Landing at Washington Dulles International Airport

What IAD is like

Dulles sits out west of Washington on open ground, which is why the terminal stands out from a distance. Most of the capital's international traffic lands here, while short domestic hops go to the airport closer to the centre. Moving about inside involves underground walkways and an automated train between concourses, so the distances within the airport are longer than people expect. Allow more time than the map suggests for anything that happens after the aircraft door opens.

On arrival

Turn the line on at landing and follow the signs towards immigration, which may mean riding the internal automated train first. The visitor queue here builds through the afternoon and evening as the transatlantic arrivals come in one after another. After bags and customs, anyone taking rail into the city walks to the metro station connected to the terminal; the signage is clear but the walk is not short. If you are taking a car, open the app while still inside, because the exits and pick-up points are spread out in proportion to the size of the place. A little planning inside saves a lot of wandering outside.

How far the airport Wi-Fi gets you

Wi-Fi is free after a sign-in page with an advertisement and carries the same time limits as everywhere else in the country. In the tall, open main building it spreads well, but in a crowded concourse in the evening the speed falls. What matters is the metro station and the walkway leading to it, which are not the same coverage area as the terminal network, and that is where you need to buy a fare or check when the next train leaves. Your own line keeps that step from stalling.

Getting into town

A metro line runs from the airport into central Washington. It takes longer than people expect, because the distance is considerable and the train calls at many stations, but it is more predictable than gambling on the expressway. If you take an app car or a taxi, weekday traffic in this metropolitan area is genuinely heavy at both ends of the day and the journey can stretch a long way past the estimate. Data here goes on the map and a transit app for checking lines and directions. In the city itself the deep stations hold signal on the platform but break in the tunnels, so load the map around your destination before you ride a long escalator down.

What people ask about this airport

• Distances inside are long — There are underground walkways and an automated train between concourses, so allow more time than the schedule implies.
• Rail is slower but surer — The metro takes a while because it stops often, but it does not swing with the traffic the way the expressway does.
• The capital has more than one — When ordering a car or booking a ticket, check the code carefully, since the other airport is much closer to the centre.