How do you get to the Smithsonian? (With DC By Foot, of course!)
In reality, it depends - which one do you want to go to? There are 20 museums AND the National Zoo. You can't possibly see everything there is to see.
In fact, if you spent 1 minute at each exhibit it would take more than 258 years to see them all, but we're to help make sure you see the highlights.
We offer 90-minute tours that highlight an individual Smithsonian museum exploring the highlights on the National Mall in our enthusiastic and entertaining way.
We do NOT see everything... but we will endeavor to show you the coolest things on display. This is not a standard museum tour - expect intrigue and laughter (inside voices, though!)
AusgezeichnetDC by Foot5.0★★★★★ Basierend auf 986 Bewertungen vonAlle Rezensionen anzeigen bewerte uns aufPhil S. ★★★★★ Dan King did a great job with the background info of the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and Capitol. He was energetic and extremely informative. Fantastic information.Harshad S. ★★★★★ Katherine was a great tour guide on the Capitol Hill & Liabrary Of Congress Tour! She was friendly and knowledgeable. I would 100% recommend this tour.Kathy S. ★★★★★ We did two walking tours with DC by Foot, and both were excellent. We toured Arlington National Cemetery with John, and arranged a private tour including the Library of Congress with Eli. Both guides were engaging and very knowledgable. It was clear that they love history and that they're always trying to learn more.I was impressed that when I asked Eli a question that he couldn't answer, he found a link with the information and shared it with me before the end of the tour.I would highly recommend these walking tours.Shahpar A. ★★★★☆ It was an amazing experience with Katherine Fisher. She was witty, kept things short and interesting and made us go through important historical facts without boring us which is a great asset to have as a tour guide.DC by foot is a great walking tour service and I wish them all the best.Peta D. ★★★★★ We recently attending the Moonlight & Memorials walking tour with Cecelia and it was absolutely fantastic.This tour covers such an important and beautiful part of the National Mall and surrounds, but it was Cecelia's passion and knowledge that made this evening so memorable.I have taken many Free Tours by Foot in other states and countries and they are always brilliant. It's a wonderful service and all the guides are amazing.Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge and enabling us to create amazing memories.Shokoofeh S. ★★★★★ I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, Intro to Washington DC. The tour guide Katherine was fun, highly knowledgeable, very engaging and everything and full of tips for the rest of the trip. The length of the tour and also duration was just perfect. I highly recommend it and I will definitely pick up other tours in my next visits.Kim E. ★★★★★ Dan was truly a fantastic guide. He made history come to life - I would not thought this area had so much of interest but it’s been our favorite tour of a weekend of tours and while Dan was the main reason I have faith they have more Dans on staff.Ashley M. ★★★★★ Emilia was great! She was entertaining, funny, and our entire group enjoyed listening to her stories.Ben Z. ★★★★★ We just finished our second tour with DC by Foot and with Dan King!! I would definitely recommendJana Z. ★★★★★ Dan King was a great tour guide!! Absolutely book DC by foot directly they are awesome!Ogi A. ★★★★★ The tour is good - for about 3 hours you could see a lot.. I recommend it. Dan was a great guide.Eli A. ★★★★★ Rob V. ★★★★★ We had a very informative tour with Dan. He is a very pleasant and enthousiastic guide. We enjoyed his company.McAleers ★★★★★ Amazing tour with Dan King with so much historical detail and engagement with the group. Will definitely recommend to everybody we know when in DC!C C. ★★★★★ We had a wonderful Moonlight and Memorials Tour with Dan King as our tour guide. He was knowledgable, engaging, and enthusiastic! I debated whether to do a walking tour vs a non-walking tour. I am so happy I chose the former. Go ahead and sign up for any tours organized by DC By Foot! I am certain you will be more than pleased to do so!Aine S. ★★★★★ Great tour of the Library of Congress and Capital building. Our guide Dan King was brilliant, full of knowledge and great sense of humour. Highly recommend DC on foot.Scott G. ★★★★★ Great tour-very informative and interesting. Nice leisurely pace.Maryanne W. ★★★★★ We had a great walking tour of Arlington Cemetery with Ingeborg. She gave us tons of good information and was very personable. Would definitely do another tour with her.Jeffrey K. ★★★★★ The tour was great! Eli was informative and interesting.Wendy E. ★★★★★ We had an evening tour on Abraham Lincoln’s assassination with Becca. She is a great tour guide, responsive to the groups’ questions and very knowledgeable on the topic.Her engaging nature and encouraging the group to ask questions made the tour memorable. Would strongly recommend the tour,Shea G. ★★★★★ The Ghosts of Georgetown tour was great. Walking through beautiful, historic Georgetown in the evening is nice in and of itself, but this tour made it even better. The tour lasted about 90 minutes and was a very pleasant amount of walking; nothing to steep or strenuous required. Our guide, Georgia, was very knowledgeable and fun. She told us around 5 "spooky" stories while giving us what was actually more of a fun way to do a historical tour.We had 3 kids with us, the youngest being 7, and nobody was made scared by the ghost stories. They are more whimsical than anything else.One thing to be aware of is that you should pre-plan your method of returning home at the end of the tour. The metro bus near the endpoint runs every 15-20 mins, so be ready to wait a bit if that is to be your choice of transit. We used a rideshare service, which arrived in about 5 minutes, but obviously cost more.Susan D. ★★★★★ Love a good story? This tour is a peak at the past and the development of this beautiful area in DC that once were the homes of “new wealth” and today house the embassies from all over the world. Loved it.Vikram A. ★★★★★ Very much intresting, knowledgable & entertaining tour. Highly recommended.Aaron G. ★★★★★ This tour was great! The tour guide was very energetic and super knowledgeable. We walked around a couple monuments and the White House. The tour is free and then you just pay whatever you want to guide at the end. That was an awesome feature. I would definitely recommend this tour and I will be doing it again.Kirsty G. ★★★★★ Becca was fantastic!! Her knowledge and recreation was amazing. Thank you 🌷Mariah H. ★★★★★ Becca was our guide and was absolutely fantastic! I will be recommending this tour to my friends when they come to DC!Yohana de A. ★★★★★ Brooke F S. ★★★★★ Five Stars all the way! My teens and I did the Capitol Hill and Library of Congress tour with DC by Foot and loved it. Becca was a fantastic guide! She is super knowledgeable and took time to answer everyone’s questions and snap photos for us at the most iconic sites. I’m so glad we booked the tour—we got much more out of our time at the capital than we would have on our own.Tejas S. ★★★★★ DC By Foot providing such a super excellent and knowlegable tours. I booked this tour and I got such a nice and friendly guide John. It was amesing tourlisa F. ★★★★★ Eli was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Georgetown and its history. I enjoyed my walking tour and would highly recommend it to anyone else.David B. ★★★★★ Excellent tour of the Washington Monument to the White House and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered all the questions. Great pace and allowed picture taking opportunities.Dalal D. ★★★★★ We really liked our guide Eli. He was very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. He helped us appreciate the history and details of what we were seeing. I highly recommend this tour!Laura B. ★★★★★ The Georgetown Ghost tour was a fun and interesting way to experience history. Our 9, 11, and 13 year olds enjoyed the tour as well.Heather J. ★★★★★ My daughter and I loved this tour. So many interesting and touching stories. Love Georgetown so much.Lydia T. ★★★★★ The tour was amazing and Eli was a great guide. Highly recommendAmy O. ★★★★★ What a great tour! The guide was friendly and super knowledgeable. Made everything more relevant and interesting to have the background scoop!Melody M. ★★★★★ Katherine did the Monuments tour and it was terrific! Good pace, lots of local “tips” and full of great stories - not just facts. Katherine was very knowledgeable and made the tour fun. I highly recommend.Seeing Marine One was an added treat!Carrie T. ★★★★★ Although I personally wasn’t able to go on the tour, my husband and children ages 9-16 went on the 2 hour Memorial Tour in DC with Kevin. Despite it being rainy and cold the morning they went, they said it was one of the best things we did all week. Definitely recommend!jennifer B. ★★★★★ We had a great time with Rebecca on our DC Tour! Very thankful for the "pay your rate" pricing schedule as we were able to take our whole family and learn so much within our budget. Thanks again!Kari T. ★★★★★ Becca was great! Very informative tour about the assassination of Lincoln.marissa H. ★★★★★ We did the Lincoln Assassination Tour and it was great! Although it was raining, our guide Becca, made the tour interesting and fun…we almost forgot about the poor weather! Becca was so knowledgeable and friendly. Would definitely recommend if you visit DC. Our kids loved it too (8&9 y/o).Sheri J. ★★★★★ Loved the walking tour by Becca! She was so entertaining & informative, it felt like we were back in time.Kimberly W. ★★★★★ Our second walking tours by foot, and it was even better than the first, which was hard to imagine! Such a great night where Becca remained so energetic and positive dispute the rain! You will not be disappointed!!!Julia T. ★★★★★ Had a great time with Eli! Took my 13y.o. and he enjoyed it too. Teenage folk is hard to please, so that tells you something 🙂Courtney L. ★★★★★ Very informative tour. There was lots of historical info tied into folklore. I loved how the guide showed us several homes lived in by the Kennedy family. Would highly recommend!Jessica H. ★★★★★ Becca was an excellent, energizing and interesting tour guide. We learned so much on the Library of Congress and Capital tour. this was our favorite tour of the weekend, and we would recommend it highly. The library of Congress is the most beautiful building in DC!!Josie W. ★★★★★ Excellent tour with Katherine. Would definitely recommend.Leila B. ★★★★★ I was taking my family to DC and was looking for a cheaper alternative to the usual hop on hop off bus. I found this website and it had great reviews and for a small fee you could book a walking tour. We decided to book the evening tour of the national mall which was brilliant. The meeting details provided were easy to find and I received communication from Ingeborg before the tour which was helpful. Our tour group was average size. Ingeborg was brilliant from the beginning. Friendly, professional, welcoming, great humour and she made the tour really fun and interesting. We tipped her at the end and they do guide you as to how much but no pressure to tip it is optional. We felt she deserved a good tip, it was a brilliant tour and excellent value for money. I would definitely book a tour with them again and would be very happy if we had Ingeborg again. Please pass my sincere thank you to her for making my familys trip to DC so memorable for all the right reasons. I will also recommend to family, friends and colleagues, keep up the good work, you are amazing at what you do.Ann M. ★★★★★ Easy meet up instructions, good guide (Dan). Easy to hear, very knowledgeable, and eager to answer questions. Library of Congress tour was stunning. Ample time to take pictures and move freely even with a lot of other tourists. Would recommend.Jeff M. ★★★★★ Eli was great! Informative and funny. My daughters really liked the stories of women who lived in Georgetown - Julia Child, a code breaker, and others.Owami M. ★★★★★ I have a good and trustworthy account manager that allows me to withdraw my profits anytime I want and I can monitor everything going on in my account when he is busy trading with he expert team and I don't have issues with pending withdrawals. I must admit that he's a very honest man. I have no way of thanking he than letting people know about he services and recommend him for everyone to trade on he's platform. he's 100% accurate and up-to-date. Kindly contact him: FB: Killian Bayer WhatsApp: +1 (707) 654-4150 Email: killianbayer704@gmail.comKristin K. ★★★★★ Had the pleasure of meeting Kevin today for our Arlington National Cemetery tour. He was awesome and offered so much information- on a VERY hot and humid day.Lucy M M. ★★★★★ Just wanted to say a BIG thank you to Mrs Robert Stella for handling the trading of my account. Your professionalism, genuine kindness and bluntness at times when I needed to face reality are what made me progress. I invested $500 and got $7000 in a week. I only wish I had known about you earlier from the first moment I decided to trade. Nevertheless, I am grateful! contact her via Email:robertstella385@gmail.com WhatsApp: +1(717) 742-0664Gretchen Brahier P. ★★★★★ Great tour of historic Georgetown with Becca - lots of interesting anecdotes!Karen W. ★★★★★ We absolutely loved our monuments tour with Jim last week! He was Informative and kept the tour moving (and shaded as much as possible) without making it feel rushed. We got a the perfect amount of time to just explore each stop along the tour, and we’re able to get good photos and learn a lot. My 8yr old now has a new ambition to become a tour guide!Bushy M. ★★★★★ Investing and getting positive returns is all I ever wanted and am glad I found it. Thanks to Mrs. Rochelle Nelson for her great skills of mining and trading in my account, very diligent in her work. All I did was invest and within 7days I made profit. Contact Mrs. Rochelle Nelson, via: Facebook:Rochelle Nelson WhatsApp:+16267909787 Email: rochellenelson731@gmail.comLayla I. ★★★★★ Fantastic service, i do appreciate your work ! After my first withdrawal I vow to let people know about Mrs. Victoria for her good work, with a minimum investment of $500 I made $6000 in a week, Mrs. Victoria FX has made me believed that binary/forex trading is real if you ever need any good account manager contact her. When it comes to binary options and forex trading I can say God sent her here to change lifes for better future since I started trading with her my life has totally change for good I've been uplifted financially. Contact her now via her Email: victoriabernard943@gmail.com WhatsApp: +1 (814) 475-3393Rizwan A. ★★★★★ it was a short walking tour but Eli was an informative guide and gave us tips on booking a tour of the beautiful Congress Library and Capitol.
a job well doneRyan W. ★★★★★ We had a great time! Our guide was very knowledgeable, not just about Lincoln’s Assassination, but the history of DC!Martin B. ★★★★★ i did the monuments tour. Stephen is very knowledgeable, passionate and good storyteller. His tour made my visit to Washington a great experience!Kerri M. ★★★★★ Gideon was a great tour guide. his love of history shone through and it was a pleasure to be a part of. I highly recommend this tour and really any tour by this company!Brenda L. ★★★★★ Loved, loved, loved the Ghosts of Georgetown Tour! Got creepy vibes which my daughters and I loved. Also loved the bits of history thrown in about Robert Todd Lincoln and the Kennedys. Amelia was a great tour guide-entertaining and fun! I definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a fun spooky tour.Irina B. ★★★★★ We recommend Andy for your tour of Cathedral! The tour we had with him was amazing!Karen M. ★★★★★ Just finished the Ghosts of Georgetown tour with Erin and had a wonderful time! She was fun and knowledgeable an you can tell she enjoys what she does. It was history focused with spooky stuff mixed in, which is how I like my ghost tours. I brought a friend who has never been on a ghost tour and this one has convinced her to start looking for them when she travels!LeAnn Pomeroy C. ★★★★★ What a great tour! Emilia was a fantastic tour guide. I can't believe how much we covered in 3 hours and she never made us feel rushed. She gave us plenty of time to take pictures, really see the memorials and take bathroom breaks. Emilia was so knowledgeable and had some very interesting stories that are not generally known. I definitely recommend DC by Foot and Emilia if you can get her.Inna Buzhaker B. ★★★★★ We went on the walking tour of Georgetown with Rebecca. She was great - welcoming, informative, funny! Highly recommend!Efro M. ★★★★★ A wonderful time, Becca was very knowledgeable!December R D. ★★★★★ We did three different tours by these ladies and they were amazing. They made them fun entertaining and had everyone engaged. I highly recommend them and would do more tours with them on my next trip. Thank you for taking the time to teach us about the history and making it fun and enjoyable to learn about. Keep up the great work.Mary Kay Tettemer L. ★★★★★ We did the Ghosts of Georgetown tour with Melissa and she was just amazing! Very knowledgeable and her stories kept us entertained! Definitely recommend!Ann Sherlock C. ★★★★★ Emilia was great fun on our tour and very informative. Every tour I have taken the guides are excellent, personable and have a great sense of humor.Greg L. ★★★★★ The Lincoln Assassination tour was the highlight of our family trip to Washington. Becca, our tour guide was outstanding. Her description of the assassination brought the night of April 14, 1865 to life. I have read a number of books on the topic but Becca added details that were new to me. She is extremely knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour.Marilyn O M. ★★★★★ We did the monument night tour with Eli. He was knowledgeable, friendly and funny. This was so much better than any bus tour because you felt like a knowledgeable friend was showing you around. I would highly recommendAlicia P. ★★★★★ My husband and I did the evening Ghosts of Georgetown tour. Melissa was our guide and she was super entertaining and knowledgeable. Tour was well worth the price. Had a great time despite getting soaked in the rain! So glad we did this. Definitely recommend. 👍Marene C. ★★★★★ My friends and I did the DC by foot Moonlight and Memorials tour and it was one of my favorite parts of our trip. Would definitely recommend this to everyone!Lauri M. ★★★★★ My son and I joined DC Tours by Foot for the Lincoln Assassination Tour. This was one of the highlights of our trip!! Becca kept everyone in our group engaged and hanging on every twist and turn of the story. Even though we were pretty familiar with the events, and the tour had to be modified due to COVID and other closures, we both loved our experience. Our only regret is that we didn't book more of our tours through DC Tours by Foot!
Important Information:
We cannot guarantee to see any specific exhibit/item but we'll try!
You will have to go through security to enter each museum. There is no skip the line option.
We do not offer tours of the National Zoo or National Museum of African American History and Culture. Tickets are still required to visit both of those locations, check out our guide on getting Smithsonian tickets.
The T.Rex from Night at the Museum? Yeah, that's in NYC but we have an elephant in the rotunda! But never fear, the Natural History museum has fossils galore.
If bones aren't your thing, we'll take you to see the Hope Diamond and the largest collection of vertebrates!
This small group public tour runs 2x a week in January and February.
Cost: Name your own price! You pay the guide what you thought it was worth at the end of the tour.
American History Museum Tour
Referred to loving by DC guides as the "Museum of Pop Culture", American History isn't all that old, so our history museum has things like: Muppets, Julia Child's kitchen, Judy Garland's ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz! But it has one significant historical artifact that everyone should see - the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry and inspired... well, the Star-Spangled Banner!
This small group public tour runs 2x a week in January and February.
Cost: Name your own price! You pay the guide what you thought it was worth at the end of the tour.
Air & Space Museum Tour
Houston, we have a problem - too many artifacts related to our aviation history to see on one tour!
We'll fly through the most visited of the Smithsonian museums, the Air & Space Museum, to see such gems as the Wright Brothers' 1903 flyer, the command module from Apollo 11, and the Spirit of St. Louis!
This tour is offered as a private tour only. For private tours rates and availability, please contact us at info@dcbyfoot.com
National Gallery of Art Tour
(technically, this one isn't a Smithsonian but we love it anyways!)
Rembrandt, Turner, Van Gogh, Monet, Titian - the National Gallery of Art has works from some of the most well-known artists. With ever changing exhibits, this highlight tour explores the traditional art of the West Wing (of the Art Gallery, not the White House!).
The main draw of this stop - the only work of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Americas - Ginevra De'Benci.
Your guide will also explore the outdoor sculpture garden with you.
This tour is offered as a private tour only. For private tours rates and availability, please contact us at info@dcbyfoot.com
National Portrait Gallery Tour
Learn insider secrets about the history of the building before it became the National Portrait Gallery and then explore the stories of the people inside with our expert guide.
From Presidents to pop stars, you'll see some of the most popular works of art and get to know the people they portray.
This tour is offered as a private tour only. For private tours rates and availability, please contact us at info@dcbyfoot.com
National Archives Tour
Also, not a Smithsonian but it's nearby and we can include it in the combo tours. Discover the founding documents of the United States - the Bill of Rights, Constitution and Declaration of Independence as well as a few of the hidden items on display.
For private tours rates and availability, please contact us at info@dcbyfoot.com - note this tour runs as private tour. We get tickets the same way you do so we cannot get you access if tickets are sold out but we have reserved tickets for a number of days in advance.
Und vieles, vieles mehr
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