Sightseeing
Local GemDupont Circle
FreeSit by the marble fountain, watch a chess game and explore the galleries and embassies around this traffic circle park.
Photo: APK, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
MuseumsDate NightRainy-Day Pick
The Phillips Collection
1600 21st St NW · Washington, DC
Why you should go…
Duncan and Marjorie Phillips founded this museum in 1921 in the family's Georgian Revival house in Dupont Circle, and it calls itself America's first museum of modern art. The collection runs to nearly 3,000 works by impressionist and modern artists, including Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party, bought in 1923. The Rothko Room is the only installation of his paintings made in collaboration with the artist himself. There is a cafe and a shop on site.
- #art museum
- #modern art
- #impressionism
- #rothko room
- #dupont circle
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 The Phillips Collection, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
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Georgetown
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1.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
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Smithsonian American Art Museum
FreeBrowse American art from the colonial era to today, watch conservators at work, and wander thousands of objects in open storage.
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