Cherry Blossoms - Best way to get to DC from Baltimore?
 

We are planning to go see the cherry blossoms in DC tomorrow early morning. We'll probably go there again next weekend for the festival as well. I am trying to find the best way to do this starting from Baltimore Inner Harbor. From what I read, it does not sound like a good idea to drive to the Tidal Basin and fight for parking. We are new to the Balt-Wash area, so any tips would be much appreciated.

Is Metro the way to go? Would you recommend the following plan? Drive to New Carrollton metro station, park there at the metro lot (free on weekends) and take the Metro to the Smithsonian station. The walk to Tidal Basin from there should be ~half mile.

If you have any tips or can suggest a better plan, that would be great! Thanks.

Metro is a great way to get into the city and avoid parking. You are still going to find the Smithsonian station crowded, so if you are up to a longer walk, consider adjacent stations.

Thanks nigam. Just getting back from a really nice day over at the Tidal Basin. Only a few of the trees are in bloom, so will be going again next weekend too.

There are a few options.

If you are traveling during the week(M-F) you could take a MARC train from Baltimore to Union Station then connect to Metro to go to Smithsonian station and then walk the Mall to the tidal basin where the trees are.

weekend it doesnt run.

for metro....

you would drive from Baltimore to one of two stations...Grenbelt (Green line), New Carlton (Orange line) and park there and then take metro in. There is a farther station along the blue and Red line that have parking spots. Generally the parking can be difficult Mon-Fri. SAT/SUN its easier.

If you are looking to do a weekend day ---MARC doesnt run---but AMTRAK does from limited stations you could take it to Union Station.

An alternate option is you could always do an overnight trip into DC where you stay at a hotel.

There is a bus that runs from that you could connect to. Greenbelt to BWI

From Baltimore, it's probably easiest to park at Greenbelt station, which even has its own I-495 exit between I-95 and the B-W parkway. L'Enfant Plaza Metro on the Green Line (less crowded and higher capacity than Smithsonian) is <1 mile to both the Tidal Basin and to East Potomac Park, which is equally cherry-lined but less overwhelmed. Use Google Maps' walking directions, which include most of the shortcuts.

I attempted to drive my elderly grandmother down to the Tidal Basin this weekend, when there weren't even all that many flowers open, and it was nightmarish: we averaged 1.15 MPH on the approach before bailing. The roads in that area are exceptionally serpentine, with many inexplicable turns and impatient drivers. Given the awful traffic and the many times I've gotten lost down there, I highly recommend that tourists avoid driving around there if at all possible.

Thanks for the additional details, djp98374! MARC sounds like a good idea for week days.

Thanks paytonc. We tried the New Carrollton station last weekend and that was quite easy to get to and park as well. Do you think Greenbelt has something better to offer compared to New Carrollton? I'm glad we did the park & Metro. I'll try the L'Enfant Plaza station next weekend as the Smithsonian station was quite crowded last weekend. Sorry to hear that you had a tough time last weekend driving your grandmother. Hopefully she still got to see some cherry blossoms elsewhere.

Think hard about waiting until the weekend. The blooms are at their peak now, and with rain and some wind forecast for Friday, they could be gone before the weekend.

I was just out there today ... they are spectacular.

They're almost better when it's post-peak and they start to fall off the trees a little...

But I agree with drewguy ... they don't last long. Check the news for updates.

Thanks for the tips, drewguy and Uniter. I wish I could go sooner, but I'm out of town now and will only be back in Baltimore Thursday night. I'll see if we can do Friday evening. I just got a new camera too, so really looking forward to the blooms :)

drive to 8th & virginia ave se(marine barracks). park on the street in one of those pay to park spaces. get a bike and take it down to the tidal basin. alternate parking. try 3rd & g se. take a cab from there. park near nationals park, if they are out of town, and cab from therel.

FYI, the blossoms are basically done. A fair number remain on the trees, but the leaves have come out underneath them and the blossoms are much more sparse. At this point, I'd wait to next year at least for the tidal basin (there are other spots with different types that may still be blooming).

The rain on Friday did quite a number on the blossoms at the Tidal Basin, and by now the leaves have also started to push the petals aside. Usually, the blossoms that are upland (e.g., Kenwood) bloom a few days later, but they seem to have peaked on the same day this year.

Greenbelt is a little bit closer to Baltimore than New Carrolton, especially from I-95; otherwise they're pretty equivalent. (And yes, I did get to drive my grandmother around East Potomac Park on Tuesday morning.)

Thanks again drewguy and paytonc. We went to the Cherry Blossom festival last weekend on Saturday and afterwards walked to the Tidal Basin to take a look -- it was as you said not so great after the rain and the crowds were quite huge, so we didn't spend any time there. I am still happy we went the previous weekend when it was less crowded even though there weren't too many blooms. We already decided that next year we will take the day off on the peak bloom day and go there (hopefully weekday so it is not too crowded). In fact, we ended up seeing a lot of beautiful blooms right here in Baltimore along the streets of Fells Point and Canton areas.