If you just want a pretty picture of the hotel with an address and a phone number, visit the Where is it? page, and remember! These directions are no substitution for a good map or mapping service. You may be able to rely on them solely, but getting a second opinion really can't hurt.

Parking

The Hilton listened! After listening to the feedback panel at M6 the Hilton lowered parking from $9/day to $1/day for MAGFest attendees. A whole dollar!

By Car

Northern Virginia is basically south/southwest of DC. The short story is you're going to take exit 4 (Seminary Rd) from 395, go west (if you're coming from the south, that's a left turn) on Seminary Rd about a block, and the hotel is the big huge blue thing on your left. There is a parking charge but it's only $13/day or $9/day if you stay at the hotel.

From VA and points SOUTH of DC:

Basically, you want to get to 395. When you're headed north on 95, you'll hit what the locals call the "mixing bowl", which is about three billion highways trying to intersect at once on an interstate. DO NOT EXIT and 95 will just turn into 395.

From "east" MD and points NORTH of DC:
Okay, you guys have two options. First you'll get on 95 going south, and then you can either do the sane thing and get on the beltway or the crazy thing and go through DC. For the beltway, just go around the thing around to the east (this is also the way 95 follows by default) and then when you come to the bottom you'll take the exit for highway 395, which goes north. Then follow the directions at the top of the car section.

If you're feeling a bit crazy, exit 52 from I-95 (in Maryland) is the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. You can get on that, go south for about a half-hour, exit onto New York Ave (highway 50 W) for 5 miles, and there will be a "left turn" to get you onto 395 going south. Then just follow the directions up there under By Car. In theory, this is a shorter and quicker route, but during traffic rush (especially in the mornings) you will probably NOT want to do this.

From "west" MD and general points WEST of DC:
If you're in western MD (anywhere west of Frederick), the left half of PA, etc., there's a chance you're kinda near interstate 70. You can jump on 70 going east until you hit 270, then take that south to the DC beltway, 495. Take 495 south (towards "Northern Virginia") and then when you see the exit for 395, take that north and follow the directions at the top of the car section.

BTW, if you're near Harrisburg, we're pretty sure you know about 83 by now, but don't forget it'll take you right to 695 S in Balitmore to 95 S, then follow the "from the north" directions. State College kids, do 220->99 and follow the "from the west" directions.

By Metro

A direct hotel shuttle stops near/at the bus stops outside the Pentagon City and King Street metro, and also at the airport. The shuttle schedules are:

:10 Pentagon City Metro
:20 DCA Airport
:30 King Street Metro
:40 Pentagon City Metro
:50 DCA Airport

It does not stop at any of these places on the hour (:00). You can take the blue or the yellow line to either of the stops. For reference, the airport is halfway between these two stops, so if you take a metro towards the airport and accidentally miss one stop, you can just get off at the other one.

The hotel shuttle will probably look something like this:

....except the Mark Center shuttles look more silver/dark grey than this picture.

However, speaking of the airport, if you're flying, you don't want to use the metro at all, you'll want....

By Air

The Hilton Mark Center actually offers a shuttle (really this time!) to and from DCA airport (commonly referred to as "Reagan" or "National") if you need a ride. The shuttle stops near the "gate 5 and 9" baggage claims at :20 and :40 after the hour. Please remember that driving is a tipping service, and you probably won't be able to get picked up at 3am unless you call the hotel.

In the event you can't fly into DCA, you can fly into Dulles (IAD) or BWI. Just remember that directions are a bit more complicated to the hotel and no shuttle service is available if you don't fly into DCA.

Basic directions from BWI involve getting yourself to 95 south (you can use 195 west from the airport) and then follow the car directions.