The Smithsonian Institution bills itself as “the world’s largest museum complex,” and it’s hard to imagine any other contenders. You could spend a good part of a month visiting all of its 18 Washington, D.C.-area attractions, and since they’re all free, you wouldn’t spend a cent (except for transportation, lunch, and of course, printing photos of your trip).
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History alone can keep the kids busy for at least a full day; if you want to cross the street and explore the National Gallery of Art, better tack on two days more. Or hike all the way across the National Mall (a whopping eighth of a mile) to see modern and contemporary art at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Asian art at the Freer and Sackler Galleries, or African art at the Museum of African Art. Down the Mall, in the direction of the Capitol, you can check in on the eye-popping collection of planes, jets, and space capsules at the National Air and Space Museum, or learn about the languages, history, and arts of America’s native peoples from the ever-rotating exhibits of the National Museum of the American Indian.
New in 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is located between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History.
A little farther afield, but still within walking distance, are the Postal Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, and the Renwick Gallery (devoted to contemporary craft and decorative arts). Much farther afield—out by Dulles Airport, to be exact—you can see the aircraft and space artifacts that can’t fit on the Mall at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
And, of course, no visit to Washington, D.C. would be complete without a trip to the National Zoo, where you can see orangutans swing overhead, birds catch food mid-flight, and seals do tricks for fish.
For more, visit the Smithsonian’s Visitor Information page on their web site. Click here for a map of the Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall.
Travel InformationSmithsonian Museums Hours: Most museums are open daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., every day except Christmas. Admission: Free Parking: Varies by location. Check out the Smithsonian’s Parking Map. Metrorail: Most of the Smithsonian museums are located near Metro stops. |
Nearby Attractions
National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian)
National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian)
National Museum of American History (Smithsonian)
Suggested Tours
Old Town Trolley Tour
A Smithsonian Experience Vacation Package
Is it difficult to find a place to park at the Licoln Memorial and Smithsonian?
Parking around the mall can be extremely difficult. When we go downtown, we tend to loop several times around the Smithsonians until we eventually get lucky, but you’re probably better off parking in a garage a block or two off the mall. It’s a good hike from the Smithsonians to the Lincoln Memorial. You might consider an Old Town Trolley pass, or one of the other tour operators. These trolleys and buses circle around DC and visit all the major sites. You can hop off and hop on at any of their stops with a day pass.
I would like to visit the smithsonian. How can i travel from outside of dc. say maybe richmond area by train to the smithsonian? Thanks
If you take a train to Union Station in D.C., from there, you can use the city’s Metro (subway) to visit the Smithsonian museums and most other places in D.C.