Transportation Information
Directions to The Inn
If you enter The Children’s Inn at NIH into your GPS, it will take you to the NIH Patient Entrance (5300 W Cedar Lane), located next to The Inn.
Our Address
7 West Drive
Building 62 (NIH Campus)
Bethesda, MD 20814
Visitors who are not traveling with the patient should follow directions to the National Institutes of Health on Rockville Pike to enter campus through the NIH Visitor Entrance.
National Institutes of Health Address
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20892
The Children’s Inn at NIH is located just below and slightly to the left of the pink arrow (look for 62). The pink arrow represents the NIH Patient Entrance, which may be used by patients and their visitors only.
- Take I-95 south toward Washington, DC. At I-495 (Capital Beltway), go west toward Silver Spring/Bethesda.
- Take Exit 34 (MD-355/Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike) and go south toward Washington/Bethesda.
- Turn right at the NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint.
- Once on campus, take a right onto Center Drive. Continue through campus and take a right on West Drive. The Inn is immediately on the left.
OR
- Take I-270 south toward Washington.
- When I-270 splits, take the left spur toward College Park/Silver Spring.
- Take the MD-355 S/Bethesda exit on the left and merge onto Rockville Pike/MD-355 S.
- Turn right at the NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint.
- Once on campus, take a right onto Center Drive. Continue through campus and take a right on West Drive. The Inn is immediately on the left.
- Take I-95 north toward Washington, DC.
- Keep right via Exit 170A-B toward I-395 N/Washington/I-495 N/Tysons Corner.
- Take Exit 170B and merge onto I-495 N/Capital Beltway toward Tysons Corner (you will cross into Maryland and head north toward Silver Spring/Bethesda).
- From the Beltway (I-495), take Exit 34, which is MD-355/Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike and go south toward Washington/Bethesda.
- Turn right at NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint. Once on campus, take a right onto Center Drive. Continue through campus and take a right on West Drive. The Inn is immediately on the left.
To limit exposure during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, families are strongly discouraged from taking public transportation. Please refer to our airport private car service program.
On the Metro (subway system), take the Red Line to the Medical Center stop. At the top of the escalator, proceed to the Gateway Visitors Center. Once you have passed security, you may take an NIH campus shuttle (a white bus) to The Children’s Inn at NIH. You may also walk to The Inn, but please be prepared that walking will take about 15-20 min.
Parking on the NIH campus is very limited. The Children’s Inn at NIH has its own parking lot that is free for use by our families, volunteers and visitors. When you check in, you will receive a parking pass to park in our lot.
All NIH Patient Services shuttles pick up and drop off at the NIH Clinical Center (also called Building 10). Please note that there are NO SATURDAY SHUTTLES TO THE AIRPORT. If you are traveling on a Saturday, please contact your medical team for assistance finding alternate transportation.
Airport Shuttle Schedules:
The NIH Shuttle operates on the following holidays:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Presidents Day
- Columbus Day
- Veterans Day
The NIH Shuttle DOES NOT operate on the following holidays:
- Memorial Day
- July 4th
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- New Year’s Day
- Take the Airport exit (I-195 W).
- Take exit 4B to merge onto I-95 S toward Washington.
- Take exit 27 to merge onto Capital Beltway/I-495 W toward Silver Spring.
- Take exit 34, MD-355, toward Bethesda/Rockville.
- Merge onto MD-355 N/Rockville Pike.
- Slight right at Grosvenor Ln (signs for MD-355, Bethesda/Washington).
- Very quickly, sharp left at the sign for MD-355 S. You are now on Rockville Pike.
- Turn right at NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint.
- Take the exit towards Washington (Dulles Airport Access Rd).
- Continue on Dulles Airport Access Rd (Parallel to Dulles Toll Road Rt. 267).
- Take the exit toward I-495 (exit 18-19/Rt. 123/Baltimore/Richmond).
- Merge onto Rt. 267 E (the end of the Dulles Toll Road).
- Take exit 18 onto Capital Beltway/I-495 N toward Baltimore.
- Take exit 34 onto MD-355 S/Rockville Pike toward Wisconsin Ave/Bethesda.
- Turn right at NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint.
- Head northeast and take a slight left (signs for B C/Arrivals-Bag Claim).
- Take the ramp to George Washington Memorial Pkwy N (GW Pkwy N).
- Keep right at the fork, follow signs for GW Pkwy N, and merge onto GW Pkwy N.
- Take the exit North to Maryland (merging onto Capital Beltway/I-495 N).
- Take exit 34 onto MD-355 S/Rockville Pike toward Wisconsin Ave/Bethesda.
- Turn right at the NIH Gateway Drive and proceed to the visitor security checkpoint.
Special Airport Transportation through Reston Limo
Since September 2020, The Inn has been pleased to offer our families a special transportation service to and from the airport through Reston Limo as part of an ongoing Transportation Pilot Program.
For families visiting us for the first time, we invite you to request transportation to or from the airport; please use this link to make a reservation. Please note that while we hope to be able to continuously provide this valuable service, we will periodically evaluate it.
Patient Hotel Shuttles
Need help getting to The Children’s Inn at NIH? Call our front desk at (301) 486-5672.