Washington DC Metro
 

We're staying close to the White House (Google maps lists it as a 7 minute walk).

The Blue Line of the Metro seems to go almost everywhere of interest from the Farragut West station (3 minute walk). Arlington, center of the Mall to the Capitol.

If we're brave we can even take the Blue Line to Reagan Airport (DCA) when we leave (is this a matter of being brave?).

The problem is that every time I read the Metro instructions there are so many options that it's quite confusing.

The only thing I can somehow make out is that the Senior rate is mostly half price.

What's a Paper Farecard, Smartrip card, etc.

Essentially we'll be in Washington for 3 days. Most of our time will be spent between Arlington on one end and the Library of Congress on the other end.

We may go to Georgetown or Alexandria (we haven't looked into this yet) but that's only time permitting and probably not of great importance.

If it makes a difference, we'll be there the very start of June.
= = = =
On a related topic. I looked at various maps and it appears we can get to Arlington Cemetary using the Blue Metro line. Is that Metro station really walkable into the cemetery and then around to the places of interest?.

Then, what's it like to walk across the bridge (or is there a bus to do that if we decide) and work our way along the Mall?

Thanks.


Thanks.

I don't understand the bravery references. What makes you think a Metrorail station named Arlington Cemetery wouldn't be walkable to the cemetery? Have you looked at a real map?

The bravery thing was just light-hearted. We did actually take a metro to an airport several years ago in Boston and that worked out well.

I see the metro station but is it within 10 minutes into the cemetary?

What you need to know about Arlington: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil
Plan on using the Metro into the city from Reagan National.
The stop in between is the Pentagon.

Easier than Boston to get to and from the airport.

Georgetown not well served ( served at all?) by Metro.

Can't answer other questions. There is a tram at Arlington National Cemetery. You might see if it goes to the cemetery station.

we used the metro all over Washington DC..i even took it to zoo by myself when husband was in conference! and it was very easy to use. we took it to arlington and it was a walk up to the front from the station it was definitley within 10 minutes

Both SmarTrip and paper cards are used to pay for travel with as much value as you want to load on them. With SmarTrip, the card costs $2 (you pay $10 and start with $8 trip value included) and is used indefinitely, adding value as needed. With paper cards there is a surcharge of $1 per trip and you toss the card when its value is used up.

For three days, neither the single-day nor the 7-day pass looks like good value, so you'll
probably do best with a SmarTrip card,

Senior SmarTrip cards are sold only in a few locations, with limited service hours, so you might need to buy paper cards for your first trip. Or you may opt for the convenience of getting a SmarTrip at your first trip and do without the discount, especially if you arrive at DCA later than mid-day. In your shoes, with only three days, I would probably skip the senior pass and spend those minutes/hours doing something more enjoyable.
http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/where.cfm

The SmartTrip card is definitely your best option (with or without the Senior Discount) as it works on buses too.

Its a 5 min walk from the Ar. Cemetery Station to the Cemetery where you can pick up the tram for the tour or continue walking through it. I like taking the tram to see it.

The wmata web site also has a great trip planner - try it out!

The DC Metro is easy to use. In 3 days you may even venture off the Blue Line. Each line has a name that includes the stop at either end of the line. Determine which way you need to go and follow the signs to that train. Once you are in a station it will seem much easier.

As mentioned, the walk from the Arlington Station to the Cemetery is about 5 min. You can see the entrance when you get up to street level.

The walk back to the Mall from Arlington is easy. As you walk from the cemetery back to the Metro station you can see the back of the Lincoln Memorial. Because you have to wait to cross traffic a few times, I think the walk was about 20 minutes to the front of the Lincoln Memorial. I am talking a leisure pace, no speed walking. I found it to be very nice. There are a few interesting statues back there that I had never seen before.

My wife and I spent two weeks in DC a couple years ago, so getting two seven day passes made sense for us.

Having a SmarTrip card of any type is a great time saver so you don't have to stop and buy a ticket for every ride. My brother joined us for a few days from New York City and he had to fiddle with the annoying ticket machines for every ride.

In addition, I bought our cards online and they mailed them to us in Colorado. When we arrived at Reagan Airport we had them in hand, simply walked to the metro station (about 10 minutes as I recall), got on a train, and right to our hotel. It was perfect.

Definitely buy your SmarTrip cards on line if you decide to skip the senior version. You have plenty of time before your June travel.

SmarTrip card is the way to go. We had paper ones and they would not work. The lady was bitchy when they wouldn't and she had to let us out. We ended up using cabs three times and it was cheap imo. We stayed late one night seeing the monuments and took a cab back to Dupont circle for under ten dollars for the two of us. I now know you need that smartrip card for next visit.

Metros all over the world are based on the same principal: Know the name of the last station on the line you wish to travel on. When you enter the Metro Station look for that sign and then follow the signs, no need to worry about north, south etc, just look for the ending station name. Once on the train keep track of how many stops until your stop. Very very easy.

We're not arriving by air. We will have spent a few days in New York and we'll train to Washington.

So we arrive late at night (11:30PM) at Union Station.

My concern taking the Metro to the airport isn't really the trip.

When we took a subway to Boston airport there was a station right outside our hotel with an elevator. That was great. At the airport end the station was above ground so no stairs.

Is anybody familiar with the Farragut West metro station? Is it stairs, escalator or elevator?

Well, it appears I was correct in thinking the metro is the way to get around. And for that the SmartTrip card seems best. If I can get a Senior card all the better.

Thanks.

Now I have to group together the various sights of interest with getting there.

Arriving late at Union Station, you should probably use a taxi to your hotel. All metro stations have escalators and elevators, but escalators are often stopped for repairs. Stations have multiple escalator entrances, but usually only one elevator so you may have to search for it at a different entrance.

The airport station has a pedestrian bridge direct to the terminal, no stairs.

kayd, Thanks.

We have no intention of taking a metro from Union Station to our hotel at 11:30PM. Taxi for sure.

We're staying only a couple of minutes from a metro station so I'll check out the elevator / escalator configuration beforehand.

Thanks again.

Why are you arriving so late? There are more than 30 trains a day from the NE into WAS.
Union station is directly over the Metro station.
Farragut West is at 17th & I. http://living-in-washingtondc.com/wm...west-metro.php
Have a good trip on Amtrak.

Check ahead for elevator or escalator outages at any Metro station:

http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/met..._escalator.cfm

If you do add Georgetown to your list of places to see, DC has a simplified bus service called the Circulator which travels around many of the most touristed places. There are two lines which go to Georgetown. Your SmarTrip card works on the Ciculator and there are senior discounts. If you've got a smartphone, there's a great app.

www.dccirculator.com

The reason we're arriving so late is that we'll be spending a few days in New York prior to Washington.

In the past we've done the same thing for NYC-Philadelphia and NYC-Boston.

We leave by train after spending our last day in NYC. Train station in NYC is very convenient.

It's not very far from Union Station and I wouldn't want to transfer at night and with suitcases.

We may add either Georgetown or Alexandria depending upon our timing. Which is more interesting?

I imagine our first day we'll spend at various places on the Mall. The second day maybe go to Arlington and continue to Alexandria if we want to. The third day would be back on the Mall to finish up what we haven't done but want to and get to DCA for a 7PM flight.

All this could change based on any planned tours. We've requested White House (I was there almost 20 years ago) but considering what you get for the time spent we'll probably pass on this. The Capitol, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Holocaust Memorial, National Portrait Gallery, Air & Space Museum are all of interest. Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials as well though they are more outdoor type sights.

I'm not sure if the Capitol tour is given by our representatives staff or not. I've asked but I'll get back to them again.

The memorials are especially lovely at night, and if you are here during a hot spell you'll appreciate the cooler temps for your outdoor activity. They aren't well served by metro, so taxi would make sense for returning to your hotel.

Meyer, if you are interested I wrote a TR of our trip:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...trip-to-dc.cfm

My photos are now here:
http://nelsonchenkin.zenfolio.com/p99789887

Have a great trip. We want to go back!

kayd,
I was in Washington close to 30 years ago. I remember some of the sights but I think the scale is much larger than I remember.

I do remember there as a transportation shuttle that wasn't for sightseeing but for transportation. It was very inexpensive (even for those days). I don't think it exists anymore in that form.

Nelson,
By the way great photos and I read your report. Some of your top things are high on your list.

We're in good shape so walking all day on a trip is the norm.

I can see my wife getting to bed and reading a book while I go out to the Mall for some nighttime views and photos.

I'm not sure if I'm better walking from Farragut West to the Mall or taking a Metro to one of the stops on the Blue Line and spend an hour or two walking around.

That shuttle is definitely gone. There are tours but are too expensive and not worth it. Your hotel is not far from the White House so its an easy walk to the West end of the Mall for the Monuments and Memorials but farther from the Capitol and some of the museums so its a quick Metro ride to them.

I agree with doing the Monuments at night giving you more time for museums , etc

Here's the map. http://dctransitguide.com/static/ima...system_map.png
If you get on at Union station (red line) you have to transfer at Metro Center to either the blue or orange line to get to Farragut West.
I like the idea of taking the Metro to Union Station in the morning and coming up to ground level. Walk south to the Capitol Building and then west toward the Washington Monument. Be sure to see the WW2 Memorial.

BTW. the Farragut West stop of the blue/orange line is very close to the Farragut North stop of the red line, which may be more convenient for certain things. Check maps and the wmata route planner to see your options.

kja,
I realize that. I've looked at most of the sights and maybe a couple of things are just above the Mall.

I'll keep that in mind.

Glad to hear that, Myer! It seems to me that FAR too many visitors to the area wait for a subway when they could easily walk to where they want to go, or vice versa.

Enjoy your trip!

Some interesting tidbits I've discovered.

Although the Metro / Smartrip web site indicates the Smartrip card cost $10 with $5 for the card and $5 as the initial amount on the card, it has changed to $2 & $8.

A Senior Smartrip card can be purchased at Metro Center which is slightly less than a 20 minute walk from our area of Farragut West. That may or may not be worth wasting the time on such a short trip.

Two people "together" can't use the same card (financially that would be more efficient because two people could use the same balance) since the reading machines are programmed not to permit a double swipe within a certain period of time. I can understand that since many people probably inadvertently double-swiped their cards and got charged twice.

On the positive side, it pays to somewhat over-load a card as you can send the card back for refund of the balance after the
trip as long as you live more than a certain distance from DC.

You have to swipe on the way in and out. That is one reason two people can't use it. It is not like NYC and Boston where you pay one amount and that is it. The fare is registered at departure.

I don't know what you are talking about with respect to the "double-swiped" accidents. The machine would likely tell you to see an agent if you tried to use it twice in a row on the way in or out.

I picked up a couple of refrigerator magnets at the Forest Service Information center. I put them in my pants pocket before I realized that my Metro card was in that pocket. I had to see the agent to get in and out. The first agent wrote on it so that I could get out at my last destination.
Don't expose the card to a magnet!
The Forest Service Info Center is a red brick building SE of the Washington Monument. It looks a bit strange among all that marble. Sometimes it has Smokey Bear outside the door.
Smokey's office is inside.

tom,
Funny incident but I'm not so sure funny at the time.

Italy,
that makes sense as the fares could vary based on start / end of trip.

Maybe the people who programmed that system should have been hired to do some others.

<you can send the card back for refund of the balance after the
trip >
Or you can just save it for your next trip, right? :-)

I have a small collection of paper fare cards from my annual trips there; for no good reason, I have never bothered to get a SmartTrip card, and FWIW the paper cards are fine to use.

The only issue with the paper cards is now the $1 surcharge every time you use one compared to SmartTrip cards.

Good point! Maybe this is my year, finally.

<i>The only issue with the paper cards is now the $1 surcharge every time you use one compared to SmartTrip cards.</i>

And the fact that they demagnetize when you look cross eyed at them. And Metro makes it a tedious bureaucratic exercise to get a replacement.

The SmarTrip cards have a chip and are much sturdier. No magnetic strip.

I would certainly use up paper fare cards if I had them.

I have actually never had one demagnetize, not in the 15 years I lived in DC, and not in all the years of visiting since. I know it can happen, but IME it isn't as common as all that.

The other reasons for the SmarTrip cards are good ones, of course.

>>Senior SmarTrip cards are sold only in a few locations, with limited service hours,<<

Thanks for this info, kayd. I was planning on getting the Seniors card upon arrival on a Saturday so now that I know that is not easily done I can save myself the frustration. I will just pony up for the regular card and not worry about the few extra $ for a 4 day visit.

For getting around DC I can recommend Fodor's small guide book: Washington DC's 25 Best. Normally I find guide books too big and too detailed but this little one, about 4" x 8", has been great for planning my first trip. The front flat has a plasticized fold out map showing the various neighbourhoods, and also a map of the metro lines. There is a pocket in the back holding a larger street map. All the major sites are clearly shown and there are recommended walks, restaurants etc. for each district. Normally I find it difficult to 'get the lay of the land' but this has made it possible to get a sense of where everything is in relation to everything else.

We're staying just below the Farragut West metro station.

What type of area is this? Evenings? Restaurants nearby, etc? Thanks.