Visiting Washington, D.C.
If
you plan to visit Washington, D.C., my office is happy to help arrange
tickets to various attractions.
Some attractions don't require tickets, including the 13 museums of the Smithsonian Institution.
Tours My Office Can Arrange:
-
White House (Requests need to be made 5-6 months in advance)
-
U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms (Closed during high (orange) alert)
Please note that tours are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis and many sites are booked one to two months in advance. The White House and Bureau of Engraving and Printing are often booked five to six months in advance, especially during the peak season (April-July). Since sites tend to fill up quickly, please request tours as far in advance as possible.
How to Request Tour Reservations
ONLINE: The fastest and most efficient way to request tours is to do so using our online form. The form provides spaces for you to fill out your contact information, and also has a blank message box where you can list the dates of your visit and the tours you’d like to request. After you have filled out the form, click “Submit” to submit your request directly to our office. Once you have successfully submitted the form, you will receive an instant email message letting you know that we have received your request. We will begin processing your request immediately, and you can expect to hear from us regarding your tour schedule approximately two weeks before your visit.
MAIL OR FAX: Please send a letter to our Washington, D.C. office that includes the following information:
- Name
- Mailing address
- Telephone number
- Email address (if applicable)
- Tours you would like
- Number of tickets you are requesting for each tour
- Full dates of your visit that you will be able to tour (please do not include days when you will be traveling)
Mailing address for our Washington, D.C. office:
Senator Patty Murray
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510Fax number for our Washington, D.C. office:
(202) 224-0238
Please note that it takes approximately one to two weeks for letter mail to reach our office from Washington State.
How you will receive information about your tours:
Almost all tour reservations (excluding the Kennedy Center) require no paper tickets. Your reservations are held under your name for a certain date and time. You will receive an email itinerary approximately two weeks before your requested tour dates, and that email will contain all of the information you will need for your tours. If you requested a tour of the Kennedy Center, you will receive instructions in your email itinerary regarding how you can pick up your paper tickets for that tour.
Join me for coffee:
If you will be in Washington, DC on a Wednesday morning when the Senate is in session, you are welcome to join me for coffee in my office. Please RSVP by calling my office in Washington, D.C. at (202) 224-2621.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Description: Home to the President and the oldest public building in Washington, DC. Tour includes: the East Room, the State Dining Room, the Red, Green and Blue Rooms, and the President's library.
Required Security Information: All visitors to the White House must undergo a background check for security reasons. The following information is required for each participant:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Social Security Number (required if you are a U.S. citizen)
- Passport number (required only if you are NOT a U.S. citizen)
- Country of citizenship
- Country of origin (where you were born)
You can submit this information one of two ways: You can directly submit it in the blank message box provided in the Tour Request Form or send it in with your paper request, or you can wait until we contact you approximately two to three weeks before your visit. At that time, you can submit the information to our office via e-mail, fax, or over the phone. It is easiest for our office to have your security information submitted in the Tour Request Form or with your initial paper request, but if you’d like to wait until we have secured a tour for you, that is acceptable as well.
How the White House tour request process works: We send your tour request to the White House. They respond back to us approximately three weeks before your visit and tell us whether your request was “Approved” or “Denied.” As mentioned above, tours requested less than three months in advance are generally denied. If your request is approved and you have not yet submitted your security information to our office, we will contact you via email or telephone to obtain that information. If your request was denied, we will put you on a waiting list in case other parties cancel and tour spots become available.
Note: All security information must be submitted at least one week in advance of the scheduled tour. For example, if we have an approval for a tour on Tuesday, December 11th, we must have your security information by Tuesday, December 4th. If you are put on the waiting list to take over a cancellation, we will be able to register you for cancellations that become available up until one week prior to your departure.
Hours: 7:30am to12:30pm, Tuesday through Saturday. All tours are assigned a specific day and time within that timeframe, and the assignment is non-negotiable.
Public tours: There are no public tours of the White House available. All visitors must go through their Congressional representatives to acquire a reservation. Please visit the White House website for more information
President’s Park: You can visit the President’s Park with no prior reservations.
Metro stops closest to the White House: Metro Center, MacPherson Square, Federal Triangle
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The Capitol Building | Capitol Visitor Center
The Capitol Visitor Center, the new main entrance to the U.S. Capitol, is located below the East Plaza of the Capitol between Constitution and Independence Avenues.
Hours: The Visitor Center is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Inauguration Day.
Guided Tours of The Capitol: Guided tours of the Capitol begin at the Orientation Theaters on the lower level of the Capitol Visitor Center. “Out of Many, One,” a 13-minute film, illustrates how this country established a new form of government, highlights the vital role that Congress plays in the daily lives of Americans, and introduces you to the building that houses the U.S. Congress.
Tours are free, but tour passes are required.
Advance Passes: Tours may be booked in advance online, through our office using the Tour Request form, or through the Office of Visitor Services by calling (202) 226-8000.
Same-Day Passes: A limited number of passes are available each day at the tour kiosks on the East and West Fronts of the Capitol or at the Information Desks in Emancipation Hall on the lower level of the Visitor Center.
Watching Congress in Session
Hours: The Senate and House Galleries are open to visitors whenever either body is in session. In addition, the House Gallery is open 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday, when the House is not in session.
Passes: Passes are required to enter either gallery at any time. Visitors may obtain gallery passes from Senator Murray’s office in 173 Russell Senate Office Building. If you plan on taking a tour of the Capitol, please pick up gallery passes PRIOR to your tour.
Metro stops closest to the Capitol Building: Union Station, Capitol South, Federal Center SW
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The United States Supreme Court
Location: East Capitol Street and 1st street NE
Closest Me
tro Station: Union Station (red line), Capitol South (orange and blue lines)
Description: Listen to a 45-minute lecture in the Courtroom on the history of the Supreme Court.
Hours: 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.
Congressional Tours: Congressional Tours of the United States Supreme Court are offered Monday through Friday at 2:00pm. To request a tour of the U.S. Supreme Court, please list this site in your Tour Request Form and we will do our best to reserve a lecture for you.
Public tours: Public tours are offered Monday through Friday from 9:30am through 3:30pm every hour on the half hour. All lectures are cancelled when the Court is sitting. No reservation is required to attend a public tour.
Please visit the U.S. Supreme Court website for more information or call 202-479-321.
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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Location: 14th and C Streets, SW
Closest Metro Station: Smithsonian (orange and blue lines)
Description: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints all U.S. currency, postage stamps, treasury bonds, and White House invitations. Learn about the history of money, the printing process, and see a display of $1 million. This tour lasts approximately 45 minutes.
Hours: You must be on a tour to explore this building. However the gift shop is open from Monday through Friday from 8:30am through 3:00pm.
Congressional Tours: Congressional Tours of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are offered Monday through Friday at 8:15am and 8:45am all year, with additional tours from 4:00pm through 4:45pm (every 15 minutes) during the March through August tour season. To request a Congressional Tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, please list this site in your Tour Request Form. Note that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will choose and assign tours according to their availability.
Public Tours: Public tours are offered Monday through Friday, from 9:00am through 10:45am & 12:30pm through 2:00pm (every 15 minutes) all year. No reservations are required from September through February. Additional tours from 2:00pm through 3:45pm and 5:00pm through 7pm (every 15 minutes) are available during the March through August tour season. Timed passes are required from March through August and can be picked up the day of your tour at the ticket both on Raoul Wallenberg Place (formerly 15th Street).
Please visit the Bureau of Engraving and Printing website for more information
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Library of Congress
Location: First Street and Independence Avenue, SE
Closest Metro Station: Union Station (red line), Capitol South (orange and blue lines)
Description: See George Washington's letters, Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the earliest motion picture print. This historical tour of the largest library in the world starts at the information desk in the Thomas Jefferson building. It lasts approximately 30-45 minutes.
Hours: The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. Each building has its own hours of operation and schedule for exhibits.
Congressional Tours: Congressional tours of the Library of Congress are offered Monday through Friday at 8:30am, 1:45pm, or 3:45pm. To request a Congressional tour of the Library of Congress, please list this site and any date or time preference in your Tour Request Form.
Public tours: Public tours are offered Monday through Friday at 10:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm. No reservation is required to attend a public tour. Report to the Information Desk in the Jefferson Building Visitors Center. Please visit the LOC website for more information.
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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2700 F Street, NW
Description: Features Broadway-bound plays, the National Symphony, grand opera, great American films, and rooftop historical tours of the city. The Millennium stage offers free performances at 6:00pm daily.
Reserved tours: If you’d like to make reservations for a tour of the Kennedy Center, please list this site in your tour request form and we will reserve a tour for you. The tour will be on a weekday at 9:30am or 4:30pm.
Public tours: Public tours are offered seven days a week and no prior reservation is required. Tours are given from 10:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday, and 10:00am to 1:00pm Saturday and Sunday. Please call (202) 416-8340 or visit the Kennedy Center website for more information:
Metro stop closest to the Kennedy Center: Foggy Bottom-GWU. A free, wheelchair-accessible Kennedy Center Shuttle runs between this station and the Kennedy Center every 15 minutes from 9:45am to midnight Monday through Saturday, and noon.
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U.S. State Department - Diplomatic Reception Rooms
2201 C Street, NW
Description: The Diplomatic Reception Rooms are 18th Century-style rooms used by the Secretary of State, the Vice President, and Members of the Cabinet to entertain foreign and American dignitaries. These rooms hold a premier collection of 18th Century American Furniture, paintings and decorative arts.
Note: This is a Fine Arts tour. This tour is not recommended for children under the age of twelve. Wheelchairs are available but strollers are not permitted, and there are no facilities for storage of personal belongings.
Required Security Information: All visitors to the White House must undergo a background check for security reasons. The following information is required for each participant:
▪ Full legal name
▪ Date of birth
▪ Passport number and country OR driver’s license number and state
You can submit this information one of two ways: You can directly submit it in the blank message box provided in the Tour Request Form or send it in with your paper request, or you can wait until we contact you approximately two to three weeks before your visit. At that time, you can submit the information to our office via email, fax, or over the phone. It is easiest for our office to have your security information submitted in the Tour Request Form or in your initial paper request, but if you’d like to wait until we have secured a tour for you, that is acceptable as well.
Reserved tours: If you’d like to make reservations for a tour of the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms, please list this site in your tour request form and we will reserve a tour for you.
Public tours: There are no public tours of the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms. Please see the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms website for more information.
Metro stops closest to the State Department: Foggy Bottom-GWU
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Museums
Smithsonian Institution
These museums do not require tickets. Thirteen museums and galleries, most of which are located on the National Mall. Hundreds of exhibits covering a wide spectrum of art forms and traditions, natural history, American history, and much more.
Other Museums
These attractions may require tickets, which are not available through Senate offices.
| Holocaust Memorial Museum (The Permanent Exhibit requires tickets.) |
| Ford's Theatre and Lincoln Museum |
| New International Spy Museum (Requires tickets.) |
| Washington National Cathedral |
| National Geographic Explorer's Hall |
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Smithsonian Information Center at "The Castle"
1000 Jefferson Drive, SW
Description: The Castle is a great place to start out a day on the Mall if you don't know what you want to see. There is information there about all the Smithsonian museums and about Washington, D.C. in general.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily - *All Smithsonian museums closed Christmas day
Phone: (202) 357-2020
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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600 Independence Avenue, SW
Description: A Washington, D.C. favorite shows the history of American aviation, including the Wright Brothers' plane, Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" and the Apollo 11 unar Excursion Module. Check out the IMAX theater.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-1387
Metro stop: L'Enfant Plaza
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National Museum of Natural History
10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Description: See the 45.5-carat Hope Diamond, a 12-ton stuffed elephant, and the insect zoo. Exhibits on dinosaurs, astronomy, geology, anatomy, ancient civilizations and much more.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.
Phone: (202) 357-2700
Metro stops: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle
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National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Description: See artifacts from American history and culture -- from the original 42-foot Star Spangled Banner to Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Phone: (202) 357-2700
Metro stops: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle
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between Third and Ninth Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW
Description: The National Gallery of Art is divided into two buildings, the East and West buildings. The West Building contains European paintings and sculpture, from the thirteenth through the nineteenth centuries, and American art. Modern and contemporary art and a changing series of special exhibitions are shown in the East Building. Come to the West Building and see the only da Vinci painting in the United States. Or, see the impressive collection of Picasso's works in the East Building.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. - *All Smithsonian museums closed Christmas Day
Phone: (202) 737-4215
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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900 Jefferson Drive, SW
Description: See a recreation of the Centennial Celebration of 1876. This beautiful Victorian building houses a quaint gift shop.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-2020
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
Description: Home of the magnificent Joseph Hirshhorn collection of 19th and 20th century American and European art, including works by Rodin and Picasso. The Sculpture Garden features creations by Henry Moore, Alexander Calder and David Smith.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-1300 for more information
Metro stops: Smithsonian, L'Enfant Plaza
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1050 Independence Avenue, SW
Description: This underground gallery offers exhibits of Asian and Near Eastern art, including jade figures, paintings and lacquerware.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-4880
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Avenue, SW
Description: Celebrating the arts and culture of sub-Saharan Africa, it includes 6,000 works in wood, metal, fired clay, ivory and fiber.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-1300
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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12th Street and Jefferson Drive, SW
Description: See Far Eastern and Near Eastern art, including jade, ceramics and manuscripts, and the works of American painter Whistler.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-1300
Metro stop: Smithsonian
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National Museum of American Art
8th and G Streets, NW
Description: American paintings, sculpture, graphics, folk art and photography now housed in the former U.S. Patent Office.
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8th and F Streets, NW
Description: Portraits of Presidents, Vice Presidents and other outstanding Americans, by American artists.
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Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art
17th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Description: Exhibits of American crafts from 1900 to the present.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 357-1445
Metro stops: Farragut North, Farragut West
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1901 Fort Place, SE
Description: Celebrates the history and culture of African Americans, focusing on the historic Anacostia neighborhood.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Phone: (202) 357-1300
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3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Description: See two pandas, rare white tigers and hundreds of other creatures populate this 168-acre park.
Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 673-4800
Metro stops: Woodley Park Zoo/Adams Morgan and Cleveland Park. * Insider's Tip The Cleveland Park metro stop is a better choice since it's closer and you can walk downhill to the Zoo.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Description: See the Tower of Faces, an actual barracks from Auschwitz, video taped testimony, and the Hall of Remembrance.
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
*Closed on Yom Kippur and Christmas Day * NO PASSES are necessary for
entering the Museum building, special exhibitions, the interactive Wexner
Learning Center, and other Museum resources. But timed passes are necessary
for visiting the permanent exhibition –The Holocaust– and
can be obtained at the Museum on the day of your visit or in advance
by calling 1-800-400-9373.
Phone: (202) 488-0400
Metro stop
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8th and F Streets
Description: Learn about the authentic tradecraft that has been used throughout time and around the world. Hear spies, in their own words, describe the challenges and the "game" of spying.
Hours: 8-10 April-October, 8-6 November-March
Phone: (202) 654-0960
Metro stop: Gallery-Place/Chinatown
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Ford's Theatre and Lincoln Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW10th and E Streets, NW
Description: See the President's Box where Lincoln was assassinated and check out a collection of Lincoln relics, including his stovepipe hat, cape and the suit he wore on the night of his assassination.
NOTE: Parts of the Theater are closed for renovation. Check their website.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Phone: (202) 426-6924
Metro stop: Metro Center
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Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW
Description: Offers gardens, shops, and an observation gallery that offers a spectacular view of Washington.
Regular hours: 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
Summer hours: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. M-F; Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Phone: (202) 537-6247
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National Geographic Explorer's Hall
17th and M Streets, NW
Description: See a giant rotating Earthglobe, Jacques Cousteau's diving saucer, Admiral Perry's arctic sled and a special electronic map depicting many famous world expeditions.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday - Saturday; 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday
Phone: (202) 857-7588 (recorded information); (202) 857-7689 (group tours)
Metro stops: Farragut North, Farragut West