National Gallery of Art
Art · On the National Mall, between 4th and 7th
The only Leonardo painting in the Americas, a free Calder mobile, a sculpture garden.
Always free
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20,896 Google reviews
Free
always free
WASHINGTON · DC
12 best museums in Washington, DC
The Smithsonian's eleven Mall museums plus the National Gallery of Art make Washington one of the only cities where world-class museums are reliably free.
Updated Apr 2026 · 12 min read · 12 museums ·2 bookable ·10 free
Washington · 12 results
Almost every major museum in Washington is free. The eleven Smithsonian museums on the National Mall, the National Gallery of Art, and the Holocaust Memorial all charge nothing. The exceptions — the International Spy Museum, the Phillips Collection — are private institutions and they charge accordingly.
Plan around the Mall’s geography. The Smithsonian museums run east-to-west: the Museum of the American Indian at the east end near the Capitol, then Air and Space, then Hirshhorn, then African American History, then American History, then Natural History, then the National Gallery’s two buildings nearer the Capitol. Comfortable walking distance, but a full day’s work to do justice to even three of them.
Most popular Smithsonian museums require timed-entry passes that release 30 days in advance. Same-day passes appear at 8:15 AM and disappear within minutes. Reserve.
The full directory of every Washington-area museum (75+) is at the bottom of this page.
The ranking
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National Air and Space Museum
Science · On the National MallThe Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Apollo 11 capsule. Always free.
Always freeTimed entry passesView details/ 550,037 Google reviewsFreealways free -
National Museum of Natural History
Natural History · On the National Mall, opposite the CapitolThe Hope Diamond, a T. rex eating a Triceratops, the dome rotunda elephant.
Always freeFamily favoriteView details/ 559,188 Google reviewsFreealways free -
National Museum of African American History and Culture
History · On the National Mall, near the Washington MonumentThe Smithsonian's African American history museum. Plan a full visit.
Always freeTimed entry requiredView details/ 531,122 Google reviewsFreealways free -
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
History · Just south of the Mall, near the Tidal BasinPermanent exhibition tells the history of the Holocaust over three floors.
Always freeView details/ 517,527 Google reviewsFreealways free -
National Museum of American History
History · On the National MallThe Star-Spangled Banner, the Greensboro lunch counter, Dorothy's ruby slippers.
Always freeView details/ 528,223 Google reviewsFreealways free -
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Art · Penn Quarter / ChinatownAmerican art from colonial to contemporary, in the Old Patent Office.
Always freeView details/ 53,859 Google reviewsFreealways free -
National Portrait Gallery
Art · Penn Quarter / ChinatownThe Obama portraits, the presidential portrait series, the Hall of Presidents.
Always freeView details/ 513,740 Google reviewsFreealways free -
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Art · On the National Mall, south sideRound modernist drum on the Mall. Contemporary art and a sunken sculpture garden.
Always freeView details/ 56,331 Google reviewsFreealways free -
International Spy Museum
Specialized · L'Enfant PlazaThe largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display.
Get tickets/ 518,276 Google reviews$30general admission -
Phillips Collection
Art · Dupont CircleAmerica's first museum of modern art. Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.
Get tickets/ 52,320 Google reviews$16general admission -
National Museum of the American Indian
History · On the National Mall, near the CapitolSmithsonian's Indigenous history museum. The Mitsitam Café is the city's best museum food.
Always freeView details/ 511,371 Google reviewsFreealways free