Washington, D.C.: Museum Hopping in DC

There are two types of museums in D.C.: free ones (usually associated with the Smithsonian Institute) & not free ones. In a city with so many great museums that are free admission, paying $18 or $20 to go into one is a tough pill for me to swallow. In fact, I’ve only been to one of our paid museums, & that’s only because I had a Groupon. Still, many visitors flock to these paid museums – I can attest to this first hand, as my office used to be across the street from the very popular Spy Museum*. SO, here’s the run down on what’s free, what’s not, & what my favorites are.

Obviously, the creme-dela-creme are the 19 museums (& the zoo!) associated with the Smithsonian. “The Smithsonian” is often high on visitor’s do-to lists, without them realizing that “The Smithsonian” is an institution, not one physical thing. I love many of the Smithsonian museums, for different reasons. The National Air & Space Museum is consistently ranked as being everyone’s favorite museum. It boasts the front half of a Boeing 747, the Wright Brothers plane, & lots of rockets & space toys – I could literally spend hours wandering here. If you have a car while you’re in town, there’s an extension to the museum out by Dulles Airport that has a Concorde, a space shuttle, & the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb – it’s a great exhibit & worth the drive. The National Museum of American History has the original flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner – you won’t believe how huge it is (they also have the puffy shirt from Seinfeld, an original steam engine, & a recreation of Julia Child’s kitchen). The National Museum of Natural History is home to the Hope Diamond (it’s disappointingly small) & a really cool exhibit on marine life & oceanography (would be great for kids who are into animals). The National Museum of the American Indian has, hands down, the best food on the entire National Mall – if you’re hungry, duck into their cafeteria & take some time to enjoy their colorful exhibits.

Make sure & check the hours of the museum for when you’re visiting – they normally close at 5pm, but some stay open later during the summer.

There are a couple big hitters in town when it comes to dropping down your hard earned cash to go to a museum. I am personally of the mindset that there are hundreds of hours of things to do at the free places, so why the heck would you pay, but hey, who am I to judge. One of the most popular museums with the paying crowd is the previously mentioned Spy Museum. General admission is $19 for adults, $14 for children. The first quarter of the museum is dedicated to the tools of espionage – lipstick that’s actually a gun, an umbrella that shoots poison, etc. The other 3/4 is about espionage throughout the years. Be forewarned that it is a lot of reading, especially the second half, & especially for kids. But it was all still interesting to look at, especially if you’re into spying, the Cold War, & or/history.

A paid museum I’m really looking forward to checking out again is the Newseum. Dedicated to the history of all things news & journalism, this museum calls out to a media nerd like me. It’s $21.95 for adults & $12.95 for youth – a bit steep – but everyone who has been has told me it’s absolutely worth it. One of the exhibits that gets the most talk is, not surprisingly perhaps, the 9/11 Gallery. It features newspaper front pages from around the globe covering the attacks & the radio antenna from the top of the World Trade Center. The other gallery I’m looking forward to seeing is a collection of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs & the explanations behind each shot.

Other popular paid museums in D.C. include Madame Tussauds wax museum, the National Geographic Museum (check the web site, they have always have interesting, rotating exhibits), & the National Museum of Crime & Punishment.

*Funny side story: There are always mobs of school kids loading & unloading from buses in front of the museum, blocking the entire sidewalk & generally acting like teenagers do. Once, while trying to get through the crowd while running late to work, I let out a sigh & said “Please move, some of us are trying to get to work here!” A parent chaperone turned around, looked me dead in the eye & said “Are you a lobbyist? Oh my gosh, you are, aren’t you?” I rolled my eyes & continued on. No, genius, not everyone in D.C. is a lobbyist.