Visiting Washington DC?

Georgetown would probably be the worst possible place to try and park and come back to your car. DC, because of building restrictions, doesn't have many public parking garages and those that do exist are generally rented out on a monthly basis to people who work in the area. You would be much better off to either leave the car parked at the hotel and take the Metro into DC, or drive into the zoo and leave the car parked there. I would say leaving the car at your hotel is probably going to be your best bet- especially if the hotel is near the metro stop, or has a shuttle that will take you there. If you do decide to drive into Georgetown, you ought to plan on getting there early- pre 9 AM in order to get a parking spot.

One of the difficulties you will run into is the fact that there isn't a metro stop in Georgetown. The best way to get there is generally to metro over to Rossyln, which is on the Virginia side of the Potomac. From there you can either walk across the Key Bridge (a very nice walk in the spring) or take a Georgetown Shuttle across the bridge from the Metro station. You can ask the Metro attendant in their little kiosk as you leave where you need to pick it up. I believe that shuttle is something like $.50 per person.

One thing to be aware of is that generally any trip to DC is going to entail about twice as much walking as you had planned on. Make sure that your kids have on comfortable shoes before they leave the hotel, and keep everyone hydrated and happy.

Have a good time!

There is no metro in Georgetown, but there is a metro station right across the Key Bridge, which is called the Rossyln Metro. Parking is a pain there, especially if you plan on being gone all day, due to the meters. I would either park on K street, since there aren't any meters and they rarely ticket there, or pay for parking. There's a place on the corner of M and Wisconsin and I think they charge $20 a day. All of these streets that I've mentioned are very close, as Georgetown is very small. Also, you could walk to the Rosslyn metro if you wanted, its actually a beatiful walk over the bridge.

There are NO subway stops in Georgetown. There are many rumors about why this is true, but there are none.

However, you could drive to the zoo and metro around from there then return to get your car later and drive back.

As an alternative, you could plug the address of your hotel into the trip planner on the metro website http://wmata.com/ to find the nearest metro stop and just park in the metro parking lot. It will probably be the Franconia-Springfield metro station. Then you'd take that blue line into the middle of DC. For the Mall, you want the Smithsonian Station. For the zoo:

Take the Red Line to the Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan stop or the Cleveland Park stop. The Zoo entrance lies halfway between these stops, and both are a short walk from the Zoo.

Tip: It's an uphill walk from Woodley Park to the Zoo, and a level one from Cleveland Park. We suggest you arrive at Cleveland Park and leave from either Metro station.

If you exit at the Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan stop, walk north (away from McDonald's and CVS). The Zoo is about three blocks from the stop, on the right (east) side of Connecticut Avenue.

Note: It's an uphill walk of about one-third of a mile from Woodley Park. You may prefer to take a bus from this station to the Zoo. Get a bus transfer at the station where you begin your trip (with the transfer, the bus fare is 35 cents). When you arrive at Woodley Park, cross Connecticut Avenue and catch an L2 or L4 bus, in the direction of Chevy Chase Circle. The third stop is the Zoo stop and is right at the Zoo entrance.

If you exit at the Cleveland Park stop, take the exit on the east side of the street and walk south, toward the Uptown movie theater and the restaurants that line Connecticut Avenue (away from 7-11 and the Exxon station). The Zoo is on the east side of the street, about three blocks from the stop, after a bridge and just past a large apartment building.

Note: The walk from Cleveland Park is about half a mile. You may prefer to take a bus from this station to the Zoo. Get a bus transfer at the station where you begin your trip (with the transfer, the bus fare is 35 cents). When you arrive at Cleveland Park, exit on the west side of the street (by the restaurant Indique) and catch an L1 or L2 bus, in the direction of Dupont Circle or McPherson Square. The third stop is the Zoo stop and is across the street from the Zoo entrance.

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Anyway, with that plan you wouldn't get to spend any time in Georgetown unfortunately... hmm....

Can you edit your question to include if you will be there on a weekday or weekend and what month?

I'll edit this as I think of a better plan.

One more point to add to all the others. The Washington Circulator Bus traverses the Mall fm Union Station to Georgetown. I put the link here.

Definitely...Metro to the Zoo. Parking and the drive are just not worth it!

Circulator to Georgetown...Don't even think of driving and parking....it's impossible. (If you are up for a walk (its not that bad)....take Foggy Bottom and walk to M Street.

Enjoy.