Destination Front Royal, VA: Drive through or around Washington D.C.?
 

Looking for advice or suggestion for getting from the Eastern Shore of MD to Front Royal, VA. Looks like we can either drive through the center of D.C., or, around the Capital Beltway to Route 66. Has anyone done this? Would love advice on the best way to get to Front Royal. Mapquest takes us from 50 to the beltway in the direction of Silver Spring; DH thinks we should take the beltway in the direction of Alexandria. DH is directionally challenged. Any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

If you go around the Beltway thru S. Spring the distance is 4 miles shorter than going around the southern half. Personally, I would go the "southern route" so you can avoid the splits with I-95, I-270, and the American Legion bridge over the Potomac. BUT those chock points aren't that bad if you are doing this in non-rush hour time.

Yes, you could "go through town" and there are a couple of routes you can use but I live here so I'm not even gonna attempt that.

Is this going to be during the week or on a weekend and at what time of day keeping the weekday rush hours in mind.

Meant to say "those <B>choke</B> points

My recommendation would depend a lot on the day of the week and time of day that you are traveling. On a weekend or at a time of day that is well outside of rush hour, I would recommend the route suggested by Google Maps (the one that takes you through D.C.) They have recently opened I-695 which easily routes you to I-395 through D.C. (I took this a couple times last week and it was a BIG improvement over the previous routing into D.C.)

If you prefer to go around D.C., the southern route on the I-495 Beltway and the northern route on I-495 are almost identical in distance and driving time. It's a toss-up.

Avoid driving anywhere around D.C. (whether it be in D.C. itself or on the Beltway) at morning or evening rush hour(s).

I stand by my original rec; have a nice trip.

Thank you, both!

We will leave for VA on a Friday, return Monday. There is no set time we have to be anywhere so we plan to work around rush hour. A SIL who works in DC told me the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is under permanent construction and should be avoided but I don't know that she actually uses the bridge.

I go to Front Royal often from Maryland and I would not drive through the city ... that's my preference and experience. The Wilson Bridge itself is complete but there is considerable construction just across the bridge in Virginia. I drive the Beltway every day and I agree with the other posters -- either way is usually good. From Route 50, I'd probably opt for the Silver Spring route, especially if it's not rush hour. If you listen to traffic reports on the radio, sometimes that will tip you off on which way is best.

Thank you, edjim!

Try to plan to hit the beltway, I495, well before 3 pm.

It is our experience that barring accidents, the Beltway is fine from 9:30 until 2:30 or 3. I am intrigued by longhorn's information on 695, which is new to me.

Just want to thank you all, again, for your advice. It had been 23 years since we last drove the beltway, I barely recognized it. Was the Temple always that white? We took 495 in the direction of Silver Spring without issue. The only crawl traffic we encountered was on 66 Friday afternoon. Coming home today was a breeze, we made it in well under 3 hours.