Where to park near White House

Factual Questions
1

My family and I are going to Washington DC for a two-day trip, and we have reservations for a White House tour at 9 AM. For a variety of reasons, it seems like the smartest thing to do for transportation would be to drive into the city and park as close as possible to the White House. So my questions, for folks who know Washington:

  1. How close is the closest possible place to the White House to park?
  2. We’re willing to pay for a parking lot, do you know if parking lots there generally take full-size vans?
  3. If we can’t get a parking lot for the day, how bad is metered street parking? How often would we need to feed the meters, are there any “commuter spaces” that moght accommodate all-day, etc.?
2

Park at a Metro station on the outskirts and take the subway in. Seriously.

3

I’d like to, but if my day is starting at the White House, and I’ve got little kids with me, I need to have:

  1. a stroller
  2. a diaper bag
  3. a bag of snacks

and from what I understand, they’re not allowed on White House tours, and there’s nowhere I can store them. So I’m pretty much stuck with parking as nearby as possible and retrieving these items after the WH tour. I’m not going to take the Metro back to the suburbs and then return to the tourist areas of Washington just to get my stuff!

4

I would have given the same advice as ElvisL1ves, but you’re right about strollers being forbidden at the White House.

If you go to the PMI site here and select “White House” from the drop-down list, you’ll find a page containing six garages within three blocks of the White House, with a map showing their locations (unfortunately, I can’t link directly to the “results” page). 1729 G St, NW and 1425 New York Avenue, NW are each within a block of the WH (note the hours of operation, however…). Not particularly cheap, but then I expect that you’re prepared for that.

[Note: I’ve never used any of these garages, and have no connection with PMI. They’re a pretty reputable local company, however, AFAIK.]

5

Street parking isn’t an option close to the White House all day. Most street parking spots are no parking during the morning and afternoon rush hours, and only two hours during the day otherwise. And you can get a ticket for parking more than two hours even if you continue to feed the meter.

I believe the building at 607 14th St. NW has all-day parking for around $20. That would be a very short walk to the White House.

6

I usually take the train if i go to DC, but on the few occasions that i’ve driven, i’ve usually been able to find a parking spot right near the Mall, often right on Constitution or Independence Avenues. I think the time limit there was three hours.

Of course, if you’ve got small kids to move around, you might not consider that to be very close to the White House.

7

There is a hotel directly across the street from the White House where we parked when we went on our tour. We had a similar situation, a baby and couldn’t take the stroller or purses or anything. I believe it cost about $25 for the day - which is highway robbery for this part of the world.

8

there are meters on some of the cross streets along the mall, but you might have to drive around to find one, and you’ll have to feed them every 2 hours.