Smithsonian Natural History & Air & Space Semi-Private Tour
Explore two Smithsonian museums with an expert guide
Duration
5–5.5 hrs
Ideal For
Up to 8 people
Includes
Guide, museum tickets, lunch break
Highlights
Explore the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum with an English-speaking guide. Follow stories that connect natural history, aviation, and space exploration through the permanent collections.
- Discover fossils, gemstones, Egyptian mummies, and natural-history specimens
- Marvel at the Hope Diamond and Star of Asia Sapphire
- Explore aviation and space history from the Wright Brothers to Apollo 11
- Hear how Star Wars and Star Trek have inspired science and technology
- Navigate major museum collections with guidance and context
Itinerary
A 2.5 hour tour of the Smithsonian Natural History followed by a lunch break and a 2 hour tour of the Air & Space Museum. Start: St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20560 End: 600 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20560
What's Included
- Professional English-speaking tour guide
- Permanent-collection museum admission
Important details
- Arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled start time
- Bring identification that shows your age
- Children under 18 require a parent or guardian
- Only handbags or small, slim backpacks are permitted inside the museums
- Moderate physical fitness required; not available for travelers with walking disabilities or wheelchair users
- Appropriate attire is required for entry into certain sites
- Tours run rain or shine; dress for the weather
- Air & Space Museum renovations may make some exhibits temporarily unavailable
- Museum closures may occur without notice; an alternative is provided if opening is delayed by more than one hour
Cancellation Policy
Free cancellation with a full refund up to 24 hours before the tour start time. No refund within 24 hours of the start time. No-shows and late arrivals are charged in full.
Product ID: R3YCT5
FAQs
Tickets for the permanent collection are included. Your guide provides your ticket at the meeting point; your voucher is not a museum ticket.
Bring identification with your age indicated. Bring only a handbag or small, slim backpack; oversized bags, large bags, and suitcases are not allowed.
No. This semi-private tour is not available for guests with walking disabilities or who use a wheelchair. A wheelchair option is only available as a private tour.
Meeting details
Large stairs at the Madison Drive NW entrance of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
More about the National Mall
The National Mall stretches like an open-air gallery of American history, and it serves as the perfect backdrop for this combined Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space Museum tour. Flanked by grand neoclassical buildings, leafy elm-lined paths, and the silhouettes of the Capitol and Washington Monument, the National Mall is where the nation's most iconic museums sit side by side, free to enter and packed with treasures. Walking between the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum means crossing this storied green expanse, where joggers, school groups, and visitors from every corner of the world share the same wide gravel walkways.
The tour makes the most of its location on the National Mall by guiding you efficiently through two of the Smithsonian's most beloved institutions without the overwhelm of going it alone. Inside the Natural History Museum, your guide brings the Hope Diamond, the towering African elephant in the rotunda, and the dinosaur and ocean halls to life with stories you would otherwise miss. A short walk across the National Mall then leads to the Air and Space Museum, where the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, and Apollo era spacecraft hang overhead. Moving between these two anchors of the National Mall, you get a sense of how this corridor compresses millions of years of natural history and barely a century of flight into a single afternoon.
This experience is ideal for first-time visitors to Washington, families with curious kids, and anyone who wants a knowledgeable companion to cut through the crowds and crowds of exhibits on the National Mall. History buffs, science lovers, and travelers short on time will appreciate having the highlights distilled into a guided narrative rather than wandering aimlessly. By the time you step back outside onto the National Mall, you will have touched moon rock, met prehistoric giants, and gained a richer understanding of why this stretch of Washington draws millions of visitors every year.
Related locations
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
Admission includedStanding inside Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, you are surrounded by the actual machines that changed the course of history. The Wright Flyer hangs overhead, Apollo 11's command module sits within arm's reach, and the sheer scale of the collection pulls you deeper into every gallery. Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum places the full arc of human flight directly in front of you.
