Getting from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the city

A station attached to the building

• Reagan National has one of the best airport Metro connections in the United States, and the reason is architectural: the station is elevated and joined to the concourse level of Terminal 2 by two enclosed pedestrian bridges.
• You do not go outside, and you do not take a shuttle - if you are at Terminal 2.
• Terminal 1 is a different story. It is a separate building along the airfield and it is served by the free Airport Shuttle bus.

Exact directions, both ways

• Terminal 2 to the Metro: use either of the two enclosed bridges on the concourse level.
• Terminal 1 to the Metro: leave the terminal to the street-side curb, board any "Airport Shuttle" bus, and get off at the Terminal 2 stop or the North/South Parking 1 & 2 stop, where a bridge connects to the station.
• Metro to Terminal 2: go to the north end or the south end of the train platform and exit; a bridge runs straight into the concourse.
• Metro to Terminal 1: go to either end of the platform, exit towards the parking garage, take the lift or stairs down to street level, and board the Airport Shuttle.
• Step free: the lift is at the centre of the platform, and a sloped pavement at ground level connects to both bridges.

Paying

• Fares vary by distance and time of day. Daytime: 2.25 to 6.75 dollars. After 21:30 and at weekends: 2.25 to 2.50. Bus is a flat 2.25.
• You do not need a card. Tap a credit or debit card or a phone at the entry and exit gates.
• A SmarTrip card is only worth buying if you want an unlimited 1, 3 or 7 day pass. The machines are at every entrance to the station.

What is where

• This is the close-in Washington airport, on the Potomac just across from the city, which is why the Metro ride into the centre is short.
• Dulles is the other one, 40 km west, with its own Metro station on the Silver Line and a very different journey time.
• BWI is the third, in Maryland, reached by MARC and Amtrak rather than the Metro.
• The perimeter rule limits long domestic flights here, which is why an American itinerary that looks like it should use DCA often uses Dulles instead.