Alexandria Transportation

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The Kings Street Trolley seems like an institution. It's been around for ever it seems, but it hasn't. It's debut was in 2008. It's a great way to get around Old Town and it takes you to the King Street Metro, as well as the Potomac waterfront. There are about 20 stops, and you can get it about every 20 minutes from 11:30AM-10:00PM, 7 days a week.

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The DC Metro is a good way to get to and from Old Town Alexandria. There are three stops around Old Town: King Street Station, Braddock Road Station, and Eisenhower Station. King Street Station is at the west end of King Street near the Washington Masonic Monument, about a mile from the waterfront. Braddock Road Station is close to the northern edge of Old Town. Eisenhower Station is at the south edge of Old Town around the Carlyle area.

The Metro is a great way to get around the region once you get over the strange fare system. There are five lines that cover the entire downtown area and stretch into the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. There are several stops in the city center near the famous monuments, landmarks, museums, and government buildings making the metro a great way for tourists to see the city.

The biggest problem with DC's metro is the crazy fare system. Not only do they charge different fees throughout the day ("peak" or "off-peak"), but you never know the fares between any two stations until you look on the fare chart. Prices range from $1.35 to $3.90 (and everything in between) depending on which stations you travel from and to... and the time of day.

Luckily you can buy a pre-paid, stored value fare cards for almost any amount, which takes the guesswork out of figuring out the cost.

The subway closes at midnight on weeknights and 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

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While I usually fly into gigantic Dulles Airport in Washington DC, I have occasionally been lucky enough to book a flight through cozy little Reagan National Airport nestled snugly on the banks of the Potomac alongside Crystal City in Alexandria, VA.

National Airport opened in 1941 and now handles about 18 million passengers per year. Dulles opened in 1962, and it handles just a few million more passengers at around 24 million per year.

Reagan's benefits over Dulles are primarily proximity to the city and available public transportation options. From Old Town Alexandria you can be at Reagan in 5 or 10 minutes compared to 30-45 minutes from Dulles (or more with traffic). From Dulles your only transportation choices are a few buses and taxis; Regan is connected to the city by the Metro, numerous buses, taxis, and even a jogging/biking trail.

Metro is the best way to get around the area. The Metro (subway, underground, light-rail etc) is very efficient, clean and generally safe. It goes to most of the big tourist sites and gets you close enough to everything else that you can either walk, catch a bus or taxi.

There are a few stops in Alexandria, but only King Street is close to Old Town. To get around Old Town, either walk or take a bus.

The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority has a great website with Metro and bus route maps, fares, anouncements and even a trip guide that will tell you exactly how to get from one address to another. http://www.wmata.com/

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We were visiting my sister in D.C. so we drove to Alexandria to spent the night and see the sights of the town. It was a relatively easy drive about 15 minutes from her house to the hotel.

Parking at the hotel was by valet only so we shelled out twenty something dollars to park.

Aptly named the King Street Trolley, this free ride runs up and down King Street taking business people and tourists alike. There is traffic on King Street but it's fun to hop on and it's also a much needed break when your feet get too tired!

From the website:
The City of Alexandria's free King Street Trolley transports residents, visitors, and those who work in Old Town, between the King Street Metrorail Station and the Potomac River waterfront. The free trolley operates along the one-and-a-half mile route seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. providing access to accommodations, dining, entertainment and shopping. The free trolley departs from the Potomac River Waterfront and from the King Street Metro every :10, :30, and :50 minutes after each hour. Every 20 minutes riders can board at any of the 20 stops along King Street.

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This series of trails runs in Arlington and Alexandria along both sides of Four Mile Run. The parallel trails start in Crystal City (Arlington) and Potomac Yard (Alexandria) and run about two miles to the W&OD trailhead in Shirlington (Arlington). There are numerous planes where trail users can cross Four Mile Run because of the various vehicle bridges over the wide stream bed.

In Alexandria the park is much more scenic with a variety of sports fields, nature preserves, and other tree-lined areas. On the Arlington side of the stream you will find more apartment complexes and even one of the city's sewage treatment plants.

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The original Woodrow Wilson Bridge was completed in 1961. This bridge, just over a mile long, carried six lanes and had a drawbridge in the middle. Due to the relatively low height of the bridge, the drawbridge was required to open about 260 times a year. On most bridges, no big deal; but on the DC Beltway, which handles some 250,000 cars a day, this caused major traffic snarls. In 1999 Maryland, Washington, and Virginia, after years of planning, began construction on a new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, 12 lanes wide and taller than the previous structure. The new bridge has twice the capacity as the original and won't require nearly as many drawbridge openings. The new bridge not only allows more traffic, but it enables future expansion of the train or Metro system, and it has 12-foot wide pedestrian and bike routes along the edge with access to National Harbor.