I'm trying to get to Rivet City from the various places to the north (Mall, L'Enfant, etc) but can't manage it. All roads south seem blocked and I can't seem to get through any of the underground routes.

Would appreciate help on this. I want to get Billy Wilks settled in and get on to other quests.

Thanks.

From the Mall, take one of the entrances to Museum Station and then follow the line south to Anacostia Crossing Station. Exit the metro there and you'll be at Rivet City.

If you want to take an overland route, just go to Farragut Metro, or Dukov's Place, and follow the river down to Rivet City. You'll have to engage in a few battles along the way though. But then, what else is new?

The easiest way to get to Rivet city is to go to the Citadel head south a little bit until you look over at the jefferson memorial and are south of it, then swim over to Rivet City heading south of the Jefferson Memorial unless you wanna fight the super mutants. If your quick swimming over you should only get 100 rads at the most. I usually can do it in about 70 rads I'll check the next time I head that way.

Yep, without a doubt the quickest wasy to get to rivet city is to follow the river south & avoiding the metro tunnels altogether.

Thanks to you all. Should be very helpful. I haven't found the Citadel or Farragut Metro before. And I've beaten my head against the walls of rubble trying to get to Dukov's Place.

So, just to be clear -- I need to cross the river, head south, and then re-cross it?

PS, Which way to Farragut Metro?

Just get outside of the metro. Look at the map in your pipboy. You want to follow along the eastern or western edge of the river south. Farragut North is east of Grayditch. You will know when you are there when you see raiders shooting across a river at a Behemoth with Minigun and a Master with a Rocket Launcher. If you want to avoid the metro, stay topside along the river. The eastern bank of the river will have more hotspots than the western side. The west bank will have fewer yet more powerful encounters. Or, avoid the whole damn thing and swim your way down. I can do it with one radaway.

To get to Farragut Station, just cross that bridge near the Super Duper Mart and go a little bit south from there. Continue going south and you'll get to Dukov's Place. Keep going and you'll end up in Rivet City. And no, you don't have to recross the river. Rivet City is on the same side as both Farragut Station and Dukov's Place.

PS: Farragut Station is an important one to uncover. If you go inside, you'll find a path that will take you to Chevy Chase, which will lead you to the GNR building. It's the shortest route to get there AFAIK.