Washington DC - flying into Dulles?

[MNT568]

I am thinking of taking my DS to Washington DC for a long weekend in November and there are great rates on Jetblue into Dulles. How difficult is it to get into DC from Dulles? Is it worth it to pay the higher fare and fly into Reagan? We have never been to DC.

 

[Skatermom23]

If your renting a car it is no problem at all! Just pay attention to the rush hour times and don't get flights that will arrive then. You don't ever want to come to either airport during rush hour. Now if you aren't renting a car then you are better off flying into Reagan.

 

[jobo]

For us it was easy- We took a bus from the airport to a Metro station then the Metro train into DC.
I found a lot of great information on the Dulles airport website. Of course this was 5 years ago now, but it should still be easy to get around.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

It depends. If you know you're going to be taking a taxi, or a shuttle, or a rental car there's not that much difference. If you are planning to take public transportation, Dulles is much more of a pain -- a bus to the metro. Whereas R-National's a straight shot to downtown via metro, which means no stairs to carry your luggage up, no folding your stroller if you're using one, etc . . .

Having said that, I almost always fly into BWI -- fares are usually much cheaper than Dulles or National (many of us in DC refuse to call it by it's "other" name), and it's definitely easier to get to than Dulles via commuter rail. Often times people don't think to check BWI because it's in "Baltimore" but in reality it's 1/2 way between the two cities. Have you checked out BWI?

 

[MNT568]

Thanks for your help.

jobo - I looked at the Dulles site and I was thinking the bus/metro might work for us. Do you remember how long the ride was?

If we fly into Reagan, it would be an additional $204. I'm trying to keep this low cost. My DS and I just need to get away for a few days.

Mickey'snewestfan - I'm going to look into flights from BWI.

 

[MainStMandy]

Thanks for your help.

jobo - I looked at the Dulles site and I was thinking the bus/metro might work for us. Do you remember how long the ride was?

If we fly into Reagan, it would be an additional $204. I'm trying to keep this low cost. My DS and I just need to get away for a few days.

Mickey'snewestfan - I'm going to look into flights from BWI.

It's no more than 20-30 minutes to get to the Metro...DEPENDING on the time of day...it could easily take you twice that.

While National is closer and more easily accessibly to the city it's not worth an extra $204.

You can take the Marc train from BWI into DC but only Mon-Fri.

Have you checked with your hotel to see if they offer a shuttle???

 

[pr surfer]

From DCA and BWI you can take train... Metro from DCA and MARC+Metro from BWI.

From IAD you can take the Washington Flyer shuttle to the West Falls Church metro station and then take the Metro into DC

 

[rchristiansen]

I used to live in Northern VA and have flown out of Dulles, National and BWI many many times.

It really depends what time of day you are flying in and where in DC you are staying. Traffic going into DC from 7AM - 10AM is awful. It would take you over an hour, at least.

You won't be able really to take public transportation from Dulles to Downtown DC. The Metro doesn't go out that far. Also, Taking the bus to the metro station will be a pain. Even just five years ago the traffic was different. The area around Dulles has exploded in growth and traffic is a mess out there. The closest Metro is Vienna and that is a good 45 minute ride into downtown. From Dulles to the Vienna metro station it woudl take about 30 minutes by car with no traffic. A rental car or taxi would be a better option. You can take the Dulles Toll Road (it's free from the airport) straight to -I-66 that will take you straight down Constitution Ave.

However, if you do fly into Dulles and get a rental car you can stop at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles. It's on Hwy 28 right down the road from the Dulles Airport.

BWI is about an hour away with no traffic. I've had it take me two hours before. I'm not familiar with the public transportation from BWI. I know there are the MARC Trains, but I don't know the routes.'

Flying into National is pretty cool as you see all the monuments/pentagon/Potomac, etc as you fly over. You can quickly take the metro anywhere from the National airport as there is a Metro station right there.

Where are you staying in DC? Hotels can be pretty pricey downtown.

 

[jobo]

Thanks for your help.

jobo - I looked at the Dulles site and I was thinking the bus/metro might work for us. Do you remember how long the ride was?

We took the red-eye and landed at Dulles early in the morning maybe around 6:00am. From what I can remember we were eating breakfast around 9:00am in downtown DC. I didn't think the ride was too long, but I guess it's what you're use to. It use to take me 45 minutes on the Tube to get to work in the West End.