National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
One of the Smithsonian's most popular museums, with the Hope Diamond, dinosaur fossil halls, an African elephant specimen and an ocean hall. Admission is free.
Opened in 1910, the museum holds a collection of more than 140 million objects. Highlights include the 45.52-carat deep blue Hope Diamond on the second floor; the Deep Time fossil hall, reopened in 2019, with skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex and Diplodocus; the African elephant at the center of the rotunda; the ocean hall's right whale model and living coral tanks; and the Hall of Human Origins. Admission is free and no reservations are needed, but there is security screening at the entrance. Getting there: about a five-minute walk from Smithsonian or Federal Triangle Metro station.
Opening hours
10:00–17:30 (closed Dec 25)
Nearby sights
- National Archives Museum
- Freer Gallery of Art
- National Museum of American History
- Ford's Theatre
- National Gallery of Art
- National Air and Space Museum
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- International Spy Museum