Nationals Park Guide 2025
Go ahead and ask any of your baseball friends to list their favorite ballparks. Unless they’re from DC, it’s unlikely that any of them will mention Nationals Park. But why shouldn’t they?
Opened in 2008, Nats Park once sat in an underdeveloped part of D.C. The Navy Yard neighborhood was once home to the country’s largest naval shipbuilding facility but had little in the way of neighborhood charm. Flash forward almost two decades, and Nats Park checks so many of our boxes for “excellent ballpark” that we think it really needs to show up on more fans’ radar screens. What was once an overlooked area is now a thriving, young neighborhood with an impressive restaurant and bar scene. The ballpark is easily accessible by public transit, the tickets are affordable, and there are interesting seating options that make a multi-day visit to the park almost a requirement.
Our five-part guide to Nationals Park will help you plan the perfect trip to see baseball in southwest DC. We’ll cover:
- Travel: Getting to DC
- Lodging: Where you should stay in DC
- Local Transit: How you should get around DC
- Seating: Where to sit, how to buy, and whether to opt for premium seating
- Gameday: What to do before/during/after the game
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Why you should visit Nationals Park
Neighborhood Vibes
Surrounded by food and attractions, Navy Yard has become a fun neighborhood to catch a game.
Solid Eats
The quality and variety of the food options make for good eating throughout the ballpark.
Seating Choices
Affordable tickets, plus fun social areas like the Budweiser Terrace and Michelob Ultra Loft.
DC Summers
DC in summer is fantastic (if not a little sweaty).
Presidents Race
Maybe Teddy will win the Presidents race while you’re there!
How many Nationals games should you see?
We think that Nats Park is a solid two-game ballpark. You could do a game from the general bowl on one day, and then a game from the Budweiser Terrace or Michelob Ultra Loft on the second day. If you feel like sticking around for a third game, you could grab a ticket in the PNC Diamond Club and treat yourself to a day of premium seating. Plus, there’s enough to do around the ballpark to warrant at least two games in DC.
When should you go to Nationals Park?
In a nutshell – anytime. Sure, a night game in April or even early May might be sweater weather, but a day game in either month is likely to be absolutely beautiful. Everyone knows DC summers can be ridiculously humid, but that’s no reason to stay away. If you don’t love the sun beating down on you on a 95-degree summer day, then we’ll tell you where to find seats in the shade so you can keep cool. There’s no bad time to be in DC between opening day and the end of September.
As for opponents, you’re in the Northeast corridor, so you can expect plenty of visiting fans coming down for a weekend series versus Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Mets, Yankees, and Boston. Atlanta has become a great rivalry as well, so Braves fans turn out too. And, of course, everyone wants to see the Dodgers.
Despite the influx of visitors from neighboring states, getting tickets to see the Nats is rarely a problem. For the more popular opponents, you may be better off purchasing tickets directly from the team when they go on sale rather than waiting on the secondary market, but if you’re not fussy about where you’re sitting, there are usually tickets available for a reasonable price. (But note: with the Soto signing, you can expect the Friday and Saturday games in late April against the Mets to be very high-demand events).
Where Nationals Park is located
Nationals Park is located in Southwest DC in the Navy Yard neighborhood, just off the Anacostia River, one block away from the Navy Yard metro station. The area is one of the fastest-growing in the city, and is home to a vibrant residential neighborhood as well as office buildings, bars, and restaurants. It’s a great place to pregame, and there are certainly enough bars and restaurants to choose from, including some right on the river.
There are also a handful of mid-range-plus hotels in the area, and while they aren’t necessarily cheap on game days, they usually don’t break the bank. Plus, given how close it is to the metro system, there are plenty of hotel options that are closer to some of DC’s tourist attractions, while still being just a 20-minute ride away from the park.
Even better, if you’re flying into DC’s Reagan Airport (DCA), it’s usually just a quick 30-minute Metro ride to the airport, and rarely more than 20 minutes away by car (even with traffic). For those traveling to DC via Dulles Airport (IAD) or Baltimore/Washington Airport (BWI), you’ll have a longer commute to the stadium, but we’ll cover that in the transit chapter.
About your Nationals Park Stadium Insiders
My name is Adam, and I’m a D.C. local and sports nut.
Having grown up in Virginia, I’ve been surrounded by Nationals fandom all my life: from the franchise’s lowest moments, to the 2019 World Series title, and everything in between. In my free time, I enjoy coaching Little League baseball across the Potomac River in Arlington and playing softball on the National Mall.
In my opinion, Nationals Park is easily one of the more underrated MLB stadiums in the country. With an easy-to-navigate layout and tons of increasingly unique food choices, D.C.’s ballpark has plenty to offer fans. My personal favorite food in the park is the ahi tuna nachos at Kam & 46 in the left field concourse. Regardless if this is your first trip to the stadium or your 100th, I hope this guide makes your fandom all the more special.
Hi! My name is Aidan, and I’ve lived right next to Nationals Park for two years now … I’m so close, you can look into the stadium from the roof of my apartment building! I grew up as a huge baseball fan, both watching and playing the sport, and I was drawn to the idea of living right next to an MLB stadium when I moved to DC. Originally from New Jersey, my love for attending baseball games started when my older brother would take me to Shea Stadium as a little kid, kicking off my chase to visit to all 30 stadiums — slow and steady wins the race!
Although I was not raised locally, I now live the DC baseball scene every day. I’ve attended over 20 games over the past two seasons and have fallen in love with what Nats Park has to offer, not to mention the community around it, which is now my home. You can often find me getting into the stadium early, grabbing a table at the Change Up Food Hall in center field, and discovering the special food item they’ve created for that series.
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