6 Best Smithsonian Museums You Must Visit in Washington DC

Washington it's a city of museums, which you should take into account when planning your visit to the capital of the United States.

And the main example of this characteristic is the cultural institution called Smithsonian Institution on which the main ones depend Washington museums.

Founded in 1846 for the dissemination of knowledge based on the economic legacy of the British scientist James Smithson (1765-1829), it became a private institution with the support of the North American State dedicated to the promotion of culture.

Nowadays the Smithsonian Institution It is a group that has 19 museums and 9 research centers. most of them based in Washington, although also in New York y Virginia.

La Smithsonian headquarters known as The Castle, and is located in a building located in the Washington National Mall, the great avenue that will be the focus of your visit to the American capital.

All these museums you can visit for free yy its hours are from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.

Which Smithsonian Museums to Visit in Washington DC

Main Smithsonian Institute museums that you can visit in Washington are the following:

National Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum, which is undoubtedly the most popular among visitors to the American capital.

In this museum you can see airplanes and spaceships that are already part of the history of Humanity, and it is an essential visit if you are an aviation fan.

National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History, which preserves a large collection of objects of historical figures and prestige, from the president himself Washington until, for example, Judy Garland.

Freer National Gallery of Art in Washington

National Gallery of Art, a museum that presents a collection of paintings and sculptures of European origin and a large exhibition of American painting.

National Museum of Natural History in Washington

National Museum of Natural History, during whose visit you will find a collection of plants and animals from all over the world, as well as precious stones among which is the famous diamond Hope.

Museum and garden of sculptures Hishorn

Hishorn Sculpture Museum, with a collection of modern and contemporary art in a striking cylindrical design building designed by Gordon Bunshaft, and surrounded by a sculpture garden.

National Museum of the American Indians

National Museum of the American Indians, in which you can learn the history of the indigenous Indians who inhabited the lands of the United States before its colonization.

What to see when visiting Washington museums

In our trip to washington, we only had time to visit the Air and Space Museum, but our friend Salvador if you visited any other museum during your Coast to coast trip through the United States, and in this chronicle he summarizes his experience.

“On our third day in Washington, we have headed towards the central railway station, the Union Station, where we left the car in a parking building attached to it. From the top floor of the parking lot we have a great panoramic view of Washington.

We take the opportunity to take a walk around the Union Station, a very stately building, like everything in this city, sober, elegant, that doesn't really look like a train station.

We also walked through its enormous Food Court, an area with a multitude of shops.

Walking through National Mall we got to the American Indian museum (Museum of American Indian), which we decided to visit. It is a great museum, in an original, very well designed building.

show the history of the indian nation (indigenous) from the entire American continent, north and south: their universes, the different peoples, the lives and the return to the place of origin.

When we left we headed to the adjacent museum, the National Air and Space Museum, with the purpose of seeing the Apollo ships who managed to go and return from the Moon. Amazing!.

From the current perspective of technology, these Apollos are more similar to Columbus's caravels than to current airplanes.

Today's visit to the museums (American Indian y Air & Space) can reflect the extremes of American history."