We are planning on spending a weekend in DC next month. We will probably stay in Dupont Circle on a Saturday night. We will be driving. Considering the parking fee at the hotel ($22) and traffic in and out of DC, I am thinking about parking at Springfield metro station, but don't know if it's safe to park the car there overnight. Does anyone know? Does that sound like a crazy plan?

I think it's reasonably safe. I don't know if they patrol the lot but the probably do. If you leave after 10pm you don't have to pay! You can also park at the nearby mall and walk to Springfield metro. And if you're planning to visit st. augustine florida, check out www.piratehaus.com

If you are only staying one night, I would think the convenience of the $22.00 parking fee would outweigh the carting of your luggage to/from Springfield Metro, including the time & costs of the metro ride round trip.

Driving in DC is no different than driving anywhere else, especially the congested area of Springfield. I would recommend that mixing bowl in Springfield and all its ongoing construction be avoided.

P.S. What does visiting St. Augustine have anything to do with this thread?

We are planning on taking the metro (with a daily pas) anyway when in DC, so it's not really an added cost. If I remember correctly, Springfield is just south of the mixing bowl (and we will be coming from the south), right? We will probably get to Springfield station early in the morning Saturday, but I heard that parking there is free on the weekend. Is that true? We will only have a piece of small carry-on type of luggage, and don't mind lugging it from the metro to hotel. My main concern is the safety of parking at the metro station overnight.

Sounds like a crazy plan to me, yeah. You are saying it would cost $22 to park your car for one night, a Saturday night? There have got to be cheaper indoor lots in D.C. than that. The off-peak fare from Franconia-Springfield to Dupont Circle station is $2.20 That's $8.80 roundtrip for we, if we is two, lus an hour and a half travel time plus another hour and a half of getting to/from the stations. That's 6 person-hours, that two of you will spend to save $13.20.

My sister's solution for visiting the Holocaust Museum was to park at National Airport and take the Metro from there.

Oh, uh, the pass. Ok and maybe it will only cost you two hours. In that case not paying for parking would be like each of you getting paid $5.50 an hour.

Yes, it would be relatively safe parking there.

It does seem like alot of trouble to avoid paying $22. The metro doesn't run that frequently on the weekends so it will probably take about an hour each way (unless you're super lucky and the metro comes in as you get there). The traffic into DC won't be that bad - unless there's an accident it certainly would be faster to drive in than take the metro from Springfield.

Okay, maybe it IS a crazy plan after all, as nobody seems to second it. Well, we have driven to DC many times for day trips because we live only 2 hours away, but have never stayed overnight. We are just too familiar with the slow going traffic once you get near the mixing bowl. And the outrageous parking charge at the hotel definitely doesn't help. We have friends that prefer parking at Springfield when taking day trips, and that's where this whole idea came from. (I wonder if you can park at the Pentagon on the weekend nowadays...) I guess I will keep my eyes open for garages in the Dupont Circle area, and maybe park there instead of at the hotel, if the price difference justifies it. Thanks to all that gave advice!

I don't think the Pentagon is allowing public parking, even on the weekends.

Don't even think of parking at the Pentegon - security is still very tight and they don't allow free parking.

If you find a need for free parking you could look into Pentegon City Mall which is across 395 from the Pentegon and I believe it has free parking. There's also a Ritz there that may offer cheaper rooms on the weekends.

For me - I'm doing my very, very best to stay away from the Springfield Mixing bowl as they are doing some serious work on that thing right now.

I live in DC and I think this is a terrible idea. However, are you even allowed to do that? All I know is that the lot for the metro where I live won't allow anyone to park overnight although maybe that one is different. The garage at Pentagon City Mall might be an idea. It isn't free that I know of, but not that expensive. I used to park there when doing consulting at the Pentagon, and it wasn't free. It would be a much better idea.

There are many garages cheaper than that in DC, but there aren't that many right around Dupont Circle per se. There is one across from the Wash Hilton (not on Connecticut, on the street below the hotel), but I don't know what it charges -- it closed around 10-11 pm, though, as a lot of garages do. That may be fine if you don't need your car that late. There is one behind the Embassy Suites HOtel on 22nd St around M St which has fairly reasonable rates, as I recall, for the city. That's pretty near Dupont Circle.

This seems like way too much trouble. If you don't want to pay for parking, just park on the street - you don't have to feed meters on the weekends. And I would think that the Circle area - busy late into the wee hours on the weekend - will keep your car safer from thieves than a deserted Metro parking lot.

And the time it takes to actually find a parking space - circling, circling, circling - will still be less than the time it will take you at the metro station to park, unload your bags, schlep down the escalator, wait on the platform, transfer at Metro Center, schelp down the escalator again, wait for on the platform for the train again, then walk out the metro station at Dupont and find your hotel.

Traffic into the District isn't that bad on the weekends.

Angeleno has hit the nail on the head! I'd pay the $22, but the best alternative is to park on the street in Dupont. That may be some hassle, but not as much as the schlep from Springfield. (Have a great visit!)