Parking & Getting Around
How to reach Old Town Alexandria by car, Metro, DASH, water taxi, or bike — with garages, metered zones, and accessibility notes for every block.
Old Town Alexandria rewards visitors who arrive once and stay parked. The streets are short, the cross-traffic is unforgiving, and almost everything worth seeing — from the 1753 Carlyle House to the Torpedo Factory on the river — falls inside a fifteen-block walk. This is the city’s working reference for getting here, leaving the car, and moving through Old Town on foot, by Trolley, by river, or by bike.
Garages
Market Square Garage
City of Alexandria
- First hour free; metered thereafter.
- Open 24 hours.
Under City Hall and Market Square — the closest covered garage to the 400-block of King Street. First hour free makes it the smart choice for a short visit to Gadsby's Tavern or Carlyle House.
Current rate schedules are posted at the garage entrance and at the City's parking site; check there for daily maximums and event pricing.
Tavern Square Garage
Private (Tavern Square complex)
- Hourly; validation available at adjoining businesses.
- Open 24 hours.
Mid-King-Street garage, walkable to everything between Washington and Union. Validate at the hotel front desk or many restaurants in the 400-block of King Street.
Courthouse Garage
City of Alexandria
- Hourly; free on Sundays.
- Open 24 hours.
Adjacent to the Alexandria Courthouse. Convenient for the 500-block of King Street and the Athenaeum gallery area.
Union Plaza Garage
Private
- Hourly.
- Open 24 hours.
The waterfront garage. Closest to the Torpedo Factory, Founders Park, and the City Marina / water-taxi dock.
On the street
Old Town metered zones — standard rate $1.75/hr
King Street and most parallel streets in Old Town are metered. The standard rate citywide is $1.75/hour. Sundays and city holidays are free. Rates as of March 2023; current rates always live on the City's Old Town parking page.
Carlyle district — $1.00/hr ($5/day)
Metered streets throughout the Carlyle district carry a lower $1.00/hour rate, with a $5.00 daily cap and no time limit. The cheapest legal on-street option for an all-day visit.
Residential blocks (non-resident rate $3.00/hr)
A handful of residential blocks charge $3.00/hour for vehicles without a district permit — part of the City's program to keep curb space available for residents. Affected blocks include the 100/200 Cameron, 100-300 South Lee, 100-400 Prince, 100 Duke, 100 Wolfe, and 200 South Royal segments. Residents and guests with a district permit park free.
Metrorail
King Street – Old Town
1900 King St
~15 min walk east on King Street, or hop the free DASH Trolley.
The classic visitor's gateway. Connects directly to Amtrak / VRE at Alexandria Union Station next door.
Braddock Road
700 N West St
~10 min walk south to the 700-block of King Street.
Quieter than King Street station. Closest Metro to the Braddock Road Civil-War-era neighborhoods and the northern half of Old Town.
Potomac Yard
3000 Potomac Ave
~20 min walk south on Potomac Ave / Slaters Lane.
Opened 2023. Closest Metro to Del Ray and the northern waterfront.
Eisenhower Avenue
2799 Eisenhower Ave
Not walkable — ride DASH AT-3 or AT-4 north to Old Town.
South of Old Town near the US District Court and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Useful when driving I-95 and parking at the lot.
DASH bus & the King Street Trolley
King Street Trolley
Runs the length of King Street between the King Street–Old Town Metro and the waterfront at the Torpedo Factory. Stops every two blocks.
The single best decision a first-time visitor can make. Skip the parking hunt, take the trolley.
DASH bus (citywide)
The full DASH network serves Alexandria's neighborhoods including Del Ray, the West End, Carlyle, and Eisenhower Valley. All buses are free as of 2021.
Water taxi
Potomac Water Taxi
- — National Harbor, MD
- — Georgetown, DC
- — The Wharf (Southwest DC)
- — Nationals Park (game days)
Docks at the Alexandria City Marina, at the foot of Cameron Street. The most scenic approach to Old Town. Schedules vary by season — buy tickets in advance on summer weekends.
Parking apps
ParkMobile
Alexandria's contracted on-street and garage parking app. Pay any metered block by punching the posted zone number (the four-digit code on each meter sign) into the app — no need to walk back to the meter when you want to extend. ParkMobile also works at the Courthouse Square Garage and several other City facilities.
Fee · $0.45 per session (added by ParkMobile on top of the posted hourly rate).
Works on the same zone-number system the city uses on its meter signs. Tip: open the app once before your visit and add a credit card — the on-street activation flow is much faster than fumbling at the meter with the wind blowing.
PayByPhone
The City's residential pay-by-phone provider for the program that charges non-residents $3.00/hr on certain residential blocks (residents and guest-permit holders park free). If your visit is to a friend's house on one of those blocks, PayByPhone is the payment route the City directs non-residents to.
Most short-stay visitors to Old Town will use ParkMobile, not PayByPhone. This entry is here for completeness — PayByPhone is the right answer specifically for residential-block parking under the City's pay-by-phone districts program.
Bike
Capital Bikeshare
Docked bike-share with stations along King Street, the waterfront, Del Ray, and the West End. Same membership works across DC, Arlington, Montgomery County, and beyond.
Mount Vernon Trail
Paved 18-mile path along the Potomac running from Theodore Roosevelt Island down to Mount Vernon, passing the Old Town waterfront. The flattest, prettiest way to arrive by bike from DC or Reagan National.
Accessibility
Old Town's 18th- and 19th-century brick sidewalks are charming and uneven; the cobblestone block on King between Lee and Union is genuinely hard going for wheels. Pedestrian curb cuts exist on King and most cross streets, but historic buildings predate ADA and many entrances have a single step. Market Square Garage and Tavern Square Garage both carry ADA-accessible parking and elevator access. The DASH Trolley is fully accessible. The Mount Vernon Trail and waterfront promenade are paved and flat.