"Staying in Chinatown isn't any great thing, I don't like it there at all. It is closer to things, sure. At least around Pentagon City there are lots of places to eat."

Just to be clear for others who are considering. There are probably more restaurants, per block, in Chinatown then anywhere in the D.C. region. Pentagon City doesn't come close. That's not to say people shouldn't stay in Pentagon City or Crystal City, but just to be clear about the whys and why nots.

How are you planning to get to Udvar-Hazy?

Birch&Barley/Churchkey is also my top rec.

More beer place ideas:

http://www.biergartenhaus.com/

http://www.beckdc.com/ (more of a restaurant but with a killer beer list - poke thru the beer menu ).

DancingBear,Based on an earlier thread...http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...azy-center.cfm

Metrobus 5A from L'Enfant Plaza or Rosslyn to Dulles at $6/person/trip. Virginia Regional Transit (VRTA) provides connecting bus service between Dulles International Airport

Is this info correct?


bardo, thanks for more recommendations.

I think that's still good info on the bus service but you might want to look into spending a little bit more and renting a car for the day.

Of course if you drive out there you'll have to pay another $15 for parking.

Transit cost per person will be $3.60 round trip on Metro ($4.30 if both trips during rush hours), plus $6 for the 5A bus and $1 for the shuttle. Total for the 3 of you at least $31.80.

We bought our tickets for the Phillies @ Nationals game a couple of weeks ago at a very good price. Our intent was to get tickets at the Stadium for the Reds game. I voted numerous times last week in the Final Player Contest for the All-Star game for Michael Morse of the Nationals. Friend of mine decided to order the tickets yesterday for the Reds game as he found some good seats. Got home and found an email from the Nationals thanking me for the votes with a 2 for 1 ticket offer. Couldn't believe I got this offer a few hours after we bought our last set of tickets. As a result, we may go to a 3rd game that week...

I would rent a car for the day to get to Udvar-Hazy--a whole less hassle. Please note that the shuttle at U-H is just the outside. You cannot go inside it. The one on display is just a full scale mock up. It never flew. The one that did fly--and which U-H will eventually get has not yet arrived. I can't wait to visit the museum once it is there.

The parking charge there is very annoying. Do you know that tour buses park free at U-H. You explain that to me.

We decided to rent a car for the day to go out to Udvar Hazy. We used Avis as I get a huge discount thanks to work from them. The location it gave me was Union Station. How bad is the drive from Union Station to Udvar Hazy on an early Thursday morning (~8am). And how about going back into Union Station that night to drop the car off around 5pm? We should be going the opposite way but want to verify.

You'll hit traffic both ways. August traffic is better than the rest of the year, but you will still be hitting rush hour.

In addition to the rush hour traffic both ways (lighter traffic for sure in August) you will hit the construction mess for the metro to IAD. I still have trouble figuring out which way to go at the various detours for the construction.

I drive the Dulles Toll Road to and from the Beltway every day. I don't think you'll have much problem on a weekday with the construction. Come out I-66 and take the exit to 267 (Dulles Toll Road), make sure you stay to the right so you don't get on the center lanes (Dulles Access Road) with no opportunity to exit before the airport (but if you end up there it's no big deal and you will have avoided the tolls, you'll just have to double back a short distance to Hwy 28).

GPS may tell you to take I-66 all of the way to 28 but believe me it's worth paying the toll to get off of I-66).

When you return on the toll road stay to the right after you go through the toll gates, that will get you back toward I-66 and town.

Sorry, that should say on your return trip stay LEFT after you go through the toll gates!!