Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC Tickets and Tours

The Smithsonian American Art Museum not only houses the premier collection of American art in the world, but it is also one of the most interesting and visited attractions in the United States. So, if you are planning your trip, you can't leave it out of the things to see and do in Washington.

This museum is mainly oriented to contemporary art, although it also has rooms dedicated to crafts and photography, complete information on the artistic movements of the United States of all times and the largest number of works by painters Edward Hopper and Albert Bierstadt and African American sculpture Edmonia Lewis.

If you want to learn more about local artistic creations, this museum offers an in-depth tour of American works from the 19th and 20th centuries, with emphasis on artists after the Great Depression, the period that plunged the United States into one of the worst economic crises in its history.

Admission to the American Art Museum is free, as are all attractions on the Smithsonian circuit.

Admission to this attraction includes the tour of all the rooms, the guided tour and also admission to the Renwick Gallery, which is part of the museum but is located in a building near the White House.

Tickets are available at the museum's box office and guided tours, which are group tours, can be booked on the official website. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is open every day of the year except December 25.

The Welcome Center located to the right of the museum entrance will provide you with all the necessary information about the temporary exhibits.

Given the magnitude of the museum, some tour operators offer tours with the assistance of an expert local guide or specialized tours on the work of some of the artists exhibited in the galleries.

Details of interest

• Price... Admission to the museum is free and includes a guided tour and admission to the Renwick Gallery.
• Hours... The museum is open daily, except December 25, from 11:30 am to 7:00 pm. The Renwick Gallery is open from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.
• Location... The museum is located at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, Washington DC. The Renwick Gallery is located at Pennsylvania Avenue & 17th Street, Washington DC.

Admission to the Smithsonian American Art Museum is free, so it is not included in the city's tourist passes. However, the museum's location, close to Washington DC' s best monuments on the National Mall, makes it very accessible to visit.

The Washington Sightseeing Pass includes among its attractions a bike tour of Capitol Hill, the entrance to the Madame Tussauds DC wax museum and several excursions around the area of the American Art Museum so if you buy the pass you can visit it when you finish one of these activities.

The Washington Sightseeing Pass also includes transfers on Washington's hop on-hop off sightseeing buses, which have several stops in the area of the American Art Museum. This way you can save time and money to get to the National Mall using the services of your Sightseeing Pass.

The museum includes in your admission the option to join a group and take a guided tour. I recommend you opt for this option, as the American Art Museum has the largest collection of works by contemporary American artists and traces a large part of the history of the United States in the 20th century through its exhibits.

With a guided tour you can learn about the painters of the Great Depression, the greatest local exponents of photography and the many secrets of the museum.

Without a doubt, an expert local guide will allow you to get the most out of one of the best museums in Washington DC.

The Renwick Gallery also has guided tours available and can be visited with the same ticket as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The museum is located at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, very close to the National Mall and the Capitol. It is the most visited area of Washington DC and can be reached in several ways.

By bus lines 79, D6, GT-US and L-100 have stops near the museum. By train it can be reached on the Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line and Marc services.

By Metro you can get there via the Yellow, Green and Red lines getting off at Gallery Place-Chinatown Station. This is the most advisable option if you plan to use public transportation because the bus may be delayed by traffic and the train may be a less direct option.

It is also possible to access by car, but parking in the area is very limited, although the American Art Museum has agreements with most of them to get discounts for hours of use.

Washington DC hop on-hop off tour buses have stops nearby and are a good option if you are using this service to tour the city. You can also get to the museum by bike if you rented one and are touring the National Mall and Capitol Hill at your own pace.

Useful details

• By bus you can get there... With the 79, D6, GT-US and L-100 lines.
• By train... Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line and Marc.
• By Metro you can get there... With the Yellow, Green and Red lines getting off at Gallery Place-Chinatown Station.

It is one of the twenty most visited museums in the United States and one of the hundred most visited museums in the world.

It has the largest collection of works by contemporary American artists and also one of the most complete photography galleries, so visiting the American Art Museum is one of the things you can not miss among the attractions you have to see and do in Washington DC.

The collection of works by New Deal artists is one of the most important. There you could see paintings that portray America's zeitgeist through jazz, street life, industries, workers and families that were contributing to change the country forever.

Edward Hopper's Cape Cod Morning and the realistic paintings of John Sloan and Andrew Wyeth shine.

The museum also has an important sculpture collection. You'll find works by Edmonia Lewis, Augusta Savage, Hiram Powers and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.

There are rooms dedicated exclusively to the work of women artists and I recommend that you do not miss the historical review that makes the museum using the works as a reference.

Other exhibits housed in the museum include displays of African American art, Asian American art, Latino art and works on paper.

There are also rooms dedicated to early American art, with works by local representatives Thomas Cole and Horatio Greenough. The museum's photography exhibits grow year by year and occupy a large part of the American Art Museum's holdings.

The complete tour of the American Art Museum can take approximately four hours. In that time you will be able to visit all the rooms and temporary exhibits as well as the photography exhibit.

Guided tours usually last between an hour and an hour and a half and not only tour the museum's artistic heritage, but also its infrastructure and architecture.

If you are visiting Washington for just one day, you can opt for a simplified tour that will last no more than two hours.

To do so, you will have to choose which rooms you are most interested in visiting and divide your tour among those exhibits. I recommend that you do not leave out the last two floors or the photography exhibit.

The American Art Museum is large but has an organized circuit and very well divided by sectors, so if you have little time before visiting you can organize an itinerary so as not to miss any of the most interesting exhibitions.

Keep in mind that if you also want to visit the Renwick Gallery you will have to move a few blocks, as it is in another building, and the tour can take approximately two hours.

Details of interest

• Touring time... Visiting the entire museum could take you more than four hours, but you can organize an itinerary and visit the main areas in less than two hours.
• I recommend that you don't miss... The contemporary American art exhibits on the top floor and the photography exhibition.

The museum is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day except December 25. Guided tours start every hour and the last departure is at 6:00 pm.

With admission to the Smithsonian American Art Museum you can also access the Renwick Gallery, which is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p. m. daily, except December 25, as is the main museum.

Hours are subject to change without notice, especially since the museum sometimes hosts private events, so I recommend that you check the calendar on themuseum' s official websitebefore your visit.

It is one of the most complete museums in Washington DC and also nourishes with part of its heritage other sites in the city such as the Museum of African American History, so its tour can be exhausting but very interesting.

I recommend that if you have little time you organize an estimated itinerary of the rooms you want to visit and do not stop too much in the long explanations of each sample.

The American Art Museum is also a reservoir of American culture and a reconstruction of the history of the country through the works of its artists. It is the world's most comprehensive museum of contemporary art.

If you have time I advise you to visit it at your leisure because you can learn a lot about American society, its changes and its mysteries.

A very effective way to squeeze time and avoid crowds in the museum is to arrive as soon as it opens at 11.30 am, before lunch. Since it is not an early-opening museum, most tourists choose to visit in the afternoon.

The museum is very well organized and the photography rooms are excellent so my recommendation is that you do not miss it. There you can see some of the work of some of America's iconic photographers.

If in addition to this attraction you are interested in other similar attractions in the city, here is a list of the best museums in Washington DC.

If you are one of those who prefer to take a gift from each of the places you visit, in the museum you will have many options to get the ideal gift. From books and postcards to glasses and home décor you can choose from a wide variety of items to purchase.

The American Art Museum store is located inside the main building and you can visit it when you take the tour or purchase your gift in advance online and pick it up the day of your visit.

The store also provides information about the artists' work and about other art museums in Washington DC.

• Hours... The store is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.
• Location... The store is located inside the museum building at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, Washington DC.

The American Art Museum's location, very close to the National Mall, also ensures that when you leave the museum you have plenty of options for where to eat. The Capitol Hill loop has many local and international restaurants, and a few blocks away at Eastern Market, you'll find fast and less expensive food.

Near Ford's Theater you can find affordable pizza restaurants and on U Street, off the main loop but a few subway stations away from the museum, a large and varied gastronomic offer ranging from Salvadoran empanadas to Ethiopian desserts.

In the area of the National Esplanade there are plenty of cafes and bakeries, ideal places if your tour ends in the afternoon. There are also fast food places and some restaurants offering Mediterranean dishes.

Inside the museum you can also visit the Courtyard Cafe, which stands out for its extensive menu that includes sandwiches, soups, cakes, salads, coffee and alcoholic beverages. Just keep in mind that it is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.