Washington is the capital city of the United States. It has many museums, restaurants, monuments, and a Metro (subway) system. The area around the conference venue and most neighborhoods visited by tourists should be relatively safe, but this is still a city so be aware of your surroundings.
Museums and Monuments. All of the Smithsonian museums are free to enter. The Smithsonian system includes many popular museums, such as the Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum, National Gallery of Art, and the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The monuments are also free to enter and walk around.
Most of the museums and monuments are located along the National Mall, which spans roughly 2 miles in the east-west direction stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol building. Our conference venue is about a 0.7 miles north of the west end of the National Mall. Walking down to some monuments (such as the Lincoln Memory and Vietnam Memorial) would certainly be feasible. The museums are mostly located in the east half of the mall, so you may rather take transit to get to those.
Restaurants. Lunches are provided during
SPAA/PODC, but there are also a few fast-casual spots nearby if you
feel like getting away. As for dinners, unless you're hitting one
of the larger more touristy restaurants or a fast casual spot, keep
in mind that many of the restaurants can be
The conferences, receptions, and workshops will all be held on the 3rd floor of the Marvin Center, at The George Washington University, located at 800 21st St NW. For a map to the location, click here (map).
The nearest Metro station is Foggy Bottom, located about 2 blocks away. Foggy Bottom is basically on the edge of downtown, so depending on the direction you head you will see a lot of big boxy office buildings as well as row houses. As already noted, the National Mall is about 0.7 miles south of the venue, and the White House is also about 0.7 miles to the east.
Banquet. The banquet will be located at Bobby Van's Grill (1201 New York Ave). The walk from the conference venue to the Banquet is about a mile, and the natural walk will pass directly in front of the White House, taking probably about half an hour.
Getting to the banquet. I'll next outline transit options to the banquet. You could go by taxi/uber/lyft, bus, metro, or walk. The distance is about 1 mile, but it will also be a high-traffic time of day, so any of the on-street vehicles will be moving very slowly. (It might take something like 20 minutes, after boarding the vehicle, to go that 1 mile.) I do not have an estimate on taxi fare because most of the fare would go to the surcharge on time.
City bus to banquet. From the venue, the most convenient bus would be the Circulator branded bus, costing $1. They advertise 10-minute headways. Board at the SW corner of 21st and Pennsylvania Ave (about a block north of the venue). Get off on K St just after crossing 13th. From that stop, it's about a block and a half to the restaurant. Keep in mind that a single bus would not fit the entire conference.
Metrorail to banquet. The restaurant is about 2 blocks north of Metro Center Station. Metro Center has several exits, which could add several blocks to your journey if you choose the wrong one; the exit you want is the one at 12th St and G St NW (which I believe is the one that shows signs for Macy's department store). Metro center is serviced by the Orange, Silver, Blue, and Red lines. The Orange/Silver/Blue route is what goes through Foggy Bottom Station (a couple of blocks west of the venue) or Farragut West Station (a couple of blocks east). The Red line runs to Dupont Circle.
In July, the weather in DC is usually warm to hot and humid. The average temperature ranges from 71–88 °F (22–31 °C), but there is a lot of variance so check the weather forecast.
Airports
DC is serviced by three major
airports. If you're connecting through a US city, the closest and
easiest airport is the
Reagan
National Airport (DCA). If you want a direct flight from a
non-US city, the big international airport is
the Washington
Dulles International Airport (IAD). IAD has direct flights
to/from many major airport around the world. The third airport is
the Baltimore/Washington
International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). BWI is the least
conveniently located of the three for our venue, and transit from
the airport will be more expensive than the other two.
Ground transportation: DCA to DC. DCA airport is
serviced by a Metro station as well as taxis. A taxi ride to the
conference venue / hotels should cost about $15 + tip and take about
15 minutes assuming light traffic. At rush hour, it can take much
longer. The taxi queue should be clearly marked, and all taxis
should accept credit cards; they do recommend, however, telling the
dispatcher if you will pay by credit.
Alternatively, there
is a Metro station adjoining the airport terminal; take the Metro
blue line to Foggy Bottom Station for about $2.35–2.70
depending on time of day. More on
metro below.
Ground transportation: IAD to DC. The taxis at
IAD are all branded as "Washington Flyer" taxis, with a stand/queue down
the ramps from baggage claim. A ride to the
conference venue / hotels should cost about $60–70 + tip and
take about 40 minutes depending on time of day. As above, all taxis
should accept credit cards, but they recommend telling the
dispatcher that you plan on paying by credit.
IAD is also
serviced by some shared-ride vans such
as SuperShuttle, with a
fixed price of $30 plus $10 per additional passenger in your
group.
There is no Metro station at the airport, but there is
a bus
(Washington
Flyer Bus) that goes to the nearest Metro station every 15
minutes or so. The bus costs $5 and the ride on the metro is
$3.85–6 depending on time of day. You're probably looking
at something like 1 hour and 15 minutes for this route. More on
metro below.
Ground transportation: BWI to DC. Taxis from BWI
are likely to cost over $100 + tip and take about an hour in light
traffic. Moreover, (at least last I checked) not all taxis are
equipped with credit-card readers, so you do need to verify that the
taxi can accept credit before getting in.
There are
shared-ride vans available for about $40 give or take. See the
airport website for more
details: BWI
ground transportation.
It is also possible to get from BWI
to our venue by transit, starting with a MARC or Amtrak train then
connecting to Metro. See the airport website for more details. The
trip would take about 1.5 hours and cost on the order of
$20–25.
Car rental. Keep in mind that conference venue is in downtown DC, and the hotels and public lots generally charge very high prices (on the order of $20–40 per day, and most don't allow re-entry, i.e., you have to pay again each time you park). Once in DC, you are likely better off getting around by taxis or other public transit. But all of the airports have rental-car options; see the airport websites linked above.
Public transit in DC consists of Metrobus, Metrorail (subway), and Circulator branded buses. There are several bus routes near the conference venue that go to popular areas; there is a trip planner available here, but this planner does not cover Circulator buses. Trip planning on, e.g., Google maps, is also a good option. (Most) buses and trains are equipped with GPS locators; the TransitApp is one of many apps that interfaces with the database to give you current bus locations, routes, and expected wait times.
It should generally be possible to hail taxis on the street in denser areas, such as the conference venue. Uber and Lyft (ride-hailing services) are also options using apps on your mobile device.
Paying for subway and bus. If using public transit, you should get a SmarTrip card. It is possible to pay by cash on buses, but the fare is higher and they do not provide change. For Metrorail, the card is required. The card is essentially a rechargable debit card, where you prepay to load some value onto the card. You can purchase a SmarTrip card in any Metrorail station, or you can get one online online ahead of time. (The card itself cost $2 in addition to the fare you load.)
Metrorail charges different prices depending on how far you go, so you must hold your card over the fare reader both when entering and exiting the metro stations. Most short trips within the city will cost $2.25 (peak) or $2 (off peak).
You can also use your SmarTrip card on both Metrobus and Circulator branded buses by holding your card over the fare reader when boarding. Circulator buses cost $1, and the Metrobus costs $2. You can transfer across buses for 2 hours if paying with a SmarTrip card (you will be charged the maximum of the fares on all the buses, but the transfer itself is free). Transferring from bus to rail or vice versa is not free.
Metrorail. Metro is sort of a hybrid between a commuter rail and a subway system, more like say the BART in San Francisco than the subway in New York. The headways between trains are reasonably good during rush hours, but they can be poor at off times of day. See timetable for estimated headways. The nearest Metro station to the conference venue is Foggy Bottom, which is on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines. All three of these lines overlap in the core of the city. Farragut North is also walkable if you want to pick-up the Red Line. Taking any other lines likely involves an in-station transfer (free). An interactive rail map is available here.
Please book your room at the Embassy Row Hotel, located near Dupont Circle. (About 15 minutes walk from the conference venue.) You can make reservations by following this link
We were also previously advertising the Hotel Lombardy, located about a block from the venue. But this room block has filled.
If you need a visa to attend the conference, ACM can issue a visa support letter for you. Click here for more information.
For queries regarding local arrangements, please contact Jeremy Fineman (Jeremy.Fineman@georgetown.edu).