From Dulles Airport, you will go out via the Dulles Access Road, VA Route 267 East. You will take that for around three miles to Fairfax County Parkway, VA Route 7100. Note that you will have to get off the "airport lanes" to the "non-airport lanes" before actually taking the exit. Get on Fairfax County Parkway going south for approximately nine miles to a traffic light at the intersection of Fairfax County Parkway and Fair Lakes Parkway and take a right on Fair Lakes Parkway. (This light will be the first traffic light after you're completely through the two traffic lights at the Route 50 intersection overpass.) Take your first left onto Shoppes Lane / Headquarters Boulevard (note this left turn is before the first traffic light) and take that road to the end and you'll be at the Fair Lakes Residence Inn.
From National Airport, follow the signs to Interstate 66 West. Get on that, and take Exit 55, and take the first ramp to Fairfax County Parkway / VA Route 7100 North. At your first light, take a left onto Fair Lakes Parkway. Take your first left onto Headquarters Boulevard (note this left turn is before the first traffic light) and take that road to the end and you'll be at the Fair Lakes Residence Inn.
Official directions to The Ashby Inn in Paris, Virginia (population 61, 54, or 49, depending on who you ask), may be found on their website. However, here is my take.
Click here for a more detailed map.
For those of you coming from the Fairfax area or the Washington Beltway (I-495/95), I would recommend staying on Interstate 66 West and taking Exit 23 (Delaplane/Paris) to U.S. Route 17 North. Take Route 17 north (about eight miles) until it joins up with U.S. Route 50 at a traffic light (Note: Do not take the left on 701 into Paris before the traffic light). At that traffic light, take a left. Take your next left onto State Road 759 / Federal Street (it comes up quickly), and you should be able to see The Ashby Inn. As you drive up to the Ashby Inn, you'll take a left onto Gap Run Road. You should park in the lot behind the Inn. If that lot fills up, there will be someone there to direct you.
The Ashby Inn is 50 miles from the intersection of I-66 and I-495 and, assuming no traffic, will be an hour from that point. The first fifteen of those 50 miles is an ugly drive, but the last 35 are really nice.
If you are coming from The Residence Inn in Fair Lakes, the directions above are the ones you need once you get to I-66. To get there, leaving the Residence Inn's parking lot, you're on a short road called Shoppes Lane / Headquarters Blvd. At the stop sign, you'll take a right onto Fair Lakes Parkway. Take a right at the first light onto Fairfax County Parkway. Your first exit will be for I-66 West. Take it and follow the directions above. The Ashby Inn will be 41 miles from where you get on I-66. Total travel time around 50 minutes with no traffic. Just watch your speed...
(For those of you coming from western Fairfax County, you may want to just get on U.S. Route 50 west and take that directly to Paris. It is a shorter and prettier drive, but may take a bit longer.)
For those of you coming from Maryland or points north, you may want to avoid the Interstates entirely by finding your way down U.S. Route 15 to U.S. 50 and taking that west to the Ashby Inn, rather than I-95 or I-270 to I-495 to I-66.
Specifically, for those of you coming from in and around the I-270 corridor, Whites Ferry across the Potomac is an excellent option. The ferry runs from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and is only a couple bucks. Even if you just miss the ferry and have to wait for the next run, you will have a net time savings over going all the way up to Point of Rocks bridge and coming south on U.S. 15.
Click here for a more detailed map.
If you are going to Dulles Airport, just stay on U.S. Route 50 East for approximately 27 miles and get on VA Route 28 North. Take that for about five miles and you will see the signs for Dulles Airport. Travel time about 55 minutes.
If you are going to National Airport from the reception, coming out of Paris, you'll want to turn onto U.S. Route 17 South and take that back to Interstate 66 East. Take I-66 East all the way in to Exit 72 for U.S. Route 29 / Spout Run Parkway. At the bottom of the exit ramp, take a right at the light onto U.S. Route 29 (North), aka Lee Highway. Then, take a left at your next light, and that will take you to Spout Run Parkway (State Road 124). Spout Run Parkway is only about a mile long, and pretty much its only purpose in life is to get you from Lee Highway to George Washington Memorial Parkway. Watch your speed on this stretch, as the speed limit is only 35 mph! Once on George Washington Memorial Parkway, you'll continue south for about 4.5 miles and follow the signs to National Airport. Travel time, assuming no traffic, is 75 minutes.
Note that if you have a choice in the matter, you'll be better off going in and out of Dulles than National.
