Help me navagate Washington DC

[Helene]

DS's 6th grade field trip is to DC this year. I will be a chaperone, but will be driving separtately as DD will be coming along too.

The trip is on a Friday. We plan to stay overnight in DC and then go to the zoo on Saturday.

As I have never been to DC before, I am trying to figure out what area (Alexandria, Crystal City, etc) is best to get to at the end of the day on Friday in preparartion for Saturday. I'd like to just take the metro or a bus to the zoo & leave my car parked at the hotel for the day...would that be possible if we are not staying over on Saturday night??

Any and all suggestions on making this work are apprecciated

 

[Sadie22]

Any hotel may not allow you to leave your car there after you check out. I would think that as a chaperone you would need to be staying at the same place where the rest of the group is staying -- or is your group not stayihng overnight?

It has been many years since I have visited the National Zoo, but whenever we went, we either got there early and parked at the zoo, or we parked at an outlying Metro station and rode the Metro to the zoo.

 

[Hoodie]

If you take the Metro, it's on the Red line so unless you pick it up in Maryland, you'll be changing trains at some point.

That said, It's easier on your feet to actually get off at the Cleveland Park station and walk down to the zoo. The zoo station is actually downhill from the zoo and it's a nice 1/2 mile walk all uphill to get to the zoo. Cleveland Park is also about a 1/2 mile walk but is more level/downhill.

 

[pioneer89]

Good advice on the Metro Stop. The Zoo is 1/2 way between two stops, and if you get off on the wrong one it's a nice uphill hike.

Parking at the Zoo is pretty good if you plan to get there early but the lot tends to fill up quick. Worst case is you have to park on a side street, but even then, the walk from your car to the Zoo will certainly be shorter than the walk from the Metro to the Zoo.

Some Hotels will let you pay for an extra day parking, you'll just have to call them to ask. I can't see them letting you stay parked for free though.

If you plan to drive home right after the Zoo on Saturday, I'd suggest getting an early start and parking at the Zoo.

Are you planning on going from March 25-April 1 timeframe? I think that's Cherry Blossum time, and crowded just begins to describe the city.

 

[golfgal]

Most of the metro stops have parking. Union Station has a very large lot and I think is about $15/day (at least it was when we visited). Most hotels charge $30+/day to park.

 

[Helene]

Thanks for the replies. We are going May 20th, so the rush of the Cherry Blossom Festival will hopefully have passed.

Looks like we should plan to drive to the zoo in the morning and just plan our day from there. I was hoping to stay parked in a central location and possibly do dinner and more touring into Saturday evening, but maybe I'm being a bit ambitious in my planning.

 

[rwdavis2]

Thanks for the replies. We are going May 20th, so the rush of the Cherry Blossom Festival will hopefully have passed.

Looks like we should plan to drive to the zoo in the morning and just plan our day from there. I was hoping to stay parked in a central location and possibly do dinner and more touring into Saturday evening, but maybe I'm being a bit ambitious in my planning.

Cherry blossoms will be over by mid-April so don't worry. May can be hectic due to class trips. But if you drive to the Zoo and get there early there is a lot of parking.

 

[Mrs.Malone]

Cherry blossoms will be over by mid-April so don't worry. May can be hectic due to class trips. But if you drive to the Zoo and get there early there is a lot of parking.

Keep in mind that parking at the zoo is $20/car. Also, if the weather is nice, on a Saturday in May the spots may all be filled by 10 or 11 a.m. and there isn't any convenient street parking nearby. I'd recommend taking Metro just to be sure. You could park at Union Station or you could book at a hotel that will allow you to keep your car there until evening on your checkout day. Some will if they have enough space.

 

[rwdavis2]

Keep in mind that parking at the zoo is $20/car. Also, if the weather is nice, on a Saturday in May the spots may all be filled by 10 or 11 a.m. and there isn't any convenient street parking nearby. I'd recommend taking Metro just to be sure. You could park at Union Station or you could book at a hotel that will allow you to keep your car there until evening on your checkout day. Some will if they have enough space.

Good call. It's been so long since I parked at the Zoo I had no idea the parking had gone up so much. I agree with the Metro though. Get of at Cleveland Park.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

The metro parking lots are free on the weekends. The only one I know in particular is at the Eisenhower stop in Alexandria. Good safe neighborhood.

 

[IdesOmarch]

First off, I would advise avoid driving yourself at all costs. Either use a taxi (my preferred method) or some other form of transpo. Driving yourself is the very last option IMO. Zoo is pretty far from Alexandria. But everywhere is assessible by cab IMO, but it does cost a little. However, the cabs are heavily regulated in DC so you probably won't get ripped off like you can in other places.

Also, just MHO but the DC zoo was OK, not great. I was used to some pretty nice zoos, and even the Memphis zoo was as good or better than the DC zoo. There are a few really nice exhibits, but I guess I was expecting the best zoo out of all the ones I've been too and it wasn't at all. And it also did not seem all that big, I expected it to be a lot bigger. Hope this doesn't rain on your parade, but for site seeing I prefer the Smithsonian museums over the zoo. But if you are not used to going to any good zoos, you'll probably like it. I'm just used to some world class zoos.