spenceville

Hubby and I are planning a trip to the DC area the week of Thanksgiving... Actually flying home on Thanksgiving day. First trip for him for this area. We plan to stay 5 days. I have been to DC once - staying at the JW Marriott - I highly recommend this location to others - but I was wondering about staying south of Reagan National...Any ideas? Suggestions? Comments?
My specific questions are : Does the metro go to these locations? What would you see and do in another city?
Thanks, in advance, for any help with this

sf7307

Are you thinking about staying outside DC proper because it will be less expensive? If not, then I'd highly recommend staying in DC -- although the metro does go to Alexandria and to Crystal City and Arlington, it's just longer to get to and from and most of the time you will want to be in the city, because that's where most of the sites are.

I believe Crystal City is (for the tourist) just some hotels and a shopping center (not really a town worth visiting). Old Town Alexandria is historical and lovely, and has good restaurants and shops. Arlington (well, the Rosslyn metro) is just across the river from Georgetown, so it's not bad if Georgetown is your destination or, again, if saving money is your reason.

Bottom line, stay in the district if you can.

angelize

Will you have a car? If not, yes stay close to where there is the Metro. Most of the museums in DC are free, especially the ones along the National Mall. There are ones that you have to pay to get in, but they are totally worth it; the Newseum and the Spy Museum come to mind.

cwojo99

Old Town Alexandria has wonderful restaurants & cute shops.

Georgetown is wonderful too - more great restaurants and much more shopping. The main street is Wisconsin Ave...but make sure you check out the waterfront as well.

8-)

Crystal City is not worth visiting - more for the business type traveler.

Metro goes to all of these places.

sf7307

Sorry, but the metro does NOT go to Georgetown.

spenceville

Thanks everyone. So with all of that said...No car for us...Reagan National will be our airport ... where would any of you recommend for us to stay in the city? I would love to be right near a metro station...? Union Station? I do covet your responses

sf7307

Anywhere near a metro stop in the city is good, although obviously some areas are "farther out" than others from the mall museums and monuments. We personally love the Dupont Circle neighborhood (we stayed there a few weeks ago) because it's not only convenient to the metro/sightseeing, it's also a great neighborhood --- beautiful residential area, good hotels, good restaurants, lively all the time (I'd love the live there!).

Penn Quarter/Chinatown area is very "close in", as are Capitol Hill and the area around the White House. It would be a good idea to open googlemaps, and zoom into the mall area. You can see the metro stops, and many of the museums and other sites, and hotels all at the same time. On that map, you can see that Dupont Circle is just to the northwest of the White House, about a mile.

yestravel

I'm with sf on Dupont Circle and Penn Qtr/Chinatown. Dupont Circle is my favorite area of the city. Penn Quarter and Chinatown have become very "hot"--lots of stuff there, restaurants, shops etc and packed at night, more so than Dupont Circle. I'm not as much a fan of Capitol Hill if you're looking for good restaurants--they just don't have very many. Eastern Market can be fun and there is easy metro access on the Hill.

Rich

We stay at the Embassy Suites in Alexandria . . right across the street from the Metro and short walking distance to Old Town.

http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_...ginia/index.do

sf7307

Alexandria is nice - very nice. But you HAVE to take transportation from there to the sites. If you stay in Dupont Circle or Penn Quarter/Chinatown, you can walk if you want to.

ruthsievers

Dupont Circle is a really fun neighborhood, with a lot of restaurants, but it's not walking distance to the museums, except for the Phillips Collection. Where to stay could depend on how you plan to spend most of your time. These spots in Va.--Crystal City and Arlington--are right across the river and just as close mile wise and metro time as is Dupont Circle. From Capitol Hill, you can visit Congress, the Library of Congress and walk down to mall where all those free great museums are. Ditto the Union Station area. Arlington is full of good restaurants, esp. around Clarendon, and Roslyn will have a new arts center opening in October. From Roslyn you can walk across to Georgetown and take the metro quickly to a lot of spots in town or other parts of Va., which include Arlington Cemetery and Old Town, Alex. Crystal City may not be where you want to spend your time, but there are some decent restaurants there and it's close to town so if you get a great deal, consider it. (I live in Arlington so that's my take.)

ruthsievers

I should have previewed my comment. I meant to say that you can take the metro from Roslyn to other spots and you can walk across the bridge to Georgetown. No metro is Georgetown.

sf7307

>>

It is for me!

yestravel

Good comments, ruth. In addtion to the Phillips Gallery which is not free, and is great -- there are lots of small free galleries in Dupont Circle if art is your thing. I do disagree about staying in Crystal City. It's really ugly and while the metro time might be the same as from Dupont Station, u don't have the option of really walking anywhere interesting. People seem to really like Alexandria and u can walk around there to restaurants and shops in the evening. Arlington is ok and does have great restaurants esp ethnic ones, but I don't see walking around to get to them with the exception of Clarendon and Ballston. But if coming to see & tour DC, I really feel strongly -- stay in DC unless u can't swing it budget wise. VA is not DC and has a very different feel to it.

yestravel

oops--that should have been do NOT agree with staying in Crystal city.

con_brio

I agree that you should stay in DC . There's lots of great things to do and see in Va , but this is a trip to DC. I agree about Dupont Circle. Also consider Foggy Bottom. Walk to Metro and Kennedy Center and it is a nice safe neighborhood to walk arou d in at night. My brother stayed in a nice hotel, the Melrose on Pa. Ave two blocks from Metro. Older hotel ( think it used to be an office building) but nice with a huge room, two blocks from Metro. He got a good price on the computer.

I love Arlington -- have lived here decades--but I agree that you should stay in the city. Come visit Arlingtom and Old Town Alex ( you can probably take a tour boat from Old Town to Mt. Vermon) but stay in DC. Do google the street views. I know there are hotels that advertse proximity to the Capitol but are sketchy neighborhoods (or major roads).

I also agree that Crystal City is characterless, charmless, and is definitely NOT a tourist destination.

als0107

bookmarking

flygirl

If it is his first trip, by all means stay in DC. The only reason to stay in Crystal City is if you really need to conserve costs and I doubt it's that much of a savings anyway. Crystal City is a decent place to live but I wouldn't want to visit there.

Old Town is very cute and you'd enjoy it, but again - his first trip. Stay in DC.

bardo1

where would any of you recommend for us to stay in the city? I would love to be right near a metro station...?

spenceville,

Here are some handy little maps that show the actual locations of the Metro Station escalators (as large white arrows inside a black box) along with all the hotels (as small red squares).


DUPONT STATION:
http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../dupontci.html

GALLERY PLACE STATION (Penn Quarter):
http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../gallrypl.html

UNION STATION:
http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../unionsta.html

CAPITOL SOUTH STATION:
http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../capitols.html

obxgirl

>>>>

It is for me!