitol.

It's ridiculous how much they load up the RDU-DCA (National) airfare, but by the time you connect from BWI to the commuter train into the city, it's kind of a trek.

One last idea: Drive to Richmond and (assuming there's reasonable parking there, somewhere) take the train from there to DC.

I would not be taking the train both ways, only from North Carolina to DC so that would be only 1 day. My husband says he wants to see the sights, hopefully there are sights to see from NC to DC. My preference would be to fly and his mind seems to be set.

Is there any positive comments on taking the train.

>>Is there any positive comments on taking the train.<<

1. It's pretty cheap.

2. You'll finish that Monster Book of Sudoku you got for Christmas.

I'm not clear on what sights your husband expects to see en route. It's pleasant in parts, industrial in others, and somewhat boring in still others. The visuals Cassandra describes in her 12:58 post is literally the last 10-15 minutes of the trip.

Sorry, I missed the part where you said you were only doing a one way NC to DC.

Take heart re: not flying, because you could easily spend 4 hrs. stuck waiting to take off, and the connection time between BWI and Union Station in DC including waiting for the train could be 2+ hrs. The drive time NC to DC is really about 4 1/2 hrs. unless you get caught in a snarl.

The train, however, can also be sidelined (literally -- the source of the term), and Rocky Mount is pretty dismal. Really not sure what your husband thinks he's doing to see out the window, but it's true that most of it isn't like Newark Swamps outside NYC!

Take heart re: not flying, because you could easily spend 4 hrs. stuck waiting to take off, and the connection time between BWI and Union Station in DC including waiting for the train could be 2+ hrs. The drive time NC to DC is really about 4 1/2 hrs. unless you get caught in a snarl.

The train, however, can also be sidelined (literally -- the source of the term), and Rocky Mount is pretty dismal. Really not sure what your husband thinks he's doing to see out the window, but it's true that most of it isn't like Newark Swamps outside NYC!

Tell us again -- why only one way? Are you returning? How?

Only one way because we are flying out of Orange County to visit my son in Raleigh, NC, since we're so close to DC and we have the time we figured we would go there. From DC we are flying back to Orange County. So, the dilemma is how to get from Raleigh, NC to Washington DC.

Oh, and if we flew it would be out of Durham, NC to Reagan National.

Try the Lombardy Hotel. It's about 4 blocks from the White House and has been reliable and inexpensive. It's on Penna Avenue and is European in flavor...small with food avail....onsite....easy traveling around and a couple blocks from Metro, which comes directly from National airport.

Raleigh or Durham...it's the same airport (RDU). As noted, you'll definitely pay more to fly into Reagan. But it may well be worth the convenience for you.

Given your new information about leaving out of DC, I'd rent a car in Raleigh, drop it off at Reagan National and take the Metro an Arlington hotel. Crystal and Pentagon City are a stop or two away. Ballston and Rosslyn are not much further. The cost to drive probably won't be much more than the price of 2 train tickets and you'll have the flexibility of stopping to enjoy the scenery. And you'll almost certainly still beat the train to DC.

If you drive in Orange County you're not going to have problems driving in Northern Virginia.

"If you drive in Orange County you're not going to have problems driving in Northern Virginia."

Assuming you know Northern Virginia as well as you know OC. Otherwise, good ruddy luck.

I think I qualified this earlier in the thread.

If you're confident driving in an urban metro area, No Va will not be especially challenging.

Getting to Reagan Natl from I-95 is not that hard.

My husband's argument is that it's about the same time frame to drive or take a train. He said on the train he could relax and see scenery, even though you guys are saying there's no scenery.