We'll be staying in Greenbelt to attend a wedding and visit family in the area. We'll have our car. Also planning to go into DC. Does the parking lot at the Greenbelt metro station fill early? Would it be just as convenient to just drive into DC?

The Greenbelt station parking lot is huge. I have gone there during the week a few times between 7 and 9 and found a spot easily. It was a little more than half full by 8 a.m. I would say. It is summer now though and there are more tourists but more commuters on vacation. What day of the week are you talking about?

Greenbelt is one of the few lots that never fills up. It is SO big.

Also, on weekdays, if you arrive after 10am, then you can park in the reserved spots closer to the station entrance if there are any left (on weekends you can park in the reserved spots at any time).

Also on weekends you can park in the metered spots at the suburban Metro stations for free all day.

I should have specified weekdays. The wedding is on Saturday with rehearsal dinner Friday night, so we'll probably want to venture into DC on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Thanks for the information!

I dont recommend driving into DC. Parking is very hard to come by and Metro is so easy and gets you so close to some of the sites. I live in the 'burbs and seldom get there anyway except Metro.

djkbrooks,

In case you didn't know....

Buy at least one SMARTRIP card the first time you get on the Metro and put enough money on it to let you get out of the parking lot three days. You cannot exit a Metro parking lot using cash or credit - YOU MUST USE SMARTRIP TO EXIT THE PARKING LOT.

Excellent point, Bardo! SmarTrip cards are sold at vending machines in metro stations with parking. They are special separate vending machines; SmarTrips cannot be bought at regular farecard machines. SmarTrips can be refilled at farecard machines, though; look for one with a SmarTrip contact target.

If you decide to drive into DC, you should try taking Route 1 into the city where it becomes Rhode Island Avenue. If you park downtown, I would suggest the lot at 1828 L Street which costs $ 9 a day before 10 AM.

But don't drive into the city. Seriously, it's confusing and expensive, especially with a Metro station so close.