Affordable parking in Washington, D.C.

October 24, 2009 9:47 AM

Parking my car at the Renaissance Hotel on Mt. Vernon Square during a conference in Washington DC in November will cost $25 a day. Is there something else I should do with my car for the 4 days I will be in town?
posted by billtron to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

Some Metro stations offer long term parking (see the list here). I think you pay the same amount whether you park for one day or four, but that may have changed recently. Note that you'll have to pay with a SmartTrip card. See here for other options.
posted by arco at 10:38 AM on October 24

You could park in long term parking at National Airport, and take the metro downtown. It looks like it's $12/day.
posted by OmieWise at 11:04 AM on October 24

The general problem is that DC streets, even streets that are outside of "downtown" are zoned for two hour parking if you don't live in that particular zone. Similarly, suburbs close to metro stations tend to pay close attention to people parking on the street close to the station.
posted by OmieWise at 11:07 AM on October 24

Parking at one of the metro stations sounds like a good idea, but each station has about 15 spots that fill up on a first-come-first-served basis. How does parking work at Union Station?
posted by billtron at 11:24 AM on October 24

According to this, Parking at Union Station is $19/day.
posted by stew560 at 12:02 PM on October 24

Parking at Union Station defeats the purpose, which is to keep your car out of the city altogether. Park at Grosvenor if coming from the north, using long-term parking. That's what it's designed for.
posted by megatherium at 12:20 PM on October 24

I'd park farther out than Union Station. Greenbelt or New Carrollton, Fort Totten, (Grovesnor isn't bad, but is far) or one of the other commuter lots. Parking there is $4.25/day technically. But they only charge you once, so it ends up being $4.25 total.
posted by bluefly at 12:40 PM on October 24

Park up in a residential street in Rockville. Free! Take the (red line?) metro back to your hotel. I do this all the time in Chicago. Just make sure the street you're parking on doesn't require residential stickers.
posted by John of Michigan at 3:00 PM on October 24

Seconding Greenbelt, which has lots of parking. You'll need a magnetic SmarTrip card to pay when you exit, so that's an extra $5, but it makes the Metro a little more convenient too. Details here.
posted by brianogilvie at 9:10 AM on October 25