My wife and I are planning on visiting Washington DC in September for 3 or 4 days.

We will be driving from Toronto.

I was in Washington briefly about ten years ago and I remember the driving around the city to be horrendous.

We are planning on staying somewhere in the outskirts and taking public transportation into the city to do sightseeing.

We are looking for advice on where to stay and which kind of transportation is best to take--ie bus, train or even taxi.

Also, any advice on the best tours to take or should we just wing it on our own.

Recommend staying near a Metro station in Silver Spring, MD, or in Virginia: Rosslyn-Ballston areas, Crystal City, or Old Town Alexandria. Of these, Silver Spring is somewhat city-ish with high-rise hotels; Rosslyn-Clarendon is convenient, with some chains like Marriott, and there are some neighbor-hoody restaurants and shops out toward Clarendon; Crystal City is soulless but highly convenient; Old Town is its own interesting experience of shops, restaurants, and galleries, but a little distant from downtown DC, although the King St. Metro is walkably close.

Look at Rosslyn and Crystal City, VA.

Thank you very much for your prompt replies.

Have you considered staying IN the city? In or out you will be parking your car and taking the metro everywhere. Didn't know if you wanted to stay outside for any particular reason.

Hi Momof3boys,

I was thinking that it would be much more expensive to stay in the city.

Generally, hotels are a bit (not a lot) more expensive than in the suburbs. Parking is much more expensive in the city ($20-$30 day). Some people stay in the city but leave the car outside the city to save on parking costs.

There are hotels in all price ranges both in the city and in the suburbs. What amenities do you require for your hotel? What is your budget?

Hi Bardo1,

We just need a pool.

Our budget is about $200 a night.

Check out Chevy Chase MD-right on the Red line metro and about 20 minutes metro into DC. Bethesda is also good, one more stop out from Chevy Chase.

Cassandra made some good recommendations for accomodations and if I were you, I would choose to stay outside of D.C. as well. Just a note on the sugggestions for Arlington given by Cassandra. When she says "Rosslyn-Ballston areas", she is referring 4 parts of Arlington which lay on the Orange Line Metro line--Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon and Ballston. I believe you will find most of the hotels in Rosslyn and Ballston, but I would recommend going to Clarendon for your meals. There are some chain restaurants (such as Cheesecake Factory) but there are lots of locally-owned restaurants, many of which offer ethnic food. Clarendon is a real Arlington neighborhood with a neighborhood feel.
As for tours--many visitors like to get "the lay of the land" by going on a hop on/hop off bus tour such as Tourmobile or Old Town Trolleys. You can check their websites for more info to see if this would be something you'd like to do. There are also Segway tours, moonlight tours of the monuments and walking tours. The Smithsonian museums are free, of course, and there are free docent tours daily at each of the museum on a walk-up basis. Check the following for details: http://www.si.edu/visit/tours.htm
To avoid lines to enter the Washington Monument, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the National Archives, you can get timed tickets. Check their websites for more info.
September will be an excellent time to visit D.C. The weather is good; the crowds of summer have left and the school groups have yet to arrive.

Thank you all for wonderful suggestions.

go to www.marriott.com and check out some of their summer specials - they have some rooms in town for as low as $119/night (especially on the weekends). The Wardman Park and Marriott Metro Center are great locations - near restaurants and sights.

We returned from Maryland last Saturday, from DCA airport. We planned on staying in Crystal City, near the airport, that last evening before flying out. Had reservations at Crystal City Sheraton. But we also had a rental car & planned on returning it before checking into the hotel so that we would not have to pay for hotel parking. Ended up that we stayed at a friend's house & canceled the hotel for that evening. The point being that most, if not all hotels in Crystal City charge for parking. I think the Sheraton would have been $15 per night. That area is convenient with metro & getting to DC, & I will stay in that area again in the future.
This is a ways out from DC & not really convenient for public trans into DC, but we also stayed in Gaithersburg, MD, Marriott Washingtonian, & they did not charge for parking, but the closest public trans is at Shady Grove. IMHO, it would be better to pay for hotel parking & stay closer to DC.

Good suggestion of the Marriott special but it may only be for the wkend. I'm going against my own advice about staying IN the city and bked the Marriott Keybridge in Arlington which is near the Rosslyn metro for $89/nt. for a wkend in July but closest one to my son I'll be visiting. You may need to sign up as a Marriott club member for this. I had originally suggested staying IN the city because I find it more fun to be in the middle of the action. Just be within walking distance of the metro and as another poster suggested, ck parking rates at the different hotels. Much more knowledgeable people than me have given you specific advice about places to stay. Have a good time!

One possibility is to stay in Arlington near the Rosslyn Metro station. I stayed recently at the new Hotel Palomar, a very nice and reasonably priced boutique hotel. You can get just about anywhere by subway from the Rosslyn station, including Reagan National airport. Not much in the way of restaurant options in that area but it is only a 12 minute walk across the Key bridge to Georgetown.

We just returned from a trip to Washington, DC.

We were able to stay in the city because I found the Omni Shoreham on Hotwire for $164/night. Right around the corner from the Woodley metro station, lots of bus routes, and a stop on the Open Top bus tour route. Wonderful hotel!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Greenbelt, MD for two nights after as we were attending a wedding. Very nice hotel with low rates. Microwave and refrigerator in all rooms. Terrific restaurant within. Right around the corner from a large shopping center with supermarket, drugstore, Starbucks, etc. Lots of wonderful dining nearby. Close to Greenbelt metro station, which we were told did not fill up with commuters early. We would have stayed there (or at the nearby Hilton Garden) and commuted, except for the great rate I found with Hotwire for the Omni Shoreham.

We really enjoyed the Night Tour of all the monuments (with Grayline). Wonderful driver/guide. Nicely paced with excellent stops (Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial...).