aussiedreamer

We will have to land in Washington on our flight from NYC to Orlando. At this stage we are only at the airport for 2 hours. We would like to change it to spend a full day in Washington. (it doesn't matter what time we arrive in Orlando, we are there for 10 days). The problem is, we would have to collect our luggage. We don't fancy 'dragging' our suitcases around for the day.

We have been once before (7 yrs ago) and really enjoyed it. We were thinking due to the short time we have trying to organize a tour that we could do, perhaps out of Washington. As we have seen all the monuments etc.

Any suggestions on:
A. What to do with our luggage
&
B. tour ideas.

Thanks in advance.

gail

Unless you are staying overnight, which I would recommend, it is doubtful you will be able to check your luggage at the airport or anywhere else in Washington. And if you spend the night, you will likely pay a higher airfare for stopping over in a city.

Anonymous

Gail's right. Before you make any further plans, you should check with your airline to see what is the maximum layover they allow before charging you for 2 flights. The last time I looked into it, the airline's limit was 4 hours, which won't be any better for you than 2.

aussiedreamer

I have checked with the airline re changes. I can arrive around 10am and can depart as late as 7.30pm for no extra cost. The problem is, the luggage, as I can't check it straight back in. Thanks for your ideas.

obxgirl

I see from your other thread that you're flying into Dulles. There are no left luggage facilities there which you've probably already determined.

I can't tell from your post if you're actually interested in going INTO the city as you say "we have seen all the monuments etc." I'm not sure what would be interesting to see out there in burbs. You mentioned a lot of shopping on the other thread so I suppose you could rent a car and drive to the upscale malls at Tysons. Leave the luggage in the car. Probably some theft risk in that though.

If you ARE interested in going into DC, there is a left luggage place at the train station in DC. Union Station is also a metro stop so it would be convenient to take the subway to one of the downtown sights. Other than taking a taxi ($50 plus each way) getting to Union Station isn't hard but involves some planning (bus and subway).

All in all it sounds a bit cumbersome and not really worth the bother or money for the little time available. Sorry, wish I could be more helpful.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

If you do use the bag-check at Union Station (near Gate A & Sbarro's), have one person check all bags - they often give you a little discount on the price, rather then each person checking their own.

It's truly a shame that it's gotten so hard to make these kinds of short side trips while enroute somewhere else.

LN

Hi

For what its worth there is a new Smithsonian Air and Space out by Dulles. It's called Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian at Dulles and can be reached car or taxi. I haven't seen it yet but friends who have said it's great.

Enjoy your trip!!

aussiedreamer

thanks one and all. yes flying into Dulles. The reason for say, 'we've seen all the monument etc' was to find out if there is any thing worth seeing in the general airport area. (thanks for the Smithsonian Air and Space idea)
And also for the Union Station bag check idea. Just wondering if we make our way to Union Station, maybe there is a tour we get hook up with from there?
We really did enjoy our short stay (4days) about 7 yrs ago.
But I guess we can't do it all

Anonymous

You'd better look into the baggage check at Union Station -- you might need to show an Amtrak ticket.

ChrisTC

I don't know if this is too late, but I had this problem last summer in Portland Maine. We rented the smallest rental car and used it to store the luggage. We didn't reserver a car; it's cheaper to do a walk-up. I think the car was $40 including tax and was well worth it. We did end up driving the car into Portland from the airport instead of taking the bus, so you might have to also pay for parking unless the rental company lets you keep the car there.

aussiedreamer

No not too late, thanks for the idea.

JoyinVirginia

I second the Smithsonian Air & space by Dulles. The commute from Dulles to DC can be very long depending on traffic. I have friends who have driven from Richmond just to Dulles to spend the day at the Smithsonian and love it! They have an IMAX theatre too. Here is the website: www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/