Trying to decide on hotel location. Can anybody tell me how long it will take on Metro from time I enter Dupont Circle Station to when I exit Smithsonian? Looks like I have to switch trains. If I get off at Metro Center and walk, how far to the Mall? If all our days are spent on or around Mall area, are we better off staying at hotel on blue/orange line?
Thanks

If you are going to the Smithsonian station, it's probably 15 minutes tops, including a change at Metro Center. You could walk to the Mall from a red-line station (Metro Center or Gallary Place/Chinatown) although it will be a little bit of a walk.

Changing at Metro Center is not really that big of a deal. The subway stations are well-marked and easy to figure out. I don't see any real advantage to staying on the Blue or Orange line.

Agree - no big advantage to staying on Blue/Orange. Changing trains is a snap, just go down escalator and the Blue/Orange train is right there.

Also, depending on where you are starting your sightseeing for the day, the Smithsonian is not always the closest stop. For instance, if you are starting at...

CAPITOL then get off at Union Station or Cap. South station

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART then get off at Archives or Judiciary Sq. station

CAPITOL then get off at Union Station or Cap. South station

AMER. HISTORY /NATURAL HIST. then get off at Federal Triangle or Smithsonian

LINCOLN MEMORIAL then get off at Arlington Cemetary or Foggy Bottom station

AIR & SPACE then get off at L'Enfant Plaza station

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM OR IF YOU'RE UNDECIDED then get off at Smithsonian station

If I can hitchhike on this thread, can anyone tell me where the metro stops in Bethesda are (addressess would be best for y mapping program but I could use intersections)? Thanks.

The Metro web site, www.wmata.com, gives maps and street addresses for every station, as well as a trip planner.

Also, look at/print this Bethesda Metro stop map -

http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../bethesda.html

deaddog - if your days are spent on the mall, where will you spend your evenings? In my opinion, that is the real advantage to staying in the Dupont Circle area. The museums shut down at 5 (or maybe 5:30). If you stay at someplace on the mall, such as Loews L'Enfant, you will go back to your hotel and there will be nothing to do. At Dupont Circle, there's always something to do - wine tastings, cool second hand bookstores, tons of fabulous restaurants, etc.

I agree -- stay in an area that will give you something to do outside of the 10 AM - 5 PM hours that most museums observe. (Private ones like the Spy Museum are the main exceptions.)

Unlike many cities' subway systems, the DC Metro was planned and built mostly in one fell swoop, and transferring lines never involves long hikes -- in almost every case, the lines intersect one right above the other and transfer is merely a matter of going up or down an escalator to the other platform. So transfers don't add a lot of time, and the average time between stations is about 2 or 3 minutes at most. IMHO, it's more important for a hotel to be close to a Metro station than to be on a particular line or near downtown.

For planning times, transfers and costs of various Metro and Metrobus trips, go directly to

http://rideguide.wmata.com

That is a really cool site. When I worked in DC I would use it to find the best ways to get to my doctors office (out in Arlington), etc. It's nice to know exactly when the metro will be coming, and during non-rush hours, it's usually pretty accurate.

Nobody talked about fares. If you're going to be using the Metro frequently in one day, buy a OneDAy Pass. They were $6; you can get on and off all day (except rush hours). If you're going to use the Metro more than 4 times in a day, it's worth it, particularly if you mess up and end up on the wrong platform. Makes life sooo easy!

The only problem with transferring can occur outside rush hour and on the weekends. Sometimes you can wait AGES for trains to come along (up to 30 minutes on the weekends, although Metro tries to tell you differently), and other times they come instantly.