jjkaine

Family of Brits have booked flights to DC for next Easter. Is it feasible to stay in Old Town Alex. and travel into DC each day -car booked. Alex. looks a great place to wind down at then end of a busy day and slightly less expensive...and free parking! Any comments gratefully received.

Anonymous

Well, if you stayed in DC instead of Alexandria, you wouldn't need a car at all, nor would you have to deal with the hassle and expense of parking the car when you go into DC. The Metro system in DC is excellent; if you're looking for an economical low-stress experience, then IMHO you're better-off staying near the Metro and forgetting about driving.

Krista

I love staying in Old Town when I'm in DC although others will advise you to stay in the city. I just like its "quaintness" and smaller city feel.

I've stayed at the Holiday Inn on King Street and loved the location. I did have to take the local bus to the Metro stop since it's a fair distance (20+ min. or so) but the buses are frequent and cheap. (The ride from the King St. Metro stop into DC is probably 15-20 min.) Some hotels will provide a shuttle to the Metro so check that out beforehand.

Old Town is a great place to have dinner and wander around after a full day of sight-seeing. But be careful where you book. Some hotels are not exactly as centrally located as others even though they say they're located in "Old Town." That free parking has me worried. That may be for a hotel that's a little off the beaten track. If you have the specific name of the hotel post again and we'll try and let you know about its location.

Stephanie

Definitely stay in Old Town. Really nice walking and choices of good restaurants.

Michele2

We've stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Old Town Alexandria and thought it very easy to get to DC for touring by metro. The metro stop is just across the street from the hotel. I would not rent a car while staying there though, as you would have to pay a nightly parking charge. Washington is very walkable and the metro is very convenient and much easier. (I don't like driving in the downtown area, too much traffic) . If you want to tour outside areas of the city, Virginia and Maryland, you could stay in a hotel further away and have free parking. Hope you enjoy your trip here. Washington is a very interesting city.

LN

Wherever you decide to stay - don't plan on taking a car into DC cause you'll spend the whole day trying to find a place to park. If you do find a parking lot - you'll pay an lot of money!! Take the Metro (subway) in each day.

mommybryant

My vote is for staying close in to the city. We just got back in early August and were so glad we stayed nearby. We packed our day with seeing as much as possible and did not have one minute to spare for additional travel time. We stayed at Radisson Barcelo in the Dupont Circle area. You would not need to keep a car and could take the bus in from the airport. The nightly rate is usually around $99. You are a short walk (2 blks) from the Metro rail. I needed all the time to see the exhibits as many close by 5:00PM. We got up early and used the morning time to get where we needed to be. Took about 10 minutes to get into DC (2 Metro stops). The area is very eclectic and has lots of good eating places and shops everywhere.

MikeT

I think you have to decide what kind of visit you once. If you are the type of tourist who leaves the hotel in the morning and doesn't come back until the evening with no intention of going back out, then Old Town is great. If you like to stop by your room during the day, you may find it a little inconvenient.

Old Town is nice and things to do, but you probably would not feel inclined to go back into the city because of the distance and time it would take to get back into the city from your hotel

crys

Agree with the above posters. A car will be more trouble than it's worth--Metro will get you where you want to go and you won't have to worry about parking. Not to mention that I'm suspicious about that free parking thing, if it's truly Old Town. While I love Old Town (lived there for a few years), if I were coming to see Washington, i'd stay in Washington. There's some decent, reasonably priced hotels to be had in some prime locations without having to bother with teh 20-minute communter ride on Metro to Alexandria.

lisatravels

Here is another vote for Old Town - it is my favorite part of the DC area. I've stayed at the Hampton Inn Alexandria-Old Town/King St. Metro and been very happy with it. It is across the street from the metro station and is very convenient. Parking is $8 a night so is reasonable for the area - I also would be leery of any hotel that claims to be in Old Town and has free parking, as most charge $20-$25. I wouldn't recommend renting a car unless you're planning to explore outside DC - the metro is the way to go in the city. Any hotels near the metro are approx. a mile from the main part of part of Old Town Alexandria. There are many nice shops and restuarants near the metro and it's a scenic walk to downtown or you can take one of the many buses. If you'd really like to stay in inexpensive but safe area with free parking I'd recommend Rosslyn. Rosslyn itself really doesn't offer much but if you are the kind of family that doesn't mind a walk downtown Georgetown is a pleasant half-mile walk across the river. Also, Rosslyn's metro station is just minutes from most DC stops.

kaudrey

jj - the others are right. Old Town is great as a base for DC, but DO NOT PLAN TO DRIVE INTO DC every day! The metro is great and driving into DC is not a good idea.

Think about this. You get up in the morning, have breakfast, and leave the hotel at, say, 9am or 9:30am. You get on 395 and find...RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. I do this commute every day for work. Believe me, on vacation, metro is the way to get around DC. It is hard to find parking in DC also, without paying a small fortune.

You don't need a car in Old Town either - you can walk.

So, unless you plan to venture away from Old Town and DC, cancel that car reservation!

Karen

arjay

another reason not to have a car in DC: we've never failed to get lost there!

Cassandra

You will enjoy Old Town, assuming you are staying in a well-located hotel. Be very sure you are actually IN Old Town, not just in a placed named that way. Check on a mapping website and hope that you are within a few blocks of the intersection of King and Washington Sts. For example, there's a Holiday Inn "Historic Distric" and a Holiday Inn "Old Town" and the second is much more central than the first.

As for driving in the District, be very very circumspect about doing that -- for one thing, a street can have the same name and be completely discontinuous AND have reversal of one-way direction in the middle. Look at "Klingle" on a city street map to get the idea. Rule of thumb: how you got there will never be how you get back.

RuthMc

I'd vote for staying in DC in a hotel relatively close to the sights (downtown, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom) where you could walk and have to rely less on Metro. Metro is great, but it's very crowded during rush hour and has its problems from time to time.

As the others have said, do not plan to drive into DC every day, particularly now that the feds have taken to closing more streets and establishing checkpoints due to heightened security concerns. While those may have passed by next Easter, there may be new ones and streets can be closed overnight.

Also, the point about whether you like to go back to your hotel during the day is a good one. If you stay in Old Town, you probably wouldn't do that because of the time involved.

The area around Dupont Circle has a lot of restaurants, expensive, less expensive and pretty moderate. I don't think the price differential with Old Town is that great.

Spygirl

I think a British family would enjoy Old Town very much, and find it far preferable, to Dupont Circle-which I wouldn't at all recommend for a family. Old Town Alex. was founded by Scots, so it has some remants of its Scottish heritage,-(it even has an elegant Scottish restaurant on King St. -the Scotland Yard-that serves haggis!) You can take walking tours of historic Alexandria, taking in Gadsby's Tavern, the Lyceum (History Museum) and other sites built in the late 1700's. Plus Old Town is an enjoyable, walkable and relaxing place to hang out-lots of good restaurants and shopping-you'll want to visit the Torpedo Factory Arts Center with some 80 studios and galleries. There's plenty to do in Old Town, and it will take you no time at all to take the Metro back and forth from Alex. King Street station to the sights you wish to visit in DC.

And as far as parking in DC, there just isn't any-and if you don't know your way around, it's a nightmare.

Fairway

I totally agree with the above posts. We travel to DC a lot and always stay in Alexandria. The metro is the only way to get into the city and there are many hotels close to King Street Metro. Have recently stayed at Hampton Inn, but there is also a Hilton and Embassy Suites within walking distance from Metro. The Holiday Inn is further away, but they offer a shuttle service to Metro. Forget the car unless you want to go to the suburbs and if you fly into Ronald Reagan that is the same metro line as King Street. Enjoy one of my favorite cities!

rb_travelerxATyahoo

I've stayed in DC, in Alexandria, in Rosslyn/Arlington, and in other suburban areas outside DC. (yes, I visit the area often). If I can get a good price on hotels, I prefer to be IN DC. My next choice is in the Rosslyn area -- it's less expensive, but still very close to DC & Georgetown. While I enjoyed Old Town (stayed at Embassy Suites & the Holiday INN), the distance to DC is too much wasted time after a few days, for the slight savings. Why not just visit Old Town evenings?

Like all others in this thread, I advise against taking a car to DC, and in fact, don't even get a car unless you have plans to visit suburban or distant areas.

jm67

First, ignore Spygirl's comments regarding Dupont Circle. The area is perfectly safe and agreeable for families. Spygirls previous posts make it clear that she has some sort of problem with the District.

Old Town Alexandria is quite nice too, and would work as a base for exploring. However, I prefer DC itself, as it feels less obviously oriented toward tourists.

Spygirl

To the last poster: First, you're really not in a position to tell me or anyone else to "ignore" someone's comments-in this case, about Dupont Circle-my "problem" with the District, as you put it, has to do with facts- if you wish to ignore them, and think the District is perfectly safe, that is certainly your perogative, but nothing that I said was incorrect-and I think Dupont Circle, with its history of muggings, and mentally unstable people wandering around, particularly at night, is simply no place for a British family who is not used to a large crime-ridden American city. You may not know this, but some years ago, a British tourist was murdered in the District because he happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and he wandered down some downtown street that he was unfamiliar with.

I have had British business colleagues seek my advice about where to stay in the District, and I have given them the same advice. They stayed in Old Town and were happy, and said later they would do it again-the District at night was just not where they wanted to be.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

When the Holiday Inn in Old Town opened years ago (70's), its Innkeeper was my ex-boss from Newport News. He was shot simply knocking on a guest door.

So if you want to use anecdotes about crimes, Spygirl, maybe our British friends should avoid your suggested Alexandria too, and just stay home, under the bed and away from all of life's boogeymen. More specifically, while no city is crime-free, how many DC visitors arrived and departed unscathed by any crime yesterday, last week, last month? A He77 of a lot!

I won't say to ignore Spygirl's comments, but DO read her other "sky is falling", alarmist posts on other threads by clicking on her name, then weigh her advice appropriately.