Smithsonian Museums
Many people plan to visit "the Smithsonian Museum" when they come to Washington, DC. But what some fail to recognize is that the Smithsonian is actually the world's largest museum complex and research organization. It comprises 19 museums and nine research centers. Each museum is devoted to displaying treasured icons and items of our past, present and future. Be sure to stop by the Visitors Information desk at each museum to pick up a free visitors guide to the Smithsonian system. It details each museum floor by floor and is invaluable in helping you make the most of your visit. You will no doubt find something of interest in the ever-expanding collections of these museums. Listed below are the museums in the Smithsonian system in the Washington, DC, area.
Smithsonian at 8
(202) 633-3030
Various locations, and dates. Fee for attendance.
For visitors age 21 and older, the Smithsonian hosts a series of after-hours gatherings that combine food and drink in some of the Smithsonian's best-known venues giving visitors a uniquely memorable experience.
American Art Museum
(202) 633-7970
8th and F Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20004
Hours and Admission
Open Daily 11:30AM-7PM
Closed on December 25
No admission charged
America's first federal art collection is dedicated to American art. It includes sculpture, photographs, folk art, contemporary craft, paintings and decorative arts. You will find works by Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and many others.
Anacostia Community Museum
(202) 633-4820
1901 Fort Place, SE, Washington, DC 20020
Hours and Admission
Open daily 10am-5pm
Closed December 25
This Smithsonian museum, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, is dedicated to African American history and culture. Everyday objects are featured to provide perspective in history and culture. For example, one exhibit includes a handwritten loan agreement dated 1833; the loan, for $155, secured the freedom of a young enslaved woman.
Arts and Industries Building 
(202) 633-1000
900 Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington, DC
Presently open only for special events hosted by the Smithsonian.
This is the original home of the National Museum, the first in the Smithsonian system of museum. The beautiful building, designed in a High Victorian style, was opened in 1881 in time to host the inaugural ball of President James A. Garfield. It originally housed the contents of 21 freight cars from 30 countries that became Smithsonian property after the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.
The Smithsonian Carousel is located near the building.
Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
(202) 633-4880
Freer: 12th and Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Sackler: 1050 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
Open Daily 10AM-5:30PM
Closed on December 25
No admission charged
These two Smithsonian Museums are connected by an underground exhibition space. They feature wide-ranging collections of American, Egyptian and Asian art works.
Objects include paintings, manuscripts, ceramics and lacquerwork, precious metals, calligraphy, glass and earthenware.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
(202) 633-4674
Corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
Open Daily 10am-5:30pm
Museum Plaza 7:30am-5:30pm
Museum Garden 7:30am-dusk
No admission charged; donations accepted
This Smithsonian museum features international modern and contemporary art. Daily tours conducted by docents. The Sculpture Garden is located on the National Mall and contains more than 60 large-scale works of art from Auguste Rodin, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore and others.
National Air & Space Museum on the Mall
(202) 633-2214
6th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily, though hours sometimes extended to 7:30 pm during peak-summer months, check website for today's hours.
Closed December 25
No admission charged; tickets to IMAX theatre must be purchased
With hundreds of historic and iconic aviation and space artifacts on display, including space capsules from America's first astronauts, Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, and the Wright Brothers aircraft, Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, this museum is among the most popular in the country. You can explore the history of flight, how things fly, learn about the effort to land a human on the moon, experience a flight simulator and many other interesting subjects. The museum also has a five-story IMAX theater and has two options for food service.
Beginning December 3, 2018, the Air & Space Museum will begin undergoing a 7-year rennovation project. Visit their website for more information.
National Air & Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center 
(703) 572-4118
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily, though hours sometimes extended during peak-summer months, check website for today's hours.
Closed December 25
No admission charged for museum, but IMAX tickets must be purchased. Fee for parking.
This is a companion facility to the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
With the space provided in the Boeing Aviation Hanger in Chantilly, Virginia, thousands of aviation and space artifacts that could not be exhibited in the D.C. building are on display. It features three levels with aircraft hanging from an arched ceiling. Exhibits include the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Boeing Dash 80, the Enola Gay, the Mobile Quarantine Unit used by the Apollo 11 crew, the Gemini VII space capsule and other aircraft. The space shuttle Enterprise is the centerpiece of the museum. The museum has two options for food service, as well as several simulator rides available for an additional charge.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
(202) 633-1000
1400 Constitution Avenue Between 14th and 15th Streets, NW, Washington, DC
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
No admission charged
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in September 2016 and is the newest of the Smithsonian Museums. It houses exhibits and artifacts where all Americans can learn about African American history, its contributions, and influences that helped shape this nation.
While admissions to the NMAAHC is free, entry is through required timed entry passes. There are several ways to obtain tickets. Same-day timed entry passes are available online beginning at 6:30 a.m. Eastern daily until they run out. You can get up to four same-day passes. Those are not available via phone, only online. Also, starting next month (January 2019), there will be walk-up entry every weekday. Previously this was only on certain weekdays (Wednesday, I think). Now they are making it available Monday through Friday afternoons, after 1 p.m., all year. During off-peak season, walk-up entry is available all day on weekdays, but they are here in March, which fits into the peak season, so it would be after 1 p.m.
There is also consideration given to veterans, active duty personnel and first responders. If one of the individuals fits into one of those categories, they should show their military or work ID or badge and they can enter the museum along with one guest without a timed entry pass. The caveat here is that entry to the museum is always subject to building capacity, so if it is nearing capacity, they would have to wait until the museum has room to accommodate new visitors. Weekends and holidays are peak visitation times. Visit the NMAAHC's website to learn about all the ways to visit the museum during your stay in the nation's capital.
National Museum of African Art 
(202) 633-4600
950 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
No admission charged
The collection at this museum features artistic expressions from ancient to contemporary Africa, including ceramics, textiles, furniture, tools, masks, figures and musical instruments as well as traditional art forms of painting and sculpture.
National Museum of American History 
(202) 633-1000
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
No admission charged
This museum, recently renovated, features a state-of-the-art gallery for viewing its most famous exhibit: the Star Spangled Banner that served as inspiration for Francis Scott Key. Among other exhibits you will find Mister Rogers' sweater, Kermit the Frog and First Ladies Exhibit. The museum explores the social, political, cultural, scientific and military history of our country.
National Museum of Natural History
(202) 633-1000
1000 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
At the corner of 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily, though hours sometimes extended during peak-summer months, check website for today's hours.
Closed December 25
No admission charged for entrance to museum, although tickets are required for IMAX theatre.
One of the first Smithsonian Museums opened on the National Mall, it houses exhibits focused on the natural world. That includes geology, dinosaurs, animal life, plants and insects. Among the displays you will find the Hope Diamond, a T-rex dinosaur display and Mammal Hall. There is also an IMAX Theater, which shows some of the films in 3-D.
National Museum of the American Indian
(202) 633-1000
4th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
No admission charged
One of the Smithsonian's newest museums on the Mall, this one specializes in exhibits that celebrate and commemorate the ideas and experiences in Native life and history. Its mission is to advance knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere. The exhibits include materials from North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, and include clothing, baskets, textiles, precious metals, featherwork, ceramics and other objects that are associated with Native life.
National Postal Museum 
(202) 633-5555
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Hours and Admission
Open Daily 10am-5:30pm
Closed on December 25
No admission charged
You will find one of the world’s largest collections of stamps and philatelic materials. The museum has postal history material that pre-dates stamps, vehicles that were used to transport the mail, mailboxes and mailbags, postal uniforms and equipment. Visitors learn how the process of mail delivery has evolved and the importance of letters in our history.
National Portrait Gallery
(202) 633-1000
8th and F Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20001
Hours and Admission
Open Daily 11:30AM-7PM
Closed on December 25
No admission charged
Specializes in American art, history and biography , including works by Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. It contains visual arts, performing arts and new media to portray individuals who have shaped our country's culture. Collections include American presidents, George Washington, Colonial America and the American Revolution. The America's Presidents exhibit is the nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House.
National Zoological Park
(202) 633-4888
3001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Hours and Admission
October 1-March 14: 9am-4pm
March 15-September 30: 9am-6pm
Hours are subject to change due to special events. Please consult the National Zoo's website for today's hours.
No admission charged, parking for fee.
The National Zoo is more than just a place to see wild animals. In the heart of the nation's capital, you can see giant pandas, cheetahs, zebra, bears, monkeys and gorillas. More than 2,000 individual animals of nearly 400 species are on display, including giant pandas: Tian Tian, Mei Ziang and their cub, Tai Shan. If you visit the Zoo in early morning hours before the buildings open, the animals are more active, and you can watch zookeepers feed and care for the animals.
Renwick Gallery
(202) 633-7970
Pennsylvania and 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Hours and Admission
10am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
No admission charged
This National Historic Landmark is part of the Smithsonian Museum collection. It features American crafts and decorative arts from the 19th to the 21st century.
Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle)
(202) 633-1000
1000 Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Hours and Admission
Open 8:30am-5:30pm daily
Closed December 25
Popularly known as The Castle, the original Smithsonian Institution Building served as the home for the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Joseph Henry and his family. It is a medieval-revival-style building that was completed in 1855. The crypt of James Smithson (1765-1829), a well-to-do English scientist who was the benefactor of the Institution, is located here. Smithson bequested his estate of $508,318 ($10 million in today's dollars) to establish in Washington, DC, for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." The Castle serves as the Smithsonian Information Center as well as the administrative offices. An 18-minute video orientation, two interactive touch-screen stations with information on the Smithsonian museums in six languages and one scale model of Washington, DC, are available here.
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