Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian: 19 Museums, All Free
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex: 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centres, the National Zoo, and approximately 155 million total objects in the collections. Annual visitors number around 28 million. Everything on the National Mall is free. The question is not whether to go but which museums to prioritise, given that you cannot realistically cover all of them in anything less than a week.
The Three Most Visited (With Good Reason)
The National Air and Space Museum is the most-visited museum in the United States. The 1903 Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St Louis, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia, and the first American moon rock accessible to touch are all here. The scale of the 1960s space race artefacts is difficult to convey: the Skylab orbital workshop is the size of a small house. Arrive before 10am to avoid weekend queues.
A second Air and Space location at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport holds the Space Shuttle Discovery and a Concorde, among much else, and is significantly less crowded than the Mall building.
The National Museum of Natural History has the Hope Diamond (45.52 carats, deep blue, 340 years old), the dinosaur halls, and the Ocean Hall where a 45-foot North Atlantic right whale model is suspended from the ceiling. That whale is the single best individual room in any Smithsonian museum; the scale of the model and the surrounding exhibit design justify the trip independently.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016 in a building designed by David Adjaye. The exhibition starts in the basement at the chronological beginning (the slave trade, the middle passage, the plantation system) and works upward through emancipation, the civil rights movement, and into contemporary culture. Allow four hours minimum. Timed-entry passes are required; book at si.edu/visit. They sell out weeks ahead at peak periods; check before you arrive in Washington.
The Museums Most Visitors Skip
The Freer and Sackler Galleries together form the national museums of Asian art. The Freer holds the largest collection of James McNeill Whistler’s work anywhere, including the Peacock Room, a full Victorian dining room he decorated. The Asian art holdings (Chinese bronzes, Japanese screens, Persian manuscripts, South Asian sculpture) are world-class. The galleries are consistently uncrowded.
The National Museum of American History has the original Star-Spangled Banner (the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 and inspired the national anthem), 30 feet by 34 feet, in a climate-controlled hall. Julia Child’s actual kitchen from her Cambridge, Massachusetts home is here. Both are worth seeing.
The Hirshhorn is the modern and contemporary art museum on the Mall, with a strong collection from the 1960s through the present. The outdoor sculpture garden is free and open at all hours.
The National Zoo
In Rock Creek Park in the Cleveland Park neighbourhood, not on the Mall. Free, open daily. Giant pandas, great apes, Asian elephants, and the cheetah enclosure. Significantly less crowded on weekday mornings.
Metro: Red Line to Woodley Park-Zoo station, five-minute walk.
Practical Notes
The National Museum of African American History and Culture requires timed-entry passes booked at si.edu/visit. All other Mall museums require no advance reservation.
Most museums are open 10am-5:30pm daily, extending to 7:30pm in summer. All closed December 25.
Smithsonian Station on the Blue/Silver/Orange Metro Lines places you between the Natural History and American History museums. L’Enfant Plaza serves the Air and Space end.
For eating: there is no good restaurant adjacent to the Mall. Old Ebbitt Grill (a block from the White House), Oyamel in Penn Quarter, and Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street are the most reliable nearby options.