I was told that I would be going somewhere on the East Coast - probably Boston, New York, maybe New Jersey if I was unlucky. Then it was Washington, now it turns out that it is Reston in Virginia.

With my limited knowledge of American Geography I understand that this is "somewhere near" Washington. But as some people believe that Los Angeles is "somewhere near" San Francisco it doesn't mean much.

What is there to do there? Is anybody "somewhere near"?

Hey,

Reston is a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington, but it is not one of the closer ones. I think it is about 35-40 minutes outside of DC, if memory holds. iirc, it is planned community in that it is pretty much self-contained if you wish it to be. You know, there are enough restaurants, grocery stores, etc, that you would never have to leave... if you didn't want to. Of course, you'd be bored to tears, but that is a different story.

I knew someone who lived there and commuted to DC 4 days/ week. He said he liked the community.

When you say "going" do you mean "relocating" or do you mean "just visiting"?

I worked in Reston for a year. It's an interesting town or suburb with the planned community concept. I'm not sure what you mean by what is there to do. It's not a tourist destination if that's what you mean. It doesn't have the Smithsonian or the National Gallery of Art. It does have an ice skating rink during the winter months and some high end restaurants and shops.

killerB:
It is about 30 minutes by car or so from Reston to Washington DC.
Reston is somewhat closer to Washington than the airport (Dulles) at which you probably arrive.
You can drive a little bit to a city called Vienna and take what we call the Metro into Washington.
Just remember which side of the road upon which to drive.
At $1= 2pounds, you'll be in good shape.

reston is about 10 mintues from Dulles airport. (my in-laws live there). Apparently in about 2010 the metro will make it out there, but for now, you are stuck with a drive to vienna.

As for restaurants, if you find any good ones, please let us know! The only decent place we've beent o there is McCormick and Scmick's (a chain seafood place) which is OK for what it is...

I worked for a small Portuguese wine importer in Dulles (near Reston) for a while this year...it's a nice area overall, about 45 minutes from DC (much longer in rush hour), 1 - 1 1/2 hours to Baltimore (with traffic can take 2).

Reston is a nice place, but you are so close to Washington, DC that you should certainly get into the city. As long as you avoid rush hour, it's an easy trip.

Let us know your travel plans when they firm up and I'm willing to bet we could put together a little offline somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, Virginia is not a BYO friendly state, but DC is.

PH

Thanks everyone - so no train from Reston to DC then? Mmmm... I had no intention of hiring a car for the week so how would I get to DC without one?

When this firms up I will let everyone know but it should be next week.

KillerB:
This link will give you info on getting from Reston to the Washington, D.C. metro:
http://www.linkinfo.org/
Then, once you get to the metro, you'll need a Metro map: http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm
Metro is pretty easy to ride. It is just like the tube!

Thanks Irwin, that's really useful. Haven't got a clue what the places or buses are but I will when I get there.

Cheers

KB