Oct Which airport to land in if going to see smithsonian and DC and were to stay safe lower price willing to take metro haven't been there in 50 yrs sure it's changed! Are weekends still cheaper and if I rent car where to park?

First - there is no reason to rent a car in DC. Parking would be expensive. The closest airport to the city is DCA and you can easily take the metro into the city. flights sometimes are more expensive there.

Yes weekends tend to be cheaper but not always. October is a popular month to be in DC and like most major cities big events (Government and convention related) can drive hotel costs.

For budget accommodations look at the Americana Hotel in Crystal City which is very close to DCA/Reagan National. You can walk to the hotel from the CC metro. As already mentioned you will not need a car if your destinations are in the city. If you need a car for other reasons, parking is free at the Americana.

I have always enjoyed the Woodley Guest House. It is more of a small boutique hotel than a B&B. I have found it to be less expensive than most hotels, although I have never checked out the Americana.

The Woodley Guest House is near the zoo with a Metro stop just a few feet from the front door. The neighborhood is quiet and there are many restaurants within walking distance. I travel solo and felt very safe walking around at night by myself.

oops forgot the airport.

Although the DCA/Reagan National is closer to DC it may not be the most economical. It would depend on where you are coming from. From my hometown, the cost to fly into DCA can sometimes be double or more than what it costs to fly into Baltimore. From Baltimore I took a $12, one hour train ride right into Union Station.

It depends on your budget and time.

You will definitely not need a car in DC. Buy a metro card and put $10, $20, or $30 on it depending on how long you will be there. You can always chose a lower amount and refill it. The metro is very easy to use.

Sunday you can go to the market at Dupont circle. There is a pizza stand there (I believed owned by 2 ladies) where they make wonderful pizza.

I can't recommend a hotel as I stay at my cousin's house when I go there.

You'd have to compare airfare to see which airport was cheapest, there's no rule about it.

If you rent a car (and I don't know why you would), you'd have to pay to park in a garage, most likely. Cost will be $25-45 per day. You can get cheaper or free parking with hotels but outside the city, of course, real estate is too expensive in DC for them to give free parking. I presume you wont' fly into BWI, so if you find a hotel somewhere in NoVa suburbs, you would get cheaper parking.

For example, parking at the Crystal City Marriott Gateway (which is a convenient location for the airport and the metro as it is connected to a stop), charges $26 a day for parking. Hotels in DC often charge at least $40. But if you stay in a hotel near Ballston metro, you could parking in their public garage which is only $10 a day. There is a Hilton near there.

The trains from BWI to Union Station in DC are very infrequent on weekends. During the week you can take MARC trains which cost about $7. However, these trains do not run on weekends. Then you would have to wait for a regular Amtrak train. It would cost more and you might have to wait for a long time.

I am tired of people advising BWI for visitors. Unless you are renting a car at the airport, getting to a hotel in downtown DC from BWI can involve challenges. It depends how much inconvenience you want to put up with.

Please check for Metro hours on wmata.com before making your plans. wmata.com is the Metro website. Metro is undergoing a massive refurbishing. That means line closures and infrequent trains. Your line(s) may or may not be affected. Staying outside DC to save money is certainly going to involve even more challenges than normal. I do not advise people to do this because they end up wasting precious vacation time commuting.

During the week you can take MARC trains which cost about $7. However, these trains do not run on weekends. Then you would have to wait for a regular Amtrak train. It would cost more and you might have to wait for a long time.

You need to keep up.

MARC trains run on weekends and have for a couple of years or more. Nine round trips on Saturday and six on Sunday. BWI and Washington Union Station are stops on all of them.

BWI may or may not be the best airport for this OP to fly into but let's try not to promulgate bad information.

9 round trips and 6 on Sundays. Not exactly frequent service, but I did not know there was any weekend service at all.

The website for MARC weekend service is here:

https://mta.maryland.gov/marc-weekend-service-0

If you get stuck out at BWI there is bus service on the 30B bus but it is infrequent. It goes to the New Carrollton Metro stop and you would then have to take Metro to downtown from there. Further details can be found on the Metro website: wmata.com

Thank you obxgirl for correcting my information. I live in DC and was not aware that there was any weekend service at all. I learned something.