Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - college student needs advice - planning trip to D.C. from Virginia

Hi, I am in Chesapeake, VA at the moment. I am planning on visiting a friend from school this weekend who is temporarily living in DC/taking classes in Dupont Circle. My plan was to drive from Chesapeake to one of the train stations in outer DC, leave my car there, and go to his place. He said the closest station to him is Farragut north. I was hoping to get some advice from anyone here on which metro station I should drive into/leave my car at. I will be coming in Saturday morning/noon and leaving Monday morning. Purpose is to minimize cost lol. I had checked out Amtrak tickets; the route started at Newport News and ended @ Union station. However, ticket costs $92, and I'd have to do some walking in the heat with my luggage once I go to Union station lol. Furthermore, I can get to DC and back with a full tank of gas (which costs me around $57, so financially, its cheaper for me to drive...yes I'm not considering the depreciation of my car, etc. but w/e lol). However, with the savings of driving, I didn't want the cost of parking near Dupont Circle to offset that, so my friend suggested parking at a metro station right outside city and take a train into Farragut.

Arrival: Sept 1st, morning/noon
Departure: Sept 3rd, morning

Any advice on which metro station to drive into/leave overnight for 2 days (from where I can take a train/bus to Farragut North) and would be cheap (or *gasp* even FREE) would be VERY welcome.

Thanks again guys!

your challenge is parking. Most of DC is zoned for residents. If you don't have a sticker for the zone, your parking hours are limited.

There are streets that are not zoned residential. I live on one, but I'm not saying where.

You won't find free, non-zoned parking near the metro stations in DC, but you can on some of the side streets off Conn Ave.

A better bet may be one of the suburban metro stations. According to the website http://www.wmata.com/rail/parking/ parking is free weekends and holidays.

Since you're coming from VA, you could plan to ride to Farragut west, one block from Farragut North on a different line, including the yellow line from VA.

Time to look at the metro maps

You're unlikely to save money by driving. If you're lucky enough to get one of the few (as in 15-17) multi-day parking spots at the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, it'll cost you $4.75/day. The Metro fare between there and Farragut North is more than the fare from Union Station (so no walking in heat differential). If you're not lucky with the multi-day spaces, what is Plan B? How about Union Station, where parking is $22/day?

Try Megabus from Hampton to DC. Ticket prices vary widely (next time buy in advance) but you should still be able to get a round-trip bus ride for the price of your gas money even this late in the game ($50-60). I've found MegaBus comfortable enough, and no hassle with driving yourself and finding parking.

There's no walking in the heat from union station--you get off the train and get on the red line all under one roof. The red line will take you to Farragut North. (Plus, 2 nights?? How much luggage!?!?)

I don't drive so have no advice on parking, but yeah, I'd look into the bus.

Parking at metro stations is free this weekend. Read my previous post and do your homework, EricH

Parking at metro stations is free this weekend. Read my previous post and do your homework, EricH

Eric, does that include Union station though? I don't think so. I basically just need to find a station on that list with free weekend parking that goes to Farragut North.

Also, I realize it's last minute, but the plans were made this week lol.

your challenge is parking. Most of DC is zoned for residents. If you don't have a sticker for the zone, your parking hours are limited.

There are streets that are not zoned residential. I live on one, but I'm not saying where.

You won't find free, non-zoned parking near the metro stations in DC, but you can on some of the side streets off Conn Ave.

A better bet may be one of the suburban metro stations. According to the website http://www.wmata.com/rail/parking/ parking is free weekends and holidays.

Since you're coming from VA, you could plan to ride to Farragut west, one block from Farragut North on a different line, including the yellow line from VA.

Time to look at the metro maps

Eric, I think I'm gonna park at Suitland and make my way to Farragut North. It says weekend parking is free, but can you park overnight?

Eric, I think I'm gonna park at Suitland and make my way to Farragut North. It says weekend parking is free, but can you park overnight?

I would not recommend parking in a Metro lot in P.G. County over night. Not at all.

I would not recommend parking in a Metro lot in P.G. County over night. Not at all.

Generally Metro garages do not permit overnight parking. At least that's what the signage says. I wouldn't risk it, because of both the outside chance of getting towed -- and the risk of theft / vandalism. The garages I know in NoVa (Franconia, Huntington) are not secure and not patrolled. I don't even think it's a good idea to walk through them after dark.

Another idea would be to drive to Reagan National Airport, park in the economy lot for $12 / day, take the shuttle to the terminal, and hop the Metro to Farragut West (Blue line) which is about a 15-minute ride.

Too late for the OP... but most on-street restrictions run Mon-Fri. One can park on the street in the Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Van Ness areas reasonably easily within 1/2 mile of a metro station. Restrictions generally expire Fri 830pm, till Monday morning, but holidays are also exempt from parking regs.

Too late for the OP... but most on-street restrictions run Mon-Fri. One can park on the street in the Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Van Ness areas reasonably easily within 1/2 mile of a metro station. Restrictions generally expire Fri 830pm, till Monday morning, but holidays are also exempt from parking regs.

Specifically around Dupont there are restrictions on Saturdays. In fact they expanded them in 2009, which is the last year that I frequently drove in and parked around Dupont. There are tricks like finding spots on 16th street that are restricted during rush hour but wide open and free outside rush hour. In general, parking in DC is not too bad and certainly better than parking in PG county.

If you want to park at a metro over the weekend I would pick West Falls Church maybe only because I am familiar with it and have done it. Pretty safe area. Definitely stay away from PG county and that's a big detour coming from southern VA.

Specifically around Dupont there are restrictions on Saturdays. In fact they expanded them in 2009, which is the last year that I frequently drove in and parked around Dupont. There are tricks like finding spots on 16th street that are restricted during rush hour but wide open and free outside rush hour. In general, parking in DC is not too bad and certainly better than parking in PG county.

If you want to park at a metro over the weekend I would pick West Falls Church maybe only because I am familiar with it and have done it. Pretty safe area. Definitely stay away from PG county and that's a big detour coming from southern VA.

The parking restrictions also run Monday thru Saturday around Logan Circle, which I discovered last weekend as a friend driving through stayed the weekend. Overall, hope the OP didn't waste a lot of time trying to save a few dollars on parking, especially when Metrorail runs so infrequently on weekends.

Generally Metro garages do not permit overnight parking. At least that's what the signage says. I wouldn't risk it, because of both the outside chance of getting towed -- and the risk of theft / vandalism. The garages I know in NoVa (Franconia, Huntington) are not secure and not patrolled. I don't even think it's a good idea to walk through them after dark.

I used to park overnight in the suburban NoVa metro lots all the time and never encountered an issue. Sometimes I would even leave it there for a long weekend. The best part is if you leave in the morning it is free. YMMV though. I think the last time I did this was a year ago, but I have not heard of anything changing.