The Women’s March on Washington: Local Travel and What to Wear

Wondering what to wear to the Women’s March on Washington? Don’t know how you’re going to get around the city? Read on for can’t-miss advice.

If you’re traveling to Washington for the Women’s March, you are probably wondering what to pack. When you’re here, you’re also going to need to figure out how to get around in a place that’s notoriously impossible to park in. And I know what’s really on your mind: where can you stop to pee while you’re with the Women’s March?

Transportation Within D.C.

Metro, D.C.’s subway system, is notoriously unreliable. It’s always breaking down, under repair, and offloading, or just plain delayed. Luckily (?) Metro will run weekend service for post-inauguration protests. But if you’re looking to be somewhere at a specific time, leave very early. The closest metro stations to the march are Federal Center SW, L’Enfant Plaza and Judiciary Square. Metro does have a handy trip planner where you can enter street addresses to figure which stations to use.

The trip planner also works for Metro Bus. It’s cheap, it’s dependable, and it goes everywhere in the city and into suburban Maryland and Virginia.

D.C. is chock full of taxis that you can hail on the street. Check Yelp or Google for ratings and contact information if you need to reserve a taxi. Our nation’s capital also has many Uber and Lyft drivers who will be ecstatic to take your money in exchange for not having to drive or park downtown.

We also have the most excellent Capital BikeShare program. They have 3500 bicycles at 400 stations around D.C., Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax, VA and Montgomery County, MD that you can rent and return to any of the stations. Bikes will be available on the 21st, but there will be
road restrictions in the city, for which Capital Bikeshare is very prepared.

What About Bathrooms?

Local businesses are usually not too keen on letting hoards of non-customers use their bathrooms, but I’m sure they’ll have up signs to let you know. Feel free to use the many port-o-potties will be set up around the National Mall from the inauguration. And peel off the blue tape if you see it covering the Don’s Johns logo. The inaugural committee has been covering it up, for some reason.

What should I pack for DC at the end of January?

Seeing as the weather in January, 2017 has varied between 0 and 70 degrees Fareneight so far, I don’t even know what the weather will be on the 21st. Pack everything. Plan to dress in layers. It might start off cold and get quite warm during the day, not to mention the fact you may be packed in with other people’s body heat. Make sure you wear comfortable clothing and walking shoes. It very well might rain, so if you have a waterproof jacket with a hood, that’s a good bet.

Next: Cool things to do in D.C. when you're here for the march

Time to get packing! I hope your suitcase is big enough for all these layers.