Washington DC

[NotUrsula]

To do justice to both places, I would not combine them into one trip. There's a lot to do in Williamsburg as well. You can easily do a full week in each place.

You may want to contact Ken Price (lots of folks use him for Bonnet Creek), because Wyndham has two properties in the DC area (Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor). Great way to save money by doing some meals in the unit.

Just remember that National Harbor doesn't really have good reliable public transit yet. I wouldn't recommend it as a base for touring the DC sites. (There are a lot of hotel deals to be had in National Harbor, and this is largely why.)

 

[CruiserMom]

Don't mean to hijack, but since I also have an upcoming trip...

What is the easiest way to get to the National Cathedral from Crystal City? Is it close to a Metro train station? Or will I need to transfer to a Metro bus? We have never seen the Cathedral in all our trips, and I'd love to take a tour!

 

[NotUrsula]

I hate paying parking....we are looking into staying in Tyson's corner. Hotels offering shuttle to the public transportation stops.

Not to pick on your personally, but I have never understood why parking charges and tolls are such a bugaboo for so many people. It almost seems like a psychological block.

If you bring your personal vehicle into a major city you will have to pay to park it. It's just a fact of life, and IMO it makes sense to just work it into the budget. Staying WAY out in the further suburbs just to avoid parking charges will cost you more in time lost. Maybe it's because I travel quite a bit, but I just cannot see losing an extra 90-120 minutes per day of "fun time" to commuting while on a vacation, in order to save maybe $35/day on parking.

My usual "better balance" strategy is to seek out lodging that gives us a complimentary breakfast, especially when travelling with my family. I'll gladly pay a parking fee for one vehicle in exchange for breakfast for four people, because I almost always come out ahead. (And yes, I know I could go for both free breakfast AND free parking out in the 'burbs, but I would still lose all that museum time, and it isn't worth it to me. Also, I'm NOT interested in getting up at 5:30 am to catch a 7 am train every day. I do enough of that sort of thing on business trips.)

 

[Janet Hill]

Not to pick on your personally, but I have never understood why parking charges and tolls are such a bugaboo for so many people. It almost seems like a psychological block.

If you bring your personal vehicle into a major city you will have to pay to park it. It's just a fact of life, and IMO it makes sense to just work it into the budget. Staying WAY out in the further suburbs just to avoid parking charges will cost you more in time lost. Maybe it's because I travel quite a bit, but I just cannot see losing an extra 90-120 minutes per day of "fun time" to commuting while on a vacation, in order to save maybe $35/day on parking.

My usual "better balance" strategy is to seek out lodging that gives us a complimentary breakfast, especially when travelling with my family. I'll gladly pay a parking fee for one vehicle in exchange for breakfast for four people, because I almost always come out ahead. (And yes, I know I could go for both free breakfast AND free parking out in the 'burbs, but I would still lose all that museum time, and it isn't worth it to me. Also, I'm NOT interested in getting up at 5:30 am to catch a 7 am train every day. I do enough of that sort of thing on business trips.)

http://www.wmata.com/ Just check out the metro fares and you will usually find you are not really saving that much by going for the free parking.

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

Not to pick on your personally, but I have never understood why parking charges and tolls are such a bugaboo for so many people. It almost seems like a psychological block.

If you bring your personal vehicle into a major city you will have to pay to park it. It's just a fact of life, and IMO it makes sense to just work it into the budget. Staying WAY out in the further suburbs just to avoid parking charges will cost you more in time lost. Maybe it's because I travel quite a bit, but I just cannot see losing an extra 90-120 minutes per day of "fun time" to commuting while on a vacation, in order to save maybe $35/day on parking.

My usual "better balance" strategy is to seek out lodging that gives us a complimentary breakfast, especially when travelling with my family. I'll gladly pay a parking fee for one vehicle in exchange for breakfast for four people, because I almost always come out ahead. (And yes, I know I could go for both free breakfast AND free parking out in the 'burbs, but I would still lose all that museum time, and it isn't worth it to me. Also, I'm NOT interested in getting up at 5:30 am to catch a 7 am train every day. I do enough of that sort of thing on business trips.)

I am looking to stay in Tysons Corner, because we have done it before. It really isn't that much of a distance, travel wise, and we are early birds...we wouldn't miss museum time...many open at 9 or 10am. It is a beautiful area, and I would rather take the public transportation than drive around a congested area...this is what we do when traveling in general. (Living in NY we are a beautiful train ride away from NYC.) It takes away some of the traveling stresses. The type of hotel that we want to stay in is $300+ right in DC (this would allow us to avoid driving) but I am willing to stay outside of DC to save $125 a night. Not having to pay parking is a bonus....I do hate to pay parking. The hotels that we are looking at in Tyson's corner have the included breakfast, too. We are planning a 6 day stay in DC, after a 4 day stay in Baltimore. We are in no hurry...just enjoying the sights and family time.

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

Oh, it also doesn't take 90-120 minutes to get there. That would be silly!

 

[TeamTinkerbell]

http://www.wmata.com/ Just check out the metro fares and you will usually find you are not really saving that much by going for the free parking.

That's a great tool. Thank you so much. I may spend my entire weekend planning. I love to plan something fun. I agree with Janet Hill about not combining DC and Colonial Williamsburg. I've been to CW and it is awesome. However, I don't really have a choice with time constraints. I plan to spend 2 days at CW, and then the other 4 or 5 in DC. Honestly, that is the best I can do for that vacation. Maybe we can go again a few years later.

 

[NotUrsula]

Oh, it also doesn't take 90-120 minutes to get there. That would be silly!

Respectfully, it does, if you realize that when I said commuting time, I meant round-trip. Let's say you're headed to Capitol South.

First you have to take your shuttle from the hotel to the West Falls Church Metro station; we'll be generous and say that's 10 minutes door to door. Then you go into the station and we'll again be generous and say that the train you want is just pulling in when you get to the platform. The transit time on the Orange Line from West Falls Church to Capitol South is 30 minutes, not counting the time it takes to enter and leave the station, plus the usual wait; we'll give that 5 minutes. You're now at a minimum of 45 minutes one-way if all goes exactly right, and an hour is much more realistic, especially on a weekday morning.

I'm afraid that beautiful wouldn't be the first word that came to my mind to describe Tyson's Corner. To me, Tyson's Corner is mostly just a vast expanse of concrete and glass office buildings, plus a LOT of fast-moving cars. I wouldn't feel safe being a pedestrian there, any more than I would on Kirkman Road in Orlando.

I know it's personal preference, but I'll spend a bit more to avoid commuting when I vacation in cities. Commuting is for when I'm working.