Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - Crystal City--Overnight/weekend parking

I found a thread about parking options in Crystal City/Pentagon City if you're flying out of DCA, but my question is a bit different.

Would I be able to do a combination of on-street, metered parking and free garage parking for a Saturday, Sunday, and holiday Monday? I know garage parking is mostly free on weekends and holidays, but can I park there overnight? Or is overnight parking at the meters on Crystal Drive ok? I'd be driving the car every day, so it wouldn't be just in one spot for three days.

Thanks.

alexandria and arlington are going though a remetering. many of the old posts are no longer valid, so be careful.

You can park in Crystal City over night in any of the public garages for free. Monday morning at 7am the gates go back down. I can't speak for a holiday, but I wouldn't count on it. Most metered streets like Crystal City in Arlington are 2 hour limits.

It used to be pretty easy to see the length of meters by looking at the colour of the top of the actual meter itself - they were all colour-coded.

However, now that Arlington has largely gone to multi-meters (using the receipt on the windshield), you have to get out of your car to see how long you are allowed to park on a block. That said, a lot of them have validity times of well over 2 hours.

That said, most holidays in Arlington will have free parking, including in my neighbourhood within walking distance to DCA - on the North End of Crystal City, on 12th between Eads and Crystal Drive should all be fine.

Also, you can check the holidays on Arlington's website to see if you can get away with parking for free.

-jeremy