We are going from CA to Bethesda for a conference on Wedn., and i want to use the rest of the week for sightseeing. I have several problems to solve and i%26#39;ve got the feeling that you are the right person to ask for help. My questions are the following:
1. what is the best airport to fly in and out?
2. where we should stay - near Bethesda or in Baltimore, or inbetween? My husband has a two hours meeting in Bethesda on Wedn night, and we plan to rent a car. Should i go with him - if there is enough historical places to see in Bethesda - or stay in Baltimore and wait for him?
3. What to do in Baltimore Thu - Fri -Sat? if i plan to fly back Sun.
All your advices will be highly appreciated.
What to do in Bethesda, Baltimore and between?
1. I%26#39;d use BWI, if you%26#39;re trying to save money, at Southwest airlines.
2. I don%26#39;t know that much about Bethesda but if you%26#39;re only coming for a 2 hour meeting stay in Baltimore.
3. Baltimore is a great city for a long weekend. My historical must see is Fort McHenry- beautiful view of the city from the park and great reenactments inside the fort. I also love the city markets, my favorite is Cross Street in Federal Hill.
What to do in Bethesda, Baltimore and between?
1. I%26#39;d use BWI, if you%26#39;re trying to save money, at Southwest airlines.
2. I don%26#39;t know that much about Bethesda but if you%26#39;re only coming for a 2 hour meeting stay in Baltimore.
3. Baltimore is a great city for a long weekend. My historical must see is Fort McHenry- beautiful view of the city from the park and great reenactments inside the fort. I also love the city markets, my favorite is Cross Street in Federal Hill. More details would be helpful for more suggestions.
The best airport to fly in to would be Reagan National (DCA), since it%26#39;s closest and affords frequent inexpensive (~$4) transportation to Bethesda via Metro subway.
But as the previous poster noted, if the focus of your trip is Baltimore, you%26#39;ll want to stay and fly out of Baltimore. Staying in Bethesda would be good for sightseeing, but only if that sightseeing is in Washington.
The perfect itinerary assuming you primarily want to see Baltimore would be to fly into DCA and out of BWI--try pricing that out. Otherwise it%26#39;s fairly pricy (or a long public transportation haul) to get from BWI to Bethesda.
There are no historical places to see in Bethesda, but there are LOTS of nice shops and restaurants. Otherwise, Bethesda serves as little more than a conveniently-located suburb of Washington.
Downtown Bethesda haa many dozens of restaurants of every ethnic group - also plenty of high-end sophisticated shopping. The Metrorail line goes directly into downtown Washington D.C. Bethesda is also not far from the following attractions:
- Washington National Cathedral
- Great Falls of the Potomac - scenic park with river rapids
- National Institutes of Health, and National Library of Medicine
- Strathmore Hall fine arts center, concert hall (Rockville)
- Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
- the National 4-H Center
- the historic Georgetown district of Washington - fine dining, gift and art shops
- Clara Barton House - historic museum
Thanks so much for your input. I booked already tix to and from BWI. As we are are arriving late, we%26#39;ll stay overnight near the airport and start towards Bethesda next morning. For this part of our trip i have the following Qs: what is the best way to drive from BWI to Bethesda (we have GPS, but it doesn%26#39;t show so called scenic drives or must see vista points on the way) ; is there a %26#39;must stop%26#39; place for lunch?
Because the meeting is till 7 pm, we may want not to drive back to Baltimore at night, instead, stay around Bethesda. Can you recommend a safe hotel (reasonably priced)/ I am curious about Chesapeac Bay - may be spend a night close to it?
I am trying to avoid W.D.C. by all means and explore the coast.
YOur guidance will be highly appreciated!
';what is the best way to drive from BWI to Bethesda (we have GPS, but it doesn%26#39;t show so called scenic drives or must see vista points on the way)';
There%26#39;s really nothing incredibly ';scenic'; under normal conditions getting from BWI to Bethesda, but you picked a nice time of year since the leaves are turning and the the highways are lined with trees. The GPS will route you along I-95, but you%26#39;ll find the parallel Baltimore-Washington Parkway (aka 295) to have less of a superhighway feel to make taking in the fall colors a little more enjoyable.
You could also drive a more rural route through Howard County and take in some of the few remaining patches of farm country tucked in amongst the urban sprawl. A stop at the park at Brighton Dam, especially with a picnic lunch, might be a nice detour. http://tinyurl.com/5k4ua8
Here%26#39;s another rural route quicker than the one above, but without an obvious picnic spot like the Dam. http://tinyurl.com/5hckz5
';is there a %26#39;must stop%26#39; place for lunch?';
Are you aware that most of the time, this is perhaps a 45-minute drive? You mention you%26#39;ll be leaving the BWI area in the morning, so if you stick to that plan, you%26#39;ll be in Bethesda well before lunchtime. Tons of choices there. A lot depends on what interests you, there are nearly 200 restaurants in the downtown Bethesda area. If you could be more specific, you%26#39;ll get a much more focused answer.
www.downtownbethesda.com/guide/dining.php
But ultimately your best choice for a great lunch with local flavor might be to get some good crabcakes near BWI, if you want to leave a little later than you%26#39;re planning. Three places that usually leap to mind are G%26amp;M Restaurant, the Olive Grove and Timbuktu. Opinions are widely varied as to which is best (ask ten different Marylanders on where to find the best crabcakes, you%26#39;ll get ten different answers, I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll hear some here), but I don%26#39;t think you can make a mistake going to either of the three.
Their dining rooms all open at 11, but the atmosphere of eating in is nothing special at any of them. All three will do carryout if you want to have that picnic lunch (G%26amp;M and Olive Grove%26#39;s carryout operations open at 10).
Hotel near Bethesda: I%26#39;d just make the drive back to Baltimore, especially since hotels may be less expensive and you don%26#39;t specify what a ';reasonable'; price is (the least expensive hotels I could find in downtown Bethesda are ~$200 for Wednesday night). Again, the drive shouldn%26#39;t take more than an hour and since you have zero interest in actually doing something in the DC area, it%26#39;s probably not worth the hassle of relocating your luggage.
If you do decide to take the ';scenic'; route through Howard County, you might want to stop in Ellicott City. It is a historic town in the middle of ';suburban sprawl';, if offers antiques shops, restaurants, and some unique shopping. Historic Ellicott City is about 20-25 minutes from downtown Baltimore and 40-45 minutes from Bethesda, depending on traffic.
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