Need advice on trip to MAPG and visiting DC

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MesquiteMan

MesquiteMan

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I will be heading to the MAPG in May and will be bringing my wife and daughter. We plan to stay a week after the MAPG and visit Washington, DC. I could use some help with travel plans from anyone who has any recommendations. The thought is to fly into Richmond before the MAPG on Thursday, then Sunday morning, take the train to DC. Spend the week there, then come back to DC to fly back to Texas.

Questions....

-Any advantage of switching this around and fly into DC, then take the train to Richmond for the MAPG, then back to DC and fly out of DC after our visit?

-Is the train our best option of traveling between DC and Richmond? Other more economical options?

-Any recommendations for places to stay in DC that won't break the bank, yet be close to all the main stuff? Not really interested in staying somewhere where we have to spend a bunch of time traveling to the central part of the city where all the action is.

Any other suggestions from folks with experience in the area would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Flights into and out of DC may be more convenient and cheaper. The metro is a great way to get around DC and getting a hotel near a metro station might be a good idea. I am not sure but there may be a metro station near national airport. A train is a good option for getting to Richmond, however, you would have to either rent a car, uber, or take a cab once you get to Richmond. You might find getting a rental car to get to and from Richmond as being more convenient and flexible.
 
MAPG

Looking forward to seeing you at MAPG.

You will probably get some good recommendations, but I will share what my experience has been when traveling to DC. Train travel from Richmond is convenient, and our choice, as we don't have to worry about a car and DC traffic.

It will be more convenient to fly into Richmond, and travel by train to DC.
We stayed at a hotel in Alexandria, and took the metro,(across street from hotel), and a short ride into DC. Transportation to the historic district in Alexandria was no cost and the restaurants were very good. I will get information for you on the hotel if you want.

Let me know.

Bill Sampson
 
Curtis,
Yes, probably better to come to DC first and get a rental car.
Yes, there is a metro station at Reagan National Airport.
How old is your daughter? That may dictate what places you visit.

Places: The Spy Museum, The Newseum, The Smithsonian Museums,
The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, Arlington Cemetary ( JFK, 911, Challenger Space Shuttle), Vietnam And WWII Memorials,
The National Zoo, The Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport,( also Smithsonian Air & Space Museum In DC.
Theatres: Warner, National, Ford., The Kennedy Center

That is a start...hope this helps.
Looking forward to seeing you again at MAPG!
 
If you will have a week in DC .... Spend some time at the Smithsonian. I have been to the Air & Space and the American History mesuems. There are others as well ... whatever suits your interest. So much to see and do in D.C. the week will be over before you know it.
 
Looking at flights, it appears the cost between going to Richmond and Baltimore are about the same with one of the DC airports being about $40-50 each more. I would guess that based on our plans and wanting to save money, it is going to be better going to Richmond rather than Baltimore. Thoughts? Ideal would be to fly into Richmond and fly out of one of the DC area airports so we don't have to backtrack but I imagine the air is going to be much higher to do that.

I have done a similar trip to this back in the 90's. The company I was working for right out of college was headquartered in Richmond and I had to go there for training. I flew out a few days early to Richmond and then took the train to DC. Had a great time. Daughter and wife have never been. Daughter is 10 years old and really interested in government and politics. We have already scheduled capitol tours and whitehouse tours through our representative. Plan to visit the various Smithsonian's as well as the monuments, etc.

Looking at flights, it looks like if we flew into Richmond, we will get there on Thursday before the MAPG around noon. That will give us a little time to check out some of the Richmond places of interest if we choose.

Bill, would appreciate the hotel info you mentioned.
 
I just checked with Southwest and can actually buy a one way ticket from San Antonio to Richmond, then a one way from Baltimore back to San Antonio cheaper than I can buy a round trip on any of the other airlines, including Southwest! How much trouble is it to get from where we would likely be in DC to Baltimore? I could also fly out of Dulles or Reagan for only $75 each or so more than Baltimore. Would it be worth it to spend the extra $75 or is it easy to get to Baltimore?
 
MesquiteMan said:
I just checked with Southwest and can actually buy a one way ticket from San Antonio to Richmond, then a one way from Baltimore back to San Antonio cheaper than I can buy a round trip on any of the other airlines, including Southwest! How much trouble is it to get from where we would likely be in DC to Baltimore? I could also fly out of Dulles or Reagan for only $75 each or so more than Baltimore. Would it be worth it to spend the extra $75 or is it easy to get to Baltimore?
Click to expand...

Depending on the time of day/traffic, Baltimore is not a bad run at all. Either 95 north or the Baltimore Washington Parkway will get you there.

We live near Dulles and fly out of Baltimore on Southwest.
 
The Smithsonian is amazing. The Mall is beautiful. Arlington Cemetery is beautiful and surreal. DC is a great place to visit and you can get around easily using the Metro.

Be sure to check out Ben's Chili Bowl for the best chili dogs ever!
 
To my knowledge, the Metro does not go to BWI (Baltimore). Not a bad trip from DC sometime around mid-day. Hotels.com for any good deals on rooms. Looking forward to seeing you at MAPG.
 
You can visit the new Police Officer's Museum. You can walk through a day in the life of an officer. National Law Enforcement Memorial Week is May 15-21, 2016...I will be there, honoring all my brother and sister LEOs that have lost their lives in the line of duty.
 
jimmyz said:
To my knowledge, the Metro does not go to BWI (Baltimore). Not a bad trip from DC sometime around mid-day. Hotels.com for any good deals on rooms. Looking forward to seeing you at MAPG.
Click to expand...

Correct, the Metro does not go to Balt. But the train does.
Union Station in DC to BWI Airport about $15.
 
MARC, Maryland's version of light rail runs frequently from Union Station in DC to BWI so it should not be a problem, Curtis. I second staying somewhere like Alexandria and taking a short Metro trip to downtown DC or wherever. Safer, less expensive, plenty of fun and good food to be had close, etc.
 
jimmyz said:
To my knowledge, the Metro does not go to BWI (Baltimore). Not a bad trip from DC sometime around mid-day. Hotels.com for any good deals on rooms. Looking forward to seeing you at MAPG.
Click to expand...

You can take either Amtrak or local Md. Commuter (MARC) between DC Union Station and BWI.
 
Maybe this will help someone. DC has the Metro subway system. You can either catch it at National airport, or at Union Station if you ride the Amtrak from Richmond or points North.
It's the easiest way to get around DC.
Metro - Home page This is Metro's homepage.

You can go on there & find your way around. Everything you need is there.
You will have to buy a Smart Trip card while you're here. Basically, they did away with paper fare cards awhile back.

Metro does not run to Baltimore, nor to BWI airport. You'll have to take a shuttle van from there to DC if you fly in there. I do not know what that shuttle costs. But since this is DC, be prepared to pay thru the nose for it.
The MARC train is another option for going between BWI or B'more & DC.

DO NOT PLAN ON STAYING AT A HOTEL IN DC. It is nose bleed expensive, thieves are everywhere, and you're way more likely to be robbed if you're in a bad part of town. Which could be most anywhere on any given day.

Stay out of NE, & SE DC, period. (Northeast & Southeast). Those are the ghettos, slums, whatever you want to call them.
Not a day goes by without some kind of violent crime taking place in those areas of the city. It happens in broad daylight too.

If my post scares you, good. It was meant to. I was born in DC, lived here all my life. Nothing shocks me anymore. I have become numb to all the shootings, robberies, etc. that happen here.
I refuse to go into DC for any reason whatsoever.


Hope this helps.
 
Got our airline tickets booked tonight! Believe it or not, it was cheaper to buy a one way from San Antonio to Richmond, then a one way from Reagan to San Antonio for the return than it was to buy a round trip to/from Richmond or to/from any of the DC airports! It also was only $20 each cheaper to fly out of Baltimore. I figured that the train ticket would eat most of that up and then I save the hassle of having to get there.

We will be flying in to Richmond on Friday and get in around noon. I was going to come Thursday so I did not have to leave so early (I am not a morning person!) but Southwest, who we are flying with, only has one flight out each day going that way. Figured might as well save the hotel cost of Thursday night and also not have to be out of the shop the additional day.

I am also going to book a place to stay in DC using AirBNB for the first time. I signed up and have found a number of nice apartments to rent that are in the $120 night range. Looking at ones in Alexander, Arlington, and Foggy Bottom. Any of those areas I should stay away from?

Thanks for all the help so far!
 
Alexandria & Arlington are better bets than Foggy Bottom. FB is a college village in central DC. Beware that Air BNB has a lot of scammers on it in this area.
Do your homework before buying anything.
 
MAPG

Curtis,
Sounds like you won't need this info, but if you do; here it is.

Hotel in Alexandria is Embassy Suites @ 1900 Diagonal Rd, 22314.
Phone # is 703 684 5900- I don't have rates.
It is located at the Metro King St Station, and is directly across the street from the hotel. Easy access to all DC locations.

Question? Do you need transportation from the Richmond airport, or, are you renting a car there? Let me know. I will arrange to pick you up if you need transportation to the hotel in Richmond.

Bill
 
I've had good experiences with Airbnb. The first one was last year's MPG and it turned out to be a mobile home. The others were shared aprtments - all of the hosts have been nice people. Be sure to read the reviews and to contact the hosts if you have questions before you book.
 
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