Travel Deal of the Day (Mar. 26, 2007)

Are you coming to D.C. for the National Cherry Blossom Festival? In case you are not familiar with the festival, it is a two-week long festival held in Washington, D.C. during the time the cherry blossom trees bloom (March 31-April 15, 2007). It is a great time to visit D.C., but it can be very expensive. Here are some good ways to save some money visiting D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The Deals/How:
1) Hotels: Take advantage of the buy two, get one night free Marriott and Starwood promotions which apply to all of those chains hotels, including D.C. hotels. Here are the links: Marriott Promotion and Starwood Promotion. Be sure to look at not only D.C. city-center hotels, but also less expensive hotels in D.C. suburbs such as Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA, Bethesda, MD, and Rockville, MD.

2) Airfare: Check for last minute airfare specials on www.smartertravel.com. Be sure to check for airfare into all three D.C.-area airports: DCA (Reagan National), IAD (Dulles) and BWI (Baltimore/Washington).

3) Transportation: If you are flying to DC or arriving via train, do not rent a car. D.C.’s public transportation system is incredible. Stay at a hotel near a Metro (train) stop, and commute into the festival area by train. If you fly into Baltimore/Washington Airport, you can take the train (which comes directly to the BWI Airport train station) to Union Station in D.C. If you are driving to D.C., try to use public transportation instead of driving to festival events.

For more information on the National Cherry Blossom Festival, see the Official Website.