Which airport to hire a car from

We%26#39;re travelling up the E coast in April. We%26#39;re flying into Newark and then down to Savannah (3 nights), train or hire car to Charleston (4 nights), train to Williamsburg (3 nights), train to Washington (5 nights), hire car to Gettysburg (2 nights) Lancaster (2 nights) and Philadelphia (3 nights), train to New York (6 nights) and then back to the UK. Pity the GBP has lost a lot against the dollar though!!!

All accommodation/travel arrangements are in place bar one. I still don%26#39;t want to hire a car from Washington city centre but still can%26#39;t decide between Dulles or BWI. Prices are the same so that%26#39;s not an issue so can I please have the pros and cons between the two.

Many thanks

Which airport to hire a car from

You left out an airport that may be the best answer--Reagan National (code DCA), which is right across the river from downtown Washington (if that%26#39;s where you%26#39;re staying while there). This would be the most convenient airport rental location.

Not sure why you don%26#39;t want to hire a car from the city center. I have heard that rentals from agencies at Union Station can be less expensive, and airport rentals often have extra surcharges tacked on. In addition. you will face some time and some cost to get you out to Dulles or BWI you may not have factored.

If, however, your choices are limited to renting from Dulles or BWI, you definitely want to rent from BWI. There are more inexpensive transportation options to get there from downtown Washington vs. Dulles (numerous threads on the subject, just visit the Washington, DC forum and type ';BWI'; in the search box).

And, more importantly, while BWI is not exactly along the way from Washington to Gettysburg, it%26#39;s much less out of your way than Dulles would be.

Which airport to hire a car from

Mainly because:

1. I%26#39;ve never driven in the USA.

2. I%26#39;ll be driving on ';the wrong side of the road';

3. I%26#39;m not used to automatics - I%26#39;ve only ever driven one of them for a short period of time.

4. Thought the roads might be quieter starting from outside the city centre.

Understood. Then I would look to rent from Reagan National. It is all highway from there to Gettysburg. (George Washington Parkway-Interstate 495-Interstate 270-U.S. 15)

Much quicker, easier and less expensive to get to Reagan via public transport as well (Metrorail from city center) vs. the other two airports. And you won%26#39;t be going out of your way to get the car.

I have to disagree with tubman. I think BWI is your better bet for travelling to Gettysburg. It is easily accessible via rail (check the MARC schedules coming out of Union Station at www.mtamaryland.com for cheap travel; otherwise Amtrak will work.) Driving from there to Gettysburg is easier -- or at least, more well-marked. I find Washington to be very confusing in terms of signage. If you end up in the wrong lane, you take a scenic tour of Virginia. Lastly, the traffic along the route from Reagan (DCA) tends to be much worse, both in terms of congestion and aggressive drivers.

Tubman and I agree about one thing: avoid Dulles.

We can certainly agree to disagree.

The OP should note that travel time is about the same to Gettysburg from both airports.

From Marshall/BWI: http://tinyurl.com/ase383

From Reagan/DCA: http://tinyurl.com/da78cg

There are no fewer twists and turns in making the drive from BWI as there are from DCA. Traffic is not inherently worse from DCA as it is from BWI, and the OP could have no traffic to contend with from either depending on day of week/time of day.

Whatever the OP%26#39;s choice, I would suggest renting a car equipped with GPS regardless.

From BWI, the last 30 miles of the trip is largely two-lane rural highways running through small towns with a fair number of traffic lights; you encounter no (zero) traffic lights for nearly the entire ride from DCA on multi-lane highways running 55-65 mph.

But the biggest differential is that the OP is starting out from downtown Washington, a quick subway ride to DCA on trains running every five minutes for no more than $1.65 pp directly from downtown.

Getting out to BWI means first getting to Union Station for a train scheduled to leave perhaps once an hour for a ride that will take about an hour, factoring in a shuttle bus. At a cost of at least $7.35 pp, possibly up to $20 pp if he needs to do this with Amtrak on a weekend. (And if he%26#39;s doing this on a weekend, traffic DEFINITELY won%26#39;t be an issue).

The overall, door-to-door trip to Gettysburg from downtown Washington will be at least an hour more if you rent from BWI than renting from DCA--that%26#39;s something the OP can safely bet on. If it%26#39;s worth the extra transfers, time and expense to the OP to get out to BWI for what may or may not be an easier ride for the driving portion of the trip, then by all means go with BWI.

I would propose one more option for the OP: Look to rent a car from a suburban Maryland agency located near the Red Line of the Metrorail (e.g. Rockville).

With that, you will avoid any hypothetical congestion or confusing turns closer to Washington the previous poster alluded to, while keeping you along the same general direct routing from Washington-Gettysburg.

Thanks guys - interesting to see the pros and cons between BWI and Reagan airports.

As suggested I did look at the option of hiring from Rockville but it was double the price of starting from Reagan so we%26#39;ve opted for that and have also opted for a satnav as well.