Museums

Archives of the United States of America
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20408

The Archives of the United States of America building houses the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are displayed to the public in the main chamber of the National Archives, which is called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.

Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl SW, Washington, DC 20024

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. The museum is an inspiration for the humankind to promote dignity while confronting hatred and preventing genocide. The museum is home to over 12,750 artifacts, 49 million pages of archival documents, 80,000 historical photographs, 200,000 registered survivors, 1,000 hours of archival footage, 84,000 library items, and 9,000 oral history testimonies.

International Spy Museum
700 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington DC 20024

The International Spy Museum is a private non-profit museum dedicated to the tradecraft, history and contemporary role of espionage, featuring the largest collection of international espionage artifacts currently on public display.

Madame Tussauds Washington
1001 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

This wax musuem first opened its doors over 200 years ago. It features wax sculptures of famous figures from politicians, culture, sports, music and television.

Museum of the Bible
400 4th St. SW Washington, DC 20024

The Museum of the Bible opened on November 17, 2017. It documents the narrative, history and impact of the Bible. There are a little over 1,000 items in its permanent collection. There are approximately 2,000 items on loan from other institutions and collections. Each of the six floors in the museum has a different exhibit related to the history or impact of the Bible.

National Air and Space Museum
6th St. & Independence Ave. SW Washington, DC 20013

An American museum of aviation and space exploration. There are two locations: a building on the Mall in Washington, DC, and the Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia. Together they house 60,000 artifacts and welcome more than eight million visitors a year. It displays many famous artifacts of flight, including Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell XS-1 that Chuck Yeager used to break the sound barrier for the first time, the Apollo 11 command module, and a sample of lunar rock.

National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20560

The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-Saharan and Arab North Africa, 300,000 photographs, and 50,000 library volumes.

National Museum of American History
1400 Constitution Ave NW, Between 12th and 14th Street, Washington DC, DC 20560

National Museum of the American Indian
4th St SW, Independence Ave SW, Washington DC, DC 20560

This is a museum of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.

National Museum of Natural History
National Mall 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW Washington, DC 20560

National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005

This museum is dedicated to discovering and making known women artists who have been overlooked or unacknowledged, and assuring the place of women in contemporary art. The collection includes more than 4,500 objects representing the work of women from the 16th century to the present. The collection features 4,500 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists.

National Portrait Gallery
8th & F St. NW Washington, DC 20001

The mission of the National Portrait Gallery is to tell the story of America by portraying the people who shape the nation’s history, development and culture. As the nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, the "America's Presidents" exhibition lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery's mission to tell the country's history through the individuals who have shaped it. The layout is easy to navigate. The gallery is located in Chinatown and very close to Metro.

Washington National Cathedral
3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016