From the Mall to Manasas: Using Public Transportation to Tour the Washington, DC Area

Washington, DC, in the mind of most visitors - and there are many - is a city of monuments, expansive green spaces, and no place to park your car. It is also, one might assume incorrectly, a place that appeals to pensioners, foreign tour groups, school class trips and family vacations.

If the foregoing statement reflects your view, you're missing out on a great vacation destination for the solo traveler. The Washington metropolitan area, including suburban Maryland and Virginia, has a wide range of attractions for the single visitor, and, it's not necessary to have a car to enjoy them.

Mosey on Down to the Metro Station

Washington's mass transit system, known by locals simply as Metro, which includes a network of train, bus, and rental car facilities, only gets so-so ratings from many as a commuter system. One facet of the system, though, that gets overlooked, is how it facilitates tourism. Of the many transportation systems in the U.S., Washington's Metro is one that is most integrated into the major tourist sites of the area.

It is, in fact, possible to visit almost all of the most prominent destinations in Washington relying entirely on Metro to get you there. There are one or two renowned places, such as Wolf Trap Park, that are a bit off normal Metro routes, but ZipCar, rental cars available through Metro for pickup and drop off at Metrorail stations, even puts them within easy reach. So, for the solo visitor to Washington who wants to experience a completely different vacation, the following sample itineraries are offered for consideration. From the Mall to Manassas, enjoy Washington on the Metro.

Mass Transit Touring for the Solo Traveler

The first thing you have to do if you're considering seeing the whole area is decide where to establish your base of operation. The Washington area has a wide choice of hotel accommodations to match almost any budget. After deciding how much you want to spend on a room, the next two things you need to consider are: how close is the hotel to a Metro station, and what kind of neighborhood. For solo travelers, the ideal is a hotel or motel in an area that has a good selection of restaurants and night clubs. The Metro stations that meet the requirement of being close to reasonably priced accommodations, and in areas that appeal to singles are; Dupont Circle, Clarendon, Court House, Rosslyn, Crystal City, and Union Station. For the following itinerary, let's assume our intrepid traveler has decided to stay in Rosslyn, across the Potomac from the District. There are several good hotels in Rosslyn, but the Holiday Inn on Ft. Myer Drive offers a huge, southern style breakfast in the morning and, for that reason, is my favorite. Metrorail once offered "Day Tickets," or rail tokens that allowed all day riding anywhere in the system for one price, beginning at 9:00 am. The new system, with the plastic fare cards that can be replenished on-line in addition to being used as bus transfers, is also an convenient way to get around.

Holiday Inn Arlington, Key Bridge

1900 Fort Myer Drive

Arlington, VA 22209

1-703-807-2000

www.holidayinn.com

Morning Activities

Start the day at around 7:30 with a big breakfast in the top floor dining room with a panoramic view of Washington, DC and the Potomac River. Around 8:30, head on over to the Rosslyn Metro Station to begin your tour of the area.

The National Mall, with monuments to many of our nation's presidents and the new memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a must-see for visitors to the capital. From Rosslyn, you can take the Orange or Blue line train to the Smithsonian station, from which you have easy access not only to most of the major monuments and memorials, but also the Smithsonian Institution complex.

Lunch and Afternoon Things to Do

Touring all this can consume an entire morning, and a good lunchtime venue is to take the Orange or Blue line back to Metro Center Station and get on a Red line train to Gallery Place/Chinatown station, which puts you in the middle of Washington's traditional China Town, and some of the oldest Asian restaurants in the region. After lunch, you're also close enough to walk to the National Portrait Gallery, home of some of the most famous paintings in American history. Getting back on the Red line at Gallery Place and going to Union Station, deposits you east of the Capitol Building and adjacent to the National Postal Museum. Union Station has some neat shops, restaurants and ale houses, and the area west of the station is home to some of the oldest bars and taverns in Washington, and you'll have no problem finding something interesting to do until after rush hour has petered out around 7:30 pm.

Finishing up the Day

When the evening rush hour riders have thinned out, you'll be about ready to start your evening activities. Take the Red line from Union Station to Metro Center, and switch to the Orange line heading across the river into Northern Virginia. Clarendon station, just a few miles west of Rosslyn, actually, has one of the best selections of pubs and restaurants that appeal to singles in all of the Virginia suburbs. In addition to all the young government workers, lobbyists, and techno-geeks working for defense firms in the area, Clarendon's not all that far from the colleges in Universities of the District (George Washington and Georgetown) and Virginia (George Mason and Marymount).

The Metro runs until midnight, which should give you enough time to have a good time before heading back to Rosslyn, and a night cap at one of the hotel bars along or near Wilson Boulevard.

Alternatives

The aforementioned itinerary is just one day, and just one example of the things you can do in the Washington area using public transportation. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority web site gives bus and train schedules, and allows you to plan even the most complicated itinerary, combining both rail and surface transportation. You might want to consider a Green or Yellow line ride to the U Street/Cardoza station, to get a view of the African-American Civil War Memorial, and the revitalized U Street corridor with its coffee shops and avant garde book stores, or the Orange line to Fairfax station and transfer to Metro bus to go to the Air and Space Museum exhibits near Dulles Airport.

Whether you just want to sight see, or enjoy the nightlife, or a combination of the two, doing it with the Washington Metro system is the way to go.