Ok, so maybe it doesn't have the same ring to it as another city, but for those of you who are eager to plan your trip, here are some tips for how to get here.
Plane
DC has three airports (asterisk--two are in Virginia and one is in Maryland). National airport (DCA) is the closest to the city. You can simply walk outside, hop on the metro, and voila! Assuming there are no mechanical delays (hahaha), you'll be within the city in under ten minutes. Dulles (IAD) is a bit farther afield; you can take the bus (city bus 5A or Washington Flyer private bus) to the metro and then hopefully you brought something to read, as it's about an hour into the city. The Baltimore-Washington airport (BWI) is often the cheapest and probably has the cheapest car rental prices if that's your plan. Via public transportation, you can take a bus to the metro or shuttle to the MARC commuter train or Amtrak. Just be sure to take the train toward DC and not Baltimore. Whoopsie... To make things easy, just search for airport code WAS and that will cover all airports.
Train
You can easily take the train into DC from anywhere in the Boston-Washington corridor. From other places...how much do you really like trains? If the answer is "with my heart and soul," then go for it. And bring a book. If you want to visit Philadelphia or NYC during your trip but want a cheaper alternative to the train, check out bus services such as Megabus or Bolt Bus. If you book ahead, they'll be significantly cheaper and travel between train stations. No one has to know!
Automobile
Yes, you can drive here and maybe even drive around here. Plenty of people do. The parking, however, is not so fun. If you plan on staying within the city, you probably won't need a car. If you want to leave city limits, such as visiting Mount Vernon or going for a hike, then you might want to rent one for a day. (Note: our first choice of venue is outside city limits, so some people might want to plan on carpooling. We'll give plenty of notice and provide more details if that is indeed the case. We won't hear about the venue until January.)
Quick note about hotels: we will post some recommendations for lodging soon, but want to wait until the venue is confirmed. If you realllly want to check this item off your list now, pretty much anywhere in DC is fine; just make sure you can easily change your reservation if needed.
Plane
DC has three airports (asterisk--two are in Virginia and one is in Maryland). National airport (DCA) is the closest to the city. You can simply walk outside, hop on the metro, and voila! Assuming there are no mechanical delays (hahaha), you'll be within the city in under ten minutes. Dulles (IAD) is a bit farther afield; you can take the bus (city bus 5A or Washington Flyer private bus) to the metro and then hopefully you brought something to read, as it's about an hour into the city. The Baltimore-Washington airport (BWI) is often the cheapest and probably has the cheapest car rental prices if that's your plan. Via public transportation, you can take a bus to the metro or shuttle to the MARC commuter train or Amtrak. Just be sure to take the train toward DC and not Baltimore. Whoopsie... To make things easy, just search for airport code WAS and that will cover all airports.
Train
You can easily take the train into DC from anywhere in the Boston-Washington corridor. From other places...how much do you really like trains? If the answer is "with my heart and soul," then go for it. And bring a book. If you want to visit Philadelphia or NYC during your trip but want a cheaper alternative to the train, check out bus services such as Megabus or Bolt Bus. If you book ahead, they'll be significantly cheaper and travel between train stations. No one has to know!
Automobile
Yes, you can drive here and maybe even drive around here. Plenty of people do. The parking, however, is not so fun. If you plan on staying within the city, you probably won't need a car. If you want to leave city limits, such as visiting Mount Vernon or going for a hike, then you might want to rent one for a day. (Note: our first choice of venue is outside city limits, so some people might want to plan on carpooling. We'll give plenty of notice and provide more details if that is indeed the case. We won't hear about the venue until January.)
Quick note about hotels: we will post some recommendations for lodging soon, but want to wait until the venue is confirmed. If you realllly want to check this item off your list now, pretty much anywhere in DC is fine; just make sure you can easily change your reservation if needed.
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