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Washington, D.C. by plane


Washington, D.C. by plane

Washington, D.C. (IATA: WAS for all airports) is served by three major airports. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA: DCA), is the closest and most convenient airport to D.C., located three miles to the south in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River. To get to D.C. from the airport:
  • Metro's Blue and Yellow Lines stop at the airport. The trip to downtown takes approximately fifteen minutes and costs approximately $2.
  • Taxi service costs about $15 to downtown.
  • Washington Dulles International Airport (IATA: IAD), is located 26 miles west of D.C. in Dulles, Virginia. It is an architectural masterpiece, but unfortunately some functionality was scrapped in pursuit of aesthetics—you will have to take a train between the main building and the concourses. If you have extra time, consider taking the VRTA Air and Space Museum Shuttle to see the Smithsonian Museum's collection of spacecraft and aircraft fifteen minutes away in Chantilly. The shuttle departs every 45-60 minutes 10AM-5:30PM daily, costing 50¢. (A taxi to the museum runs about $15). To get to D.C. from the airport:
  • Metrobus 5A , operates between the airport and L'Enfant Plaza (Green, Yellow, Blue, and Orange Metro Lines), located a few blocks south of the National Mall. The bus makes stops in Herndon, Tysons Corner, and Rosslyn (Blue and Orange Metro Lines). It generally departs from the airport every 40 minutes on weekdays and hourly (though not on the hour) on weekends, taking 40-50 minutes to the Rosslyn Metro Station and 50-60 minutes to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station. The fare is $6 one-way (no change given). The bus stops near Curb 2E outside of the terminal.
  • Washington Flyer Coach , operates coach service every half hour (on�:15 and�:45) to and from the West Falls Church Metro Station (Orange Line). It takes 25 minutes and costs $10 one-way, $18 round trip. From there, the Metro to downtown takes another 20–25 minutes.
  • Washington Flyer Taxi is the exclusive provider of taxis from the airport. A taxi trip downtown costs around $60-80 and takes about 40-60 minutes.
  • SuperShuttle operates a popular door-to-door shared ride service to anywhere in the D.C. area. The fare to downtown D.C. is $29 for the first passenger in your party, $10 for each additional passenger. At location 1E-1D, tickets at 1G entrance. Credit cards accepted. Shuttles leave when full or 20 minutes after the first passenger bought a ticket.
  • Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (IATA: BWI), is 30 miles northeast of D.C. and 10 miles south of downtown Baltimore, near Glen Burnie, Maryland. It is clearly the farthest-flung, but also offers the nicest in-airport experience. To get to D.C. from the airport:
  • Metrobus B30 operates between the airport and the Greenbelt Metro Station (Green Line). The fare is $6 one-way (no change given) and takes about 40 minutes. From there, the Metro to downtown takes another 25 minutes. The bus stops on the lower level outside terminals A (Southwest Airlines) and E (the international terminal).
  • MARC commuter-rail train and Amtrak operate between BWI Rail Station and Union Station, also stopping at the New Carrolton Metro Station (Orange Line). A free "Amtrak/MARC" shuttle bus runs from the airport terminal to the BWI Rail Station. MARC service to BWI is available on the "Penn" line and costs $6 one-way, but only operates on weekdays. Amtrak service starts at $13, but runs closer to $22 on weekends (when it does not have to compete with MARC).
  • SuperShuttle operates a popular door-to-door shared ride service to anywhere in the D.C. area. The fare to downtown is $37 for the first passenger in your party, $12 for each additional passenger. Shuttles leave when full.
  • Taxi service to downtown takes 60-90 minutes and costs roughly $100.

  • The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Washington, D.C.


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    Washington, D.C. Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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