Welcome back to the D.C. Travel Companion, where we try to help you find the cheapest way to expand your horizons, get out of the “Georgetown Bubble” and explore D.C.! Coming up this Monday we have a great guide to the sights, activities and food available in the U Street neighborhood, so what better way to kick things off than showing you how to get there!

U Street can be a far walk, so the G2 bus (highlighted here last week) or Metro are two easy and affordable ways to get close to there; in this edition of DCTC, I’ll focus on the Metro route.

If you aren’t on campus, or are going out on the weekends, the G2 MetroBus (to Dupont directly from the front gates) or the Circulator are great options to get you close to U Street. The Circulator runs every 10 minutes and has stops on M St./34th St. and M St./Potomac St to Dupont for only $1 (use SmarTrip or exact change). You can find a full list of stops here.

If you are traveling on any day besides Sunday, the Rosslyn Metro Station or the DuPont Circle Metro Station can get you directly to U Street using the GUTS bus. The GUTS Bus is an easy and free option to get to these Metro stations during the week.

Once you’re at a station:

From The Dupont Metro Station

Cost $1.70 with a SmarTrip, $2.70 with a paper fare card (Unless during rush hour! Check times)

Metro Route Once at the Dupont Circle Metro Station, you have two options to get to U Street. You first catch the Red Line towards Glenmont, and get off at Gallery Place-Chinatown. From there, you will switch lines, and this is where you have two choices. Option 1 is to take the Yellow Line towards Fort Totten and ride it until the U Street Metro Station (est. travel time is 18 minutes). Option 2 is to take the Green Line towards Greenbelt and ride until U Street (est. travel time is 25 minutes). Either check the in-station schedule or the WMATA website to decide which route will best serve you.

From The Rosslyn Metro Station

Cost $2.25 with a SmarTrip, $3.25 with a paper fare card (Unless during rush hour! Check times)

Route 1 There are two ways to get to U Street from Rosslyn.  One route starts by taking the Blue Line towards Largo Town Center.   At L’Enfant Plaza, switch to the Green Line towards Greenbelt, and ride it until the U Street Station (est. travel time is 24 minutes).

Route 2 The second route starts off on the Blue Line towards Francona-Springfield, which you take until the Pentagon Metro Station. There, you switch over to the Yellow Line towards Fort Totten and take it to U Street (est. travel time is 28 minutes). Again, be sure to check out the Metro schedule to see which route will work best while you are traveling. 

Now that you know how to get to U Street, be sure to check back for the guide to U Street so you know what to do once you get there. Happy travelling, Hoyas, and see you back here next week!

Photo: SoulOfAmerica, Blog.NJ, Flickr

DCTC is a weekly post that is designed to help Georgetown students break the bubble by highlighting a different form of public transportation.