Thought I'd add another option here. Right at the Court House metro station is a garage (located under 2200/2300 Clarendon Boulevard). It is free to exit after the attendant leaves at approx 8 PM, or on weekends. Like S Clark St, the garage is connected indoors to the Metro station (there's a door between the far end of the P-1 level of the parking garage and the tunnel into the metro station), so in inclement weather you don't have to go outside between your car and your plane. It does require a change of trains at Rosslyn; fare is $2 in rush hour. I have also left a car here for over a week with no problem.
Make sure you park in the portion of the garage that is accessed via a gate (you have to pull a ticket unless the gate is already up when you enter), NOT the metered section where you would be ticketed/towed for failing to feed the meter.
Thought I'd add another option here. Right at the Court House metro station is a garage (located under 2200/2300 Clarendon Boulevard).
Thanks for the tip. I now have more DCA flying in my future, so I'd love to hear more tips. Last time, I did the S. Clark option. My only problem was my flight was early and the gate attendant was still there. We didn't want to wait another hour (we had come back from Europe so it was already the middle of the night), so I "lost my ticket" and paid for one day.
Any updates on S. Clark, or any other suggestions. Thanks!
I would keep in mind, as well, the length of time that you are traveling. You don't want to leave your car long enough that someone might think it abandoned. Many garages keep tabs on cars that are present longer than 24 hours.
I've always wondered if you were returning on a weekend if you could get away with parking in the Crystal City Underground and leaving when the gates are up Saturday and Sunday?
__________________ Oh Kitty, you've still got Eric. He's still sort of a baby ... I'll make him cry if you want - Red
I need to update 2200/2300 Clarendon. An attached hotel was recently completed and now to exit the garage you have to go out the garage booth (which is still unattended nights/weekends) but it dumps you into the hotel garage, and to exit THAT you then have to insert your ticket into the hotel's machine in order to exit. I'm not sure if this gums up the process or not if you entered when the garage wasn't "free" (presumably if you entered nights/weekends when it was "free" anyway, it shouldn't be a problem).
I've been in the Clarendon/Court House neighborhood several times recently and there's even more free, unlimited time street parking than I thought. The best spots are on the street right behind Starbucks on Clarendon Blvd. (N. Danville St. and 11th St.) Some are 2-hour but there are a good 15 or so unlimited time spaces, usually full though. Off Court House Road, between Wilson and Arlington Blvd there are also some street spots. Not terribly convenient for DCA since it involves a Metro transfer or a roughly $20 cab ride to get to the airport, but if you're in Clarendon anyway and need a place to leave your car, there's plenty of street parking if you're willing to walk far enough. All of the spaces on or adjacent to Wilson Blvd. are permit, 2-hour, or metered only.
Closer to the airport, Army Navy Drive south of the Pentagon City area has plenty of available free parking, but it doesn't seem very accessible via transit (a rather long walk to either the Metro or the airport itself, or spotty ART bus service).
For me it's a time/money tradeoff. If I'm running late, the company's paying or I have a lot of luggage I suck it up and pay for airport parking. If I'm gone for more than a couple of days on leisure, and up for a long walk, I park on the street.
