Originally Posted by
El Boocho
Someone may correct me on this, but not really. The closest metro will get you is West Falls Church or Dunn Loring. From there it is a cab of bus ride. You could take the low budget train (my name for the non-Acela) from Richmond to Union Station DC and then the red line from there to metro center where you switch to the orange and ride out to VA. It will take a long time. Braving the traffic is a better option IMO. If you went to New Carollton instead of Union Station, you could just hop on the orange line and read half a book by the time you get to Fairfax County. The upsides of that is a)you will get a seat and b) no changes of trains.
As an alternative. how about the fairfax county parkway (aka 7100) from 95 to either 66 or the Dulles Toll Road.
There is a direct bus to Tyson's from Crystal City. I think it's the #23. I've never taken it but I see it all the time. You could get to Crystal City by blue or yellow line from King Street (adjacent to the Alexandria Amtrak station) or directly on the VRE.
As for alternative driving routes, the Fairfax County Parkway isn't helpful since the section that goes through to 66 doesn't start until Springfield or so, which means that you have to do the crawl through Woodbridge and thereabouts, which is where the heaviest traffic is. 123 is a viable alternative, though is only one lane in each direction part of the way. It also has the advantage of actually taking you to Tyson's, rather than a several miles west. (And the disadvantage of possible traffic jams in downtown Fairfax and inevitable traffic jams in downtown Vienna.)