Which airport has faster & easier ground transport to DC (NW) - Baltimore or Dulles?

Hi,

I have to decide which airport to fly into - Baltimore or Dulles. I am going to a private residence in NW DC - Cleveland Park area (on the red line).

What would you suggest? I'm flying in at around 4:30 pm, with a lot of bags, so a shuttle might be nice, but I'd like to take a route with less traffic. Could I take the MARC directly to the DC Metro red line?

Thanks for your help!
Thanks everyone, that was really helpful. :)

All the traffic at DC is flowing out of town at 4:30 pm so driving from Dulles into Washington should be alright. Afternoon rush hour going out of Washington into Virginia can be awful with traffic jams over an hour long. I think Dulles is closer than Baltimore, too.

Neither airport has Metro access (yet) but I'm pretty sure that you can take MARC from BWI to Union Station on the Red Line.
From Union Station, you can go west on the Red Line in the direction of Shady Grove. It's about 7? stations away. But to answer your question, I'd go to BWI because it has MARC access.

Yes, the MARC Train ends at DC's Union Station. Take the MARC/AMTRAK shuttle bus which runs every 5-10 minutes during peak periods. The ticket will cost you $6 + $3 if you buy it on the train rather than at the station.

You're better off flying into BWI because the trip from Dulles is a little more complicated due to lack of train service. There is a 5A bus which goes from Dulles to Rosslyn Station - take the Orange Line to Metrocenter and transfer to the Red Line Train going towards Shady Grove. The bus costs $3 and the Metro costs you $3.90.

Taking cabs from both airports is going to set you back close to $100. Supershuttle may do it for $30 from BWI and $50 from Dulles. Plus, there is a lot of traffic going inbound on I-66 coming from Dulles - stick with BWI.

{EDIT} If you can fly into National, your entire trip can be done via subway - just take the Yellow Line to Gallery Pl. / Chinatown and Transfer to the Red Line Train going to Shady Grove. Cost will be $3.90 before 7 PM and only $2.35 after 7 PM.

You can get a circulator from BWI to the MARC/Amtrak train station; then take a MARC train into Union Station (WMATA Metro Red Line). NOTE: MARC trains only run Mondays-Fridays, so plan your return accordingly or use Amtrak (more expensive for the roundtrip).

Metro has shuttles between Dulles and the Orange Line so you'll have to transfer to Red Line. Metro also offers bus service to BWI from the Greenbelt, MD Green Line Station, but again you'll have to transfer to the Red Line for Cleveland Park.

As you've mentioned "lots of bags" you may wish to even consider the convenience of using Super Shuttle from your choice of airport directly to the DC address. <www.supershuttle.com or 1-800-BLUE VAN>

If you can do find an airline that flies there, I would recommend Reagan National.

DCA

Personally, I hate flying in and out of Dulles.

They have these stupid "rolling lounges" to take you to the other terminals. But what I really don't like about it is that the times I've flown out, there has been nothing to eat near the gates. It seems dingy and run-down and disorganized.

I LOVE BWI - the terminals are nice, there is plenty to eat near the gates, and they seem to have an organized way of going about things. It seems very efficient and user-friendly.

I also really like Reagan for the reason above, but you need a strong stomach to land there. The plane follows the Potomac that lands in a "controlled crash." I have also found that for the most part, fares tend to be more expensive to Reagan.

BWI had a good Taxi system & access to MARC and Reagan has the metro. I'm not sure (don't care) about Dulles.

Good Luck

Dulles is closer to DC

There's a shuttle bus from Dulles to the Rosslyn Metro Station where you can easily get to any Metro Stop. You can also take a shuttle from Dulles to Reagan National and easily access the Metro from there too. The traffic is significantly less horrific traveling from Dulles than it is from Baltimore and the shuttles get to go on the Airport access road of the Dulles Toll Road so you'll avoid a lot of traffic.