Skip to content
BusinessesGrow
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

Photo: Billy Hathorn, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsHistory BuffRainy-Day PickFree

National Portrait Gallery

8th and G Streets NW · Washington, DC

Why you should go…

The National Portrait Gallery tells American history through portraits of poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists. Its America's Presidents gallery holds the nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits. The museum shares the Old Patent Office Building, a National Historic Landmark built between 1836 and 1867, with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Between them is the Kogod Courtyard, a glass-canopied space with seating and a cafe.

  • #smithsonian
  • #art museum
  • #presidential portraits
  • #portraiture

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to National Portrait Gallery, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums
    Rainy-Day Pick

    Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Free

    Browse American art from the colonial era to today, watch conservators at work, and wander thousands of objects in open storage.

    Right next doorMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    Capital One Arena

    $50+

    Catch Capitals hockey, Wizards basketball, Georgetown games and big concert tours at this downtown arena in Chinatown.

    Steps awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Theatre & Events
    History Buff

    Ford's Theatre

    Under $25

    Stand in the theatre where Lincoln was shot, then cross the street to the Petersen House where the story ended.

    Steps awaySwitch it up: Theatre & Events

  • Museums
    Iconic

    National Archives Museum

    Free

    Stand before the originals: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the marble Rotunda.

    0.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    Iconic

    Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

    Free

    The Hope Diamond, the Nation's T. rex, and Henry the elephant, the Mall's busiest free museum packs the whole natural world under one green dome.

    0.5 mi awayMore like this

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Iconic

    National Mall

    Free

    Walk the long green lawn from the U.S. Capitol toward the Lincoln Memorial, past monuments, memorials and Smithsonian museums.

    0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor