Washington DC

[ReemsterCARP]

In August I'll fly from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires once again, but I'll have a long wait in DC (8+ hours), so I thought about visiting the city for a few hours. On my way back I'll have another 8 hours to enjoy DC.

What I know so far is that I can take the Metrobus 5A to from Dulles to the city for the modest sum of 1USD. And besides visiting the 'obvious' city highlights such as the White House, Smithsonian Institute and the Lincoln Memorial - Id like to go a little bit off the beaten track.

Any DC-insiders that are willing to share some of the city's best kept secrets with me?

 

[SaraSara]

Dulles is about 45 minutes from downtown, so you may not have too much time. The Smithsonian alone can take several weeks to explore.

For a different place, you might take Metro to Old Town Alexandria, in Virginia. It's a small port founded by Scots around 1600 to ship the tobacco grown in the colonies. There are many Colonial buildings, good restaurants, specialty stores, and riverfront parks for strolling by the Potomac.

 

[Vagrant Violet]

Hi! I lived in Washington for 6 years for college. There are a few places I´d recommend...

Try going to Pizza Boli´s on 18th Street in Adam´s Morgan. They are famous for their HUGE slices of pizza, so big that you need 2 paper plates (not expensive at all, but nice and greasy! )

Adam´s Morgan and the Dupont Circle area in general are both great for cute, funky bars and cafés (hookah/shisha bars were extremely en vogue when I was there).

There is a really interesting International Spy Museum near Chinatown (yes, there is a small Chinatown there!) where the red, yellow, and green subway lines meet up (on H Street, if memory serves). Worth checking out!

Georgetown (Wisconsin Ave. and M Street) are beautiful with fancy boutiques. Very expensive, but it´s lovely to just go window shopping and admire the area.

Go to the Eastern Market Flea market! It´s got a lot of cool, random stuff and is near some independent bookstores, etc.

Stay away from South East DC (Anacostia, etc.)... Very, very bad area.

I also think I should let you know, however, that when I lived there (last time was 2007), the Metro buses were $1.25... the subway recently had a significant fare hike. The subway isn´t like the ones in BsAs or NYC, because you don´t pay a flat fare, you pay for a fare card based on the distance you will travel and if it is rush hour or not.

Additionally, ojo if you take a taxi anywhere in the District. The taxi fares are charged by strategically placed zones, not by distance, and not all cab drivers are honest. They can try to be very tricky and go through additional zones in the area (the maps of these zones can be found in the cab).

Hope this helps, enjoy DC!!!

 

[SaraSara]

I believe DC taxis recently switched to meters - one less thing to worry about.

 

[ReemsterCARP]

Wonderful advice! I'm very much looking forward to experiencing the US in real life in stead of seeing it on my television screen