Sport & Outdoor
IconicNational Mall
FreeWalk the long green lawn from the U.S. Capitol toward the Lincoln Memorial, past monuments, memorials and Smithsonian museums.
Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
MuseumsIconicFamily favoriteRainy-day pick
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is a museum in Washington, DC, part of the Washington DC guide. Cost: free.
10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW · Washington, DC
Why you should go…
Henry the African elephant greets you in the rotunda, and it only gets bigger from there: the Nation's T. rex locked mid-bite in the fossil hall, the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond glinting in the gems gallery, a live butterfly pavilion, and Ocean Hall's life-size North Atlantic right whale overhead. Admission is free with no passes required, and it's open daily except December 25, an easy add between the monuments when weather turns.
- #dinosaurs
- #hope diamond
- #smithsonian
- #fossils
- #free
What's around here?
The closest stops to Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor
- MuseumsIconic
National Archives Museum
FreeStand before the originals: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the marble Rotunda.
0.2 mi awayMore like this
- MuseumsIconic
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
FreeDorothy's ruby slippers, the actual Star-Spangled Banner, and Julia Child's kitchen, America's attic, free on the National Mall.
0.2 mi awayMore like this
- MuseumsRainy-Day Pick
National Museum of Asian Art
FreeWalk two connected Smithsonian galleries of Asian art on the National Mall, including the Peacock Room.
0.2 mi awayMore like this
- Theatre & EventsHistory Buff
Ford's Theatre
Under $25Stand in the theatre where Lincoln was shot, then cross the street to the Petersen House where the story ended.
0.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Theatre & Events
- SightseeingIconic
Washington Monument
FreeRide 500 feet up the world's tallest stone obelisk for the only aerial panorama of the White House, Capitol, and Mall.
0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Near Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
More of the same kind
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington
- National Portrait Gallery, Washington
- National Museum of the American Indian, Washington