Vittorio's Pizzeria

Washington Union Station is a restored historic architecture centre, mixed-use of transportation hub, leisure and shopping center located few minutes from the US Capitol so when you exit the station the view of US Capitol building will be in front of you. The station design is very unique but some areas looked old. There is lack of signs across the station so I had to walk across the station to find my way. Also it is a bit strange that there is no informarion desk for Big Bus Sightseeing inside the station so had to walk in the streets to ask security guards about the location which took me 30 minutes to find it.

Only used the station for the Metro and the usual touristy moseying around. Really nice architecture and for the most part looks clean. The food court wasn’t fully opened partly because of the pandemic (May ‘21), but the ones that were open were busy. There’s also a few places to shop around, but again, most were closed. Stepping out the building to take a look around, I can’t help but notice the aggressive panhandlers which was kind of a bummer.

Don’t be too startled by many of the reviews here, the situation is definitely not always bad. I travelled with my mom as a woman and did not feel unsafe. I took an Acela and had an hour to kill at the station. I had read many reviews prior to my trip about the sheer number of tents and homeless people around and inside the station, but perhaps I went on an off day. There were 0 tents in Columbus Circle, and I only had one encounter. The guy wasn’t bothersome by any means; he was sitting by a table next to mine at Au Bon Pain and asked if I had an extra dollar (I did not). When I told him this, he politely thanked me and we went on with our days. Of course, this happened mid-afternoon. I also did not visit the food court downstairs. Perhaps both factors meant that I would have a differing experience. The bathroom situation wasn’t a total nightmare contrary to the descriptions of many. It’s just a plain bathroom, no funky smell or anything, not pristine like a hotel’s would be. It’s comparable to an airport’s. Though, yes, the faucets are very low and close to the sinks, which makes it nearly impossible to put your hand under. The station itself is beautiful, but I did notice many empty stores and just not many options overall, which is fine by me because I don’t see why I would need to spend much time here. L’Occitaine, the Body Shop, Shake Shack, Auntie Anne’s and MAC cosmetics are some retailers on the ground floor.

We went to DC from NYC in a bus so got down at union station. To our surprise the station was splendid.I thought NYC union station was the best so far but this ones not less. The architecture is superb. There are food places too if you have to wait for a train or bus you have all that you need to kill time.Only issue we had was directions to get out of the station as we were going to the Strip of monuments and had hard time getting figuring out the route to get out.

The Building itself,...is magnificient... almost European standards... Union Station is a major train station on the East Coast, a huge transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. It was opened in 1907, and it is Amtrak's headquarters. It is the railroad's second-busiest station with annual ridership of just under 5 million passengers. The station also serves for local trains MARC and VRE which are commuter rail services, the Washington Metro, and buses. I often take a Megabus from NYC to DC and the combination of Indoor busstation and trains makes it so much easier and a lot cheaper... Some times u get get tickets for 10 Dollar r/t.. so look out for them. The Building and its Architecture The architects included classical elements such as the "Arch of Constantine" (exterior, main façade) and the great vaulted spaces of the "Baths of Diocletian". The prominent siting at the intersection of two of major avenues, with an orientation facing the United States Capitol just five blocks away; a massive scale, including a façade stretching more than 600 ft (180 m) and a waiting room ceiling 96 ft (29 m) above the floor; stone inscriptions and sculpture in the Beaux-Arts style; expensive materials such as marble, gold leaf, and white granite from a previously unused quarry. In the Attic block, above the main cornice of the central block, stand six colossal statues. They all have some meaning coming from greek mythology. All in All it is a very nice place to hang and wait for one of the few trains a day... Where as Europe has a well functioning boarderless railsystem, with highspeed trains connecting european capitals is the american train system stuck in the middleages.