<p>Can anybody tell me the best way to get from Washington (Dulles) airport to Charlottesville if I'm not planning to rent a car (need to stay in Charlottesville for awhile)?</p>
<p>I was going to take the bus form Dulles to the city of Charlottesville, but someone told me that bus doesn't run that route anymore.</p>
<p>So, do you have to take the metro into downtown Washington DC (Union Station) and then catch the train down or is there an easier way to get there?</p>
<p>I live in the area, so i'll try to give you the best options:</p>
<p>1) Greyhound: there's a stop in DC, and you can take a Washington Airpot Flyer Taxi to Union Station for a small taxi fair and a Greyhound ticket, which my guess is about $40-50. So, you're looking at $60-80 for that option
2) Amtrak: again, you'd have to take a taxi, but there's an Amtrak station in Alexandria which is closer than going all the way to Union Station. Don't know how much Amtrak is exactly, but my guess is ~$60.
3) Fly from Dulles into C'ville. If you've already gotten a plane ticket, this won't work
4) Take a taxi the entire way. It'll be expensive, but it's guarenteed =P</p>
<p>Those are the only real options I can think of. My suggestion is taxi into Amtrak and take that. It's going to be a bit more expensive than Greyhound, but I doubt Greyhound goes straight from DC to C'ville, and you could end up spending 4 hours on a bus for a 2 hour trip (heck, i've made it to C'ville from Dulles in 1hr 45min). Plus, trains are fun and Alexandria is fun to be in if you have time in between your flight and the train.
I'd start figuring it out now though, as not only will you have the best prices but the most options. Keep checking both options incase more schedules come up, but it's highly doubtful that some will.
Also, if you do Amtrak, and want to continue using it, look into buying a Student Discount pass thingie. My friend at Duke has one and takes the train from Durham to Alexandria all the time and said she paid for it in 3 trips. Might be something to consider if you're going to be at UVa and using Amtrak to get to and from Dulles easily.
Also, Dulles is kind of a mess right now since they're expanding it, so don't rely on a quick exit, but expect 45min after your plane lands. If you checked baggage, add 15-30min. I know it seems absurd, but I fly through there a lot and Dulles has so much traffic for its size with a location basically out in the country. Allow 30-45min travel time to Alexandria as well, depending on what time you get in. If its during rush hour (6am-10am, 4pm-8pm) allow 45-60min.</p>
<p>Welcome to NoVa, life in the fast lane, but that lane happens to be ridiculously too small for the volume that exists in it.</p>
<p>There are greyhound stations in Springfield (at the Springfield/Franconia Metro) and Arlington (in Shirlington) too. You can take a bus from Dulles to the West Falls Church metro, then take the metro to Springfield (or a cab to Arlington). If you get on a bus in Springfield you actually are taken to the Arlington stop where you have to change buses. The Bus is much cheaper than taking the train from the district, and actually a bit faster. Unfortunately you'd have to get into Dulles very early in the morning to do this option because the bus leaves Arlington sometime around 1.</p>
<p>I think you best bet would be to take a cab to the Manassas amtrak station and then take the train. The train leaves Manassas around 7 in the evening, and a fare from Manassas is much cheaper than a fare from the District. I think it would be about a 25 dollar cab ride. Its very easy to get a cab from the airport.</p>
<p>Thanks shoebox10 and holla9. My son's flying in to take summer courses. </p>
<p>Based upon what you both said here, he'll spend the night near Dulles after the flight from the west coast, and get either a cab or the metro bus into Washington, DC the next morning. After spending a couple of hours sightseeing, he'll then connect with the amtrak train out of Union Station at 11:00 AM to get down to Charlottesville and settled in his dorm that afternoon.</p>
<p>Are you sure that there is a train at 11 am from Union Station to Charlottesville. I thought that there is only one train a day--each way.</p>
<p>The other options do leave out of Union Station--but they are actually buses and they take about 3.5 hours. They are on the Amtrak schedule, but are buses that leave from Union Station.</p>
<p>This could have changed since my daughter did it. I would hate for your son to get stranded.</p>
<p>I live about an hour from Charlottesville, and am a flight attendant out of Dulles airport. The train from Manassas is your best bet. Check the schedules, as a student it should only cost about $25 one way to Charlottesville. Manassas is the town next to mine, if you need any advice, PM me or post it on here and I will try to help. There are also scheduled van services from Dulles to Manassas. Check the Washington Flyer, they have a website. Good Luck!</p>
<p>There is only one train a day on the main line (19-Crescent)--but there is a second line (line 51-Cardinal)--and it runs on Saturday at 11 in the morning. My son already puchased the ticket from Amtrak, had it sent here to his home address, and I'm holding it in my hand as I write this. </p>
<p>I do wonder, though, since now that you mentioned it, I looked up the schedule and it only shows the Crescent line, not the Cardinal line--so either the train is sold out (good thing we purchased early)--or else they have cancelled this train and I'll need to rebook him for the bus.</p>
<p>Very confusing--but thanks for bringing it up--so I at least know I need to contact Amtrak and check this out. If they did cancel the train, my son may wish to take cubanmom's advice and go there directly from Manassas.</p>
<p>I just rechecked (I entered the wrong day)--and it turns out the 51 line (Cardinal) is running that day (it runs three days a week)--while the 19 line runs everyday.</p>
<p>The Cardinal line connects to the Hoosier line and is a southern route from NY to Washington DC to Charlottesville to Charleston, WV to Cincinnati, to Indianapolis to Chicago.</p>
<p>Don't make the same mistake I did when I first arrived in Charlottesville: Flying from IAD (Dulles) to CHO (Charlottesville). It was very expensive, and you could definitely cut your transportation costs if you travel by Amtrak or Greyhound bus.</p>
<p>Calcruzer-
We are from the eastbay and have been dealing with this since 05. We have tried almost every transportation method at least once over these past two years, and I could surely bore you with our findings. D flys out of both Dulles and Reagan, but since we prefer Jetblue, she usually uses Dulles (and avoids Union Station altogether). Anyway, it sounds like you have ticket in hand. However, if you have further needs, please feel free to inquire. We can PM, or I will post it. We pretty much have the taxi pricing down,(D had 4 Ca.friends that coordinated arrival together at Dulles and caught a taxi to Charlottesville for just under $200.00-less than $50.00 each. I thought that was ingenious--but almost impossible to coordinate! And, of course, that was before gas was $3+ per gallon), we've kinda figured the flights that allow you to make connections without stays in hotels/long delays etc., finally understand Amtrak pricing and trivia(ticket prices can increase A LOT for last minute purchases. Also, if you make the reservation by phone rather than online, you don't need to pay until you get to the station. Allows you to cancel without penalty vs. prepaying online) and have lots of other west-to-east coast travel trivia memorized.<br>
Also-Cubanmom and Holla9 are right on the money with Amtrak. The best (and cheapest overall) place to catch it from Dulles is Manassas. Taxi from Dulles to Manassas is about $30-35.00. Avoid Washington Flyer if you are on a tight schedule. It is a "communal" setup--you may be one of several in van--with no control over who gets dropped off first. Taxis are usually only a couple dollars more. We always check both before choosing. Also, note baggage limits for Amtrak. They have them, and we didn't know it until D tried to load 4 bags onto train. Definitely some anxious moments there...haha.
Anyway, you get the idea. Live and learn. Good luck. Let us know if you need more info in the future.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. My son is only going there for the summer and already has his tickets--so I probably won't need more info--but if this changes, I know who to contact now-and the info on the baggage on Amtrak is good to know.</p>