we are a family of six including an infant and need some questions answered for a planned trip in july. we are planning on staying in the thomas circle area and am wondering how safe it is. have had several businessmen that go to dc say it is not safe at night but from the few posts i can bring up it seems to be pretty safe in that area. i also am planning to come in to reagan airport and need to know the best way to get to any hotel in this area. with six and a ton of luggage we found it best to take a limo when we were in san francisco last year. since it is such a short trip from the airport is it just best to get two taxis and how much should the fare be? the last item concerns the bus or rail system. is the bus a good way to get around to say the monuments,smithsonian,and most of the regular tourist attractions or would (or should) we use the metro rail. the rail passes seem to be a lot higher for a week than the bus passes. just a side note here,we rode all around san francisco on the bus so don't mind the waiting and transfers. thanks for any feedback.

Hi Tab,
If I remember correctly the metro pass will include bus transfers. As for the monuments, pretty much all the major ones are in one area (along with the Smithsonian. You just get off at one stop and walk ALOT - I should make note that you will want to be prepared, you mention 6 people (including an infant) If some of those 6 are young, please be careful and go prepared. July is often extremely hot & humid and with all the walking even the adults get worn out quickly. It is worth the trip but I just thought you'd like to know.

Lily

The Metro passes do NOT include bus transportation, however if you get a transfer pass at the station you BOARD the Metro at, you may transfer to most buses for only a quarter. I've only taken a few Metro Buses, but have read and heard a number of complaints about that system, whereas I've experienced no problems with Metro, and would suggest using primarily the Metro but with the bus transfer. If you do consider the bus, you might want to buy a map of the bus system - I think it's $1.50, on the website at www.wmata.com. You should find bus routes/schedules at the security booth at the Metro stations as well.

I wouldn't screw around with the bus system. Metrorail in DC is excellent--clean, safe, reliable and easy to use, with great access to just about any major attraction you could choose. It's well worth any added expense, IMO.

thanks for those that replied. we will be staying at a hotel at massachusetts and 15th which is quite a ways from the metro as it looks on their map. that's why i was asking about the bus as it looks like that is only one block away and goes to most of the places we want to visit. looks like what you say is the order of the day,LilyLace, in that we will be walking a lot.

You can buy daily (after 9:30 am) and weekly metro passes. Go to the www.wmata.com site and check out the deails.

I would see whether any of the taxi services have vans that can transport you and all you stuff to your hotel. The company that comes to mind is Barwood but you'd have to contact them.

You might want to call your hotel and find out the proximity to metro. Unless there's an overriding reason why you have to stay there, maybe you'll want to look around some more, especially since you have plenty of time.

Just a word of warning: it can be really hot here in July. Bring plenty of clothes to change into and make sure there's a pool where ever you end up staying.