Heading to Baltimore/DC at the end of April with my inlaws and my 4 and 5 year old boys. We want to visit the Inner Harbor, aquarium, maybe the science center. We'd like to spend a day or two in DC..maybe Natural History and Air and Space museums. Initial thought was to stay at the Inner Harbor since it's at least $100 cheaper per night. But then I thought maybe we should stay somewhere in between. Ideally I'd like to be able to take public transportation instead of worrying about driving and parking, but we will have a car.

Budget...I don't really have one...but I don't want to spend too much for my inlaws. I'm thinking moderate level hotel. Breakfast included is a plus with the kids.

Thanks in advance.

There isn't any public transportation if you stay in-between DC and Baltimore (such as in Columbia). Of hotels at Inner harbor are $100 cheaper (than DC?), that sounds like a good choice as you seem to only want to be in DC a day or so. I think you just have to accept that you may need to pay for parking. It's not that terrible, there is a parking garage just a bit south of Air and Space that doesn't cost that much for a day. If you got lucky, you'd find a street stop, but you can't count on that. A lot of people just refuse to pay for a garage, just consider it an expense. Now driving is another issue, and it can always be confusing and stressful to drive in a major city you don't know, DC has a lot of traffic problems so if you could avoid that, fine.

It is lucky that the MARC commuter train service between Baltimore and Washington is being expanded to weekends right now, so that is an option. I think that could work best for you -- stay in Baltimore and take the MARC train to DC, get off at Union Station. There is a metro stop right there or you can actually walk to Air and Space if you don't mind a bit of a hike. It's about 1.3 miles. The metro isn't direct from there, anyway.

Thanks. That was our initial plan...take the MARC into DC. We'll be going in on weekdays so the schedule shouldn't be an issue. The added bonus is the boys get to take a train ride. They are used to the Boston subway and do well on public transportation.

Now to pick a hotel...I've got it narrowed down to SpringHill Suites, Homewood Suites, or the Hampton Inn...all $147 per night with breakfast and good reviews.

Check into Avenue Suites in D.C, but factor in the $40 parking charge.

Thanks clark...I'll check them out now. Baltimore is about $30 to park, so basically the same.

Rizzo, with kids those ages, look into going to Port Discovery in Baltimore. My kids loved it from ages 4 through about 8, and we had fun with them there also.

I know I am a little late to the party but I would also look at splitting between 2 hotels - 1 in Baltimore and 1 in DC to avoid the commuting time. Take a look at the Americana Hotel - its a low rate hotel (around $90 per night or so) but its clean, safe and quiet. Free parking, free breakfast near a Metro station to get into DC so it would save commuting time to go back and forth for the night or 2 of DC.