Our flight arrives in Baltimore but our travel plans are in DC. Can someone please recommend the best & least expensive way to get to our DC hotel (probably Arlington area). We were not planning to rent a car.

smow:

I'd recommend an Amtrak train ride, it would be relaxing. The Eastern corridor should have regular service - many Boston-New York-D.C. trains. I use to take the local MARC train (commuter) RT from Balt-D.C. and if I missed the last train out I'd take an Amtrak and enjoyed the ride. I believe they all stop at BWI.

The MARC costs $5 from BWI to Union Station (approx. 45 minutes) or you can catch the Amtrak for approx. $30 (approx. 25 minutes) to Union Station. FYI - the MARC does not run on Sat. or Sun.

If there isn't a convenient MARC train running when you arrive, or even if there is, I think the shuttle vans are about the most convenient and cheapest choice. There is info and a link to them on the BWi airport website. They will go directly to your hotel, whereas you might need a taxi from Union Station otherwise. I don't know if they will take people to Arlington, but you can certainly ask them. I wouldn't pay that fare for Amtrak, I think it's way too expensive myself.

The MARC train is geared to people commuting during rush hours. Only some Amtrak trains betw. NYC and DC stop at BWI. Bottom line is that the train is only going to work sometimes.

The best deal financially is this: You can take a bus from BWI to the Greenbelt Metro Station. It is bus B30 according to the WMATA website. Also according to the website you pick it up in the International Terminal at BWI on Pier Q. The charge is $2.00 to Greenbelt and it takes about a half hour. Mind you I gleaned this from the Metro website and the fare could be more in rush hour. I tried to download the bus schedule and ended up waiting forever for it to load via adobe acrobat and then I had trouble reading it. The bus appears to run every half hour or so.

When you get to Greenbelt, you would then take Metro (the subway) downtown. This is probably the cheapest way to go--and it looks like it solves the old "I saved $100 on my air by flying into BWI and now have to spend $75 on a cab to get to my hotel in DC problem." It will probably be another 35-40 minutes from Greenbelt to your hotel. Please note: I have not done this and do not know exactly. I also do not know what the Metro fare is going to be. My hunch is no more than $5 and maybe less (Metro charges more in the rush hour).

You may want to take the Super Shuttle if you do not want complicated connections, but you will be riding in a van with several others and may take much time to get to your destination if you are the last one off. Online reservations can be made here:

http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/dca.htm

When you get to the site, click on cities at the bottom of the page, then on Baltimore. It has been awhile since I used the Super Shuttle. When I last inquired, the fare was $35 from my house to BWI for the first person and $15 for each additional person. Since a taxi would probably be $65 or so from BWI to downtown DC (I am guesstimating) you might want to factor that into your airport transportation decision.

One of these methods should ensure that you get to visit our nation's capital.

I've made the trip on the B30 and MARC many times. If you're arriving or leaving on a weekday, take the MARC. The "round trip" is really two tickets, so even if traveling 1 way, if two of you just buy a "round trip" and save.
MARC: http://www.mtamaryland.com/index.cfm (look under Rail, "PennLine" (not Camdem nor Brunswick)) Both the MARC and Amtrak bring you to Union Station. (ps- not every Amtrak stops at BWI)

The B30 leaves about every 40 minutes, from outside *"E"* terminal, lower level - watch for the bus shelter out on the pedestrian "island", not at the immediate curb. It costs $2 down, but $1.15 return *IF* you get a transfer pass (1 per person) from a dispensor at any Metro station OTHER than Greenbelt Metro Station.

For Metro times and fares (they do not mention MARC at all!) Go to http://rideguide.wmata.com/ For example you could enter BWI and ROSSLYN and get directions and fares for taking the B30 to Greenbelt, the "Greenline" to L'Enfant Plaza, then the "Blue" or "Orange" to Rosslyn. Enjoy your trip. Where will you be staying?

Here's the MARC schedule (you want the "Penn" line:
http://www.mtamaryland.com/schedules...b_PennLine.pdf

ttt for the poster asking the question about the MARC train.

the WMATA web site doesn't mention Marc because they don't run MARC.