I’m attending a conference in D.C. next month and the only flights that leave at a reasonable time and for a reasonable price fly into Baltimore. I’ve never been to that airport before. My understanding is that it’s possible to get to D.C. (and Arlington, where I’ll be staying) by Metro from Baltimore.
Have you ever done this? Do you have any idea how far it is from the airport to the Metro stop (i.e. walking distance or cab)?
Any info appreciated.
Sorta can do Metro from BWI. It’s a bus that runs something like every twenty minutes and drops at the Greenbelt station. Check Metro’s website for details and schedule.
http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/schedulesSystemMaps/MARC_PENN_LINE_HTML.cfm#A
http://www.bwiairport.com/ground_transportation/marc_train/
http://www.bwiairport.com/ground_transportation/washington_dc__wmata_/
Your best bet, IMHO, is to take the BWI shuttle to the Greenbelt station of the Metro Green line, and take the Green line to L’Enfant Plaza metro station in downtown Washington. At L’Enfant Plaza, you would transfer to the Yellow, Blue, or Orange line, depending on where you’re going in Arlington.
http://www.wmata.com./metrorail/systemmap.cfm
You could also take a shuttle from the airport to the MARC train, and take the MARC train to Union Station, near the US Capitol bldg downtown. At Union Station you would transfer to the Metro Red line, and take that to Gallery Place for Yellow line transfer, or Metro center for Blue or Orange line transfer.
There also used to be buses that went directly to National Airport (in Arlington) from BWI. Don’t know if they’re still in service.
Hey, be sure to start a thread about doing a Dopefest so you can meet some of the Mid-Atlantic Dopers. I’m sure we can get something going. Heck, perhaps I can pick you up at the Greenbelt station and take you to some place where we can do a Dopefest, and somebody can take you to your hotel afterwards. I still want to hear more about Eve Gordon.
If you’re on expenses, just take an airport shuttle (usually a van). It’s $30-50, but you’ll be driven right to your hotel.
If by Metro, you mean DC’s subway, the answer is no. You can’t walk from BWI to a DC metro station. From BWI to Greenbelt is on the order of 20 miles. As others have said, the BWI shuttle is the cheapest way.
:dubious: What? I visited my relatives in Takoma Park, which has a metro station near by. I got to it from the metro line connector at Camden yards. You can easily get to there by taking the light rail from BWI, get off at Camden yards, and take the MARC train to any one of the D.C. Metro stations:
Obviously, you can also transfer to other color lines from these stations, especially Washington Union Station.
In other words, you can’t go straight from BWI to a Metro subway stop, you either have to take a bus or the MARC. Just like he said. And of those stops listed, only Union Stations, College Park, Greenbelt and Laurel are also Metro subway stops.
Only the Red Line runs into Union Station. You’d have to take that to either Gallery Place - Chinatown, Metro Center or Fort Totten to transfer to another line from Union Station.
Bewildebeest didn’t say
He said “If by Metro, you mean DC’s subway, the answer is no.”
P.S. Bewildebeest, do you work for Confuse-A-Cat Limited?
Huh? Quote the entire thing. He said “You can’t walk from BWI to a DC metro station” - specifically in reference to Sampiro’s question about walking distance from BWI to a DC Metro station. Bewildebeest was clarifying that you can’t walk from a Metro station if he means a subway stop - but he can walk to a Metro station if he means bus stop, which are located at BWI’s terminal.
You are wrong. He is right. Your snarky attitude is inappropriate for this thread, especially since Bewildebeest gave accurate information.
I flew in there earlier last year, and my daughter uses it to fly to college and back. There are two ways to go:
Metrobus. Stops every 20 minutes at the lower level of the International Pier (there are plenty of signs). Costs $3 (exact change). Takes you to the Greenbelt Metro station. Runs 7 days a week.
MARC Train. Leaves from the BWI Railway terminal (free shuttle to terminal). Runs about every half hour weekdays only (if it’s a weekend, use the Metrobus). Takes you to Union Station in downtown DC.
There’s also the Amtrak train (fewer than the MARC, and about $17 in fare).
Arlington is on either the Orange or Blue Line. From Greenbelt, stay on the Green Line until you reach L’Enfant Plaza, and pick up Orange (Vienna-Fairfax) or Blue (Fanconia-Springfield). (You can get off earlier, but that requires two transfers instead of one.) From Union Station, take the Red Line (Shady Grove) to Metro Center. It doesn’t matter whether you take Orange or Blue until you get past Rosslyn.
Give me a call. I’ll pick you up from the airport and drive you to your hotel. Yes, really. You don’t want to deal with MARC unless you have to.
Email’s in my profile.
I’m curious as to why you say this. I’ve used MARC several times to get to both BWI and Baltimore-Penn and never had a problem at all - it’s always been on time and I’ve never had to stand or anything.
Same here. Oh, and it seems I read the claim that you can’t walk directly from BWI to Metro as “You can’t easily get from BWI to METRO, period.”. :smack: Well, you now have a way to get there. Personally, I just think Ginger wants to spend more time with you. 
Let’s see; MARC train filled with virtual strangers in an unfamiliar city, or a plane to hotel door car ride with a Doper who is familiar with the area. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
I’m not saying that the MARC is a better way to travel than with Ginger or anything, but I don’t understand Ginger’s seeming hostility to MARC. It’s easy to use, on time and clean.
Yeah, by all means take up Ginger’s offer. She is an amiable Canadian (is there any other type?).
But i take the MARC train down to DC on a semi-regular basis, and i’ve never really had any trouble with it at all. Takes you right into Union Station, where you can jump straight on a Metro train for the trip to Arlington.
A girlfriend of mine had a rather unpleasant MARC experience.
Plus, doesn’t it fall to us to welcome him properly to our area? I know I would much rather pass the trip in pleasant company, than on public transportation in an unfamiliar place.
If you’re taking the MARC train from Union Station to BWI, keep in mind that the train to BWI is usually an express and it leaves from a track that usually has a local leaving from it also.
The express is at the far end of the platform while you see the local first. I almost missed the train because I sat down on the wrong train.
That wasn’t fun running down the platform to catch the proper train with all my bags as well as having to dump my newly purchased large cup of coffee I intended to drink on the train ride.
Thanks for info. I’m arriving on a Wednesday evening. I majorly appreciate Ginger’s offer, but since you never know when a plane is actually going to get there and I have to get to Arlington to my hotel I won’t inconvenience you (but I’m very grateful).
So my best bet, it sounds like, from Baltimore to Arlington would be to catch the Metro Bus, which, if I’m reading correctly, will take me to a metro station inside D.C. (Metro Center it looks like) to catch the orange line to Arlington.
By “airport shuttle” are you referring to a regular cab or to an actual cab or a business that makes regular metro D.C. routes or…? (I’m there on business and I’m on expense account), a cab or shuttle from Baltimore to Arlington would be about $40- does that sound right?)
How far outside of Baltimore is this airport, out of curiosity? For that matter, can I get to the National Aquarium in Baltimore by train from Arlington, and how “must see” is it? (Most of what I know about Baltimore has to do with Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Tyler novels and the musical Hairspray.)