Visiting Washington DC - Cherry Hill Camp ground

[IH_Fan]

Hi Folks - we are heading down to Washington in a couple weeks. We've never been there before and we are staying at Cherry Hill. In order to get downtown to see the sites (White House, etc), the transit bus that goes to the camp ground appears to take over an hour to get there. Is there a subway station nearby that is faster/better?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Godsey97]

We have to been to DC several times and stayed at Cherry Hill three times. They give you a quick tutorial on they why's and wherefore's about how to get into and out of DC. Pretty painless once you do it once or twice (USING their directions/suggestions). We are headed back this October to run the 10 miler and will be staying at Cherry Hill. They are a first class operation.

[camperforlife]

tsetsaf wrote:
The bus ride is 45 minutes and not very safe. We stayed south of the city and drove ourselves... 45 minutes in traffic (I guess not very safe either) Choices

While the bus from Cherry Hill was long and not on time, unsafe is the last thing I would call it. Never did we feel the least bit uncomfortable. Actually my wife commented several times about how safe the bus and the Metro always felt.

[NoVa_RT]

Nothing wrong with the non-Cherry Hill options, all nice parks AFAIK, but the Cherry Hill has the best public transportation. From many of the others, you have to drive to METRO and get there early enough to fight the commuters for a parking space. The Virginia parks are all pretty good, and I'd recommend them for anyone visiting who plans on spending most of their time on the Virginia side of the Potomac, but if you're doing the typical Washington, DC monuments, museums & Mall touristy stuff, save yourself a lot of hassle and stay at Cherry Hill.

[Lantley]

tsetsaf wrote:
The bus ride is 45 minutes and not very safe. We stayed south of the city and drove ourselves... 45 minutes in traffic (I guess not very safe either) Choices

I live in the area none of those choices compare to Cherry Hill. Some are OK if you are familiar with the area. But as a tourist Cherry Hill is your best bet.
If you live in fear and find the bus unsafe you could drive to the metro from Cherry Hill. Takes about 20 minutes.

[tsetsaf]

The bus ride is 45 minutes and not very safe. We stayed south of the city and drove ourselves... 45 minutes in traffic (I guess not very safe either) Choices

[IH_Fan]

Thanks everyone - you have been extremely helpful !!!

[camperforlife]

We stayed there and used the bus to the College Park metro station. We will go back but when we do I will drive to the College Park station and take the Metro from there. We found that the bus from Cherry Hill to College Park was never on time and made many stops.

[4LowNGo]

We were also their the first weekend in April. We drove to the nearest metro station and took the metro where we wanted to go. Like someone said it's like 15 minutes away with free weekend parking. The wifey got metro cards ahead of time and they were mailed to the house, but we did have to add money to them along the way. The campground is pretty nice but the sites are small.

[1492]

RVcrazy wrote:
We also enjoyed our tours of Mt Vernon & Monticello connecting right from the park.

I can second Mt Vernon. One of my favorites. I have an annual pass. Check their website for scheduled events. You may even meet George himself?

[Cougarnewbie]

We stayed at Cherry Hill last week. They have typed instructions to get to Greenbelt or College Park stations. Greenbelt is one mile up the expressway with it's own exit. Attendants are standing around to help you buy the card. Could not be easier. Clean, safe, efficient way to go down town. But, there are a couple of parks by the Jefferson Memorial that have public parking. Any time I have tried I have been able to park there. Enjoyed D.C. and Cherry Hill.

[Lantley]

THere are other CG options in the DC area but none of them cater to the tourist site seeing crowd like Cherry Hill.
Cherry Hill is king of the hill when it comes to touring DC

[NoVa_RT]

And the metro will be suffering intermittent shutdowns for repairs. A faster way downtown could be taxi or limo.

That's incorrect. There was some talk of shutdowns for major repairs & maintenance, but METRO announced that it wouldn't happen. They'll do what is needed mostly on nights & weekends. The Green Line, which serves Cherry Hill, wasn't going to shut down in any case.

Cherry Hill does a tourist briefing and has lots of info. Follow their advice, there are numerous threads here noting how helpful it was. Definitely take METRO over driving.

[RVcrazy]

If you buy a Big bus hop-on tour, you catch the bus right from the park for $2 to where you catch the tour bus. We also e joyed our tours of Mt Vernon & Monticello connecting right from the park. We also used the subway.

[agesilaus]

I posted the Washington Post stories about the potential Metro shutdown. It concerned lines other than the ones that run to College Park. We never had a problem riding the trains but that was a few years ago.