The Udvar Hazy aviation museum is my second favorite museum in the world. My favorite museum is the Henry Ford in Dearborn MI, but that’s not the point. Udvar-Hazy is part of the Smithsonian system and part of the Air and Space Museum. Udvar Hazy is also very near Dulles Airport. It’s a huge facility that houses hundreds of planes and thousands of artifacts related to all kinds of air and space travel. If you have a few spare hours to kill at Dulles you should go to the museum.
Getting to Udvar-Hazy from Dulles is not difficult, I’ve done it a few times when I had a long layover or even when I was just on a mileage run. There are several options, you can take a cab, Uber/lyft, or take the bus. I’ll be discussing using the bus and my tips and tricks for this. I’ll also talk about how long this takes, should you visit the museum, storing luggage, and the cost involved for the whole visit.
December 2022 Update: The bus timing has changed since I last took a trip to Udvar Hazy Musuem. It’s no longer as short of a trip, from the timetables the trip takes about 25 minutes from door to door.
Udvar-Hazy Museum Location
The Udvar-Hazy museum is just to the south of Dulles Airport. In fact, they are connected via the taxiways at the airport. This is how most of the planes arrived at Udvar-Hazy, they flew here!
You can even watch planes arriving and departing from IAD at Udvar-Hazy. Dulles is very near to Udvar-Hazy Musuem and well worth the short bus ride from the airport.
Udvar-Hazy Museum Fairfax Connector 983 Bus
While there is no specific shuttle from Dulles to Udvar-Hazy, the public bus services IAD and Udvar-Hazy. This bus ride takes about 25 minutes per the timetable.
Just outside the terminal you can find the 983 bus to the Udvar-Hazy Center. It’s well marked and the signs are easy to find. There is a small placard that has the bus schedule on it so you can see how long the wait is.
How much does the bus cost? The Fairfax Connector 983 costs $2 per person. You can pay with cash on the bus but no change is provided so have some singles. The cost is each way, so $4 total if you ride the bus in both directions.
The Fairfax Connector from IAD to Udvar Hazy runs about every 20 minutes while the museum is open so you’ll never have to wait long for the bus. Just make sure you get on in the correct direction, you can always ask the driver if you have questions.
Taking the bus is also the cheapest way to visit Udvar Hazy. The Fairfax Connector No. 983 will take you right from the Airport to Udvar-Hazy Museum. Once you’re there, it’s free to enter the musuem!
Udvar-Hazy Luggage Storage
The Udvar-Hazy Museum has free luggage storage. It will fit a standard carry on bag easily. When you first enter the museum, after passing security, head to the right. You’ll see signs for the coat room and storage.
The storage is great because if you’re on a layover or waiting to catch a departing flight from IAD, you can drop off your bags and visit the museum. I’ve done this several times over the years and it’s easy, fast, and free.
How Long to Visit Udvar-Hazy
The Udvar-Hazy museum is huge. I’ve been 4 times and every time I visit I always find new things and greatly enjoy myself. It’s hard to pick an exact amount of time because of the diversity of things to see. Personally, I’ll take any excuse I can to see the museum, but for most I think a 2-3 hour visit would be a good bench mark for a visit.
2-3 hours would give you enough time to walk the floor of the whole museum, spend a little extra time at exabits that especially interest you, and then head upstairs and watch some planes landing at Dulles while listening to the air traffic controller.
Udvar-Hazy During a Layover at IAD
Like I said I’ve been to Udvar-Hazy 4 times. Every single one of those trips involved Dulles in some way. There have been times that I’m working in DC so I fly out of Dulles and before departure, stop by the museum for a few hours to look at some planes.
Other times I’ve used a long layover and took the bus to Udvar-Hazy to look at some planes. Because of the location and the ease of access, I’d highly encourage anyone with 3 hours to kill at IAD, go to Udvar-Hazy. That’s a long enough layover that you can exit the airport, take the bus, explore the museum, and head back to the airport. If you have TSA PreCheck it’s really a no brainer.
Udvar-Hazy from Washington DC
Getting to Udvar-Hazy from DC is a little bit more complicated. That’s why I recommend adding it to the beginning or end of your trip if you’re already heading to IAD. The fastest and easiest way to get to Udvar-Hazy from DC proper is via car. Either Taxi, Uber/Lyft, or a rental car. Yes, taking a car sucks and it’s expensive, but it is the fastest.
You can take a combination of metro, bus, then bus again to get to Udvar-Hazy, but just like getting to Dulles from DC, it’s not very fun. They are working on a single train option, but it’s still in the building phase and not complete yet.
Udvar-Hazy to Dulles IAD Airport
Getting back to Dulles from the Udvar-Hazy Center is easy. Just take the 983 again back towards the Airport. When heading back to the airport the bus will stop at several times, while these are at the airport, they are not the passenger terminal so don’t get off there. Wait until you see the iconic terminal at Dulles, then get off.
Outside the museum are the bus stops. They are well marked and easy to find. The busses run until a few minutes after the closing time so as long as you leave the museum on time, you’ll have no issues getting a ride back to the airport. Again, the busses accept cash, but exact change only so have some singles. The ride takes about 25 minutes per the time table.
Udvar-Hazy Center Final Thoughts
Go to the Udvar-Hazy Center. If you love planes or just have a few hours to kill at IAD, you should absolutely go visit the museum. The museum itself is free to visit, so for $4 worth of bus rides, you can spend a few hours enjoying some amazing planes and spacecraft.
I’m a huge nerd and love everything about the Udvar-Hazy Center. It’s well worth the cost and effort to get here. Even from DC, leave a few hours early and come look at some planes before flying out of IAD.
Using the Fairfax Connector is fast and easy. The No. 983 picks up and drops off right in front of both Dulles Airport and Udvar-Hazy. It’s a much better way to burn 3 hours than sitting in a crappy lounge at the airport. There’s even a restaurant if you want a meal, as of December 2022 it’s now a Shake Shack. In my opinion that’s a pretty good upgrade from the previous McDonald’s.
Bottom line, go to Udvar-Hazy from IAD.
Lots of updates to this story .. Fairfax Connector bus 983 still takes you from Dulles (at curb 2E) to Udvar-Hazy but, as of 11/16/2022 when the Silver Line extension opened, the bus only runs once an hour through much of the day – and the ride takes almost 30 minutes each way. Google search “Fairfax Connector 983” for current schedule.
The restaurant (spelled “restraint” in the article) is now a Shake Shack, not McDonald’s.
Seniors age 65+ can show ID and pay $1 cah each way.
Thanks for the heads up. Shame about the bus route change, it was so convenient. Shake shack is an improvement for sure, I need to make another trip up and see the museum again. I’ll make some updates and correct the typos.
Do you know if there’s a better option for getting to/from the museum? Uber/Lyft/Cabs are always possible, I just loved the simplicity and price of the bus.
I guess 30 minutes isn’t too bad from Udvar-Hazy to the Airport, probably about the same time as waiting for a car. In the other direction I’m sure there’s a glut of them waiting so the bus is probably not worth the time.