Where to stay in Washington DC
If you want to discover everything to see and do in Washington DC, it's best to spend at least one night in the city. From our experience, the one-day visit from New York is a little bit exhausting, as you'll spend many hours on transportation and you won't have time to see everything (only the essentials).
In case you decide to stay in Washington DC, the best areas are Downtown and Logan Circle. In both you'll find many options and, as happen with the accommodation in New York, it's important to select hotels with good ratings (above 7.5) and read the most recent reviews so you don't end up paying a lot of money for a mediocre hotel.
You can find all accommodations in Washington DC here, but our suggestions are:
How to get from New York to Washington DC
Washington DC is about 370 km (230 miles) from New York City. There is really quite a distance between both cities, so if you decide to go and come back in the same day from New York, keep in mind that it's going to be exhausting: you'll have to get up very early (around 5 am) and you'll arrive back very late (around 11 pm).
Do you want to know all the options to get to Washington DC? Let's go!
1. Organized tour from New York to Washington DC, the most comfortable way
- Price: from $105
If you're looking to get to Washington DC from New York in the most comfortable way and don't have to worry about anything, the best option is to book an organized tour. We recommend this one-day tour to Washington DC from New York: you've included transportation by air-conditioned bus and an English speaking guide.
During this tour you'll visit the most emblematic places of the National Mall area, but you'll also be lucky enough to go to Arlington Cemetery. If you go by your own only 1 day, it's practically impossible to have time to go to Arlington as it's quite far from downtown.
-Duration: 15h
-What's included? Transportation, English-speaking guide & 90 min of free time to visit museums
-Main tourist spots: Arlington Cemetery, Georgetown, monuments in the National Mall, White House, The Capitol & FBI
😉Free cancellation up to 24h in advance
2. Bus from NY to Washington DC, the cheapest option
- Price: from $70 (round trip)
The cheapest way to visit Washington from New York is by bus, but it's also the slowest. The round trip will cost you around $70, but the price may vary depending on the bus station you choose, the day and the time.
The standard duration of the trip is between 4.5h and 5h, but this alternative has the problem that this time can be extended if there is a lot of traffic. For this reason we recommend that you choose your tickets as early as possible, ideally around 6 am (although there are earlier times if you don't mind getting up very early).
You can book your bus tickets between New York and Washington here, you'll find several companies to make the trip. You can even make the outward journey with one and the return with another if the schedule suits you better.
In New York there're several bus stops, so you can choose according to the proximity to your accommodation. In Washington DC the main stop is Union Station, which is very close to the main places to see in Washington DC.
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3. Train from NY to Washington DC, the fastest option
- Price: from $80 (round trip)
With a similar price to the bus, another way to get there is by train. We think it's a better alternative: similar price, it's faster and doesn't depend on traffic. The journey time by train is 3.5 hours (1 to 1.5 hours less than by bus).
You can book your train tickets between New York and Washington here. In New York they depart from Moynihan Station at Penn Station, very close to Madison Square Garden. In Washington DC the stop is Union Station, next to the main points of interest of the city (in fact, the train station itself is beautiful!).
Take a look to this travel insurance for the United States comparison in case you need to book one
4. Plane from NY to Washington DC, only if you're going to spend several days in the city
- Price: from $120 (round trip)
The last of the alternatives to get to Washington DC from New York is by plane. There are direct flights between several NY airports (La Guardia, JFK and Newark) and Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington DC.
Although it's apparently a faster way to get there because the flight takes 1.5 hours, you have to add the transfer from your accommodation in New York to the airport (it takes about 1 hour) and the transfer from Washington airport to downtown (they are 10 km or 6 miles away).
We'd only choose the flight option if you're going to spend at least one night in Washington DC, otherwise we believe that it isn't worth doing so many transfers for only 1 day.
We hope this article has been useful to you in choosing how to get to Washington from New York ☺️
