Before Your Visit
The Museum Guide may be helpful in planning your visit to the Museum. On the day of your visit, please also check at the Information Desk for a complete list of programs.
Group Visits
Groups of 40 or more are advised to use our online group reservation system. We offer a limited number of reservations each day and these can fill up quickly, especially during the Museum’s busy season (March through August). With a reservation, you do not need passes for entry to the Permanent Exhibition. Find out more about planning a group visit.
Admission and Ticketing
Admission to the Museum is free. From March through August a free pass is required to enter the Permanent Exhibition, a chronological history of the Holocaust.
March through August: This is the Museum’s busy season. To prevent crowding during these months, the Museum distributes free passes to the Permanent Exhibition. Timed passes are available at the Museum on the day of your visit or online in advance. The earliest pass time is 10 a.m. and the latest is 4 p.m. The time on your pass is your earliest entry time into the Permanent Exhibition, and we honor the pass for the rest of the day until an hour before closing. At the Museum, passes are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10 a.m. when the building opens. During the busy season, the pass line forms next to the building in the alley with benches. The passes are then distributed from the 14th Street side of the alley to allow those with passes to proceed into the building. If you prefer to see other exhibitions besides the Permanent Exhibition, or if you already have a pass, there is no need to wait in the pass line. When everyone outside has received their passes, the staff brings any remaining passes inside the building to be distributed at the Information Desk.
- Special ticketing considerations: Timed passes are distributed to the general public. One person may ask for up to 20 passes. With identification, members of the armed forces (including retirees), law enforcement personnel, and federal government employees may obtain complimentary passes for themselves and their families in person at the Information Desk on the day of their visit.
- Online advance ticketing: Extremetix, Inc. offers Museum passes in advance for $1.00 (US) each. These are the same timed passes that the Museum gives out each day. If you buy passes online, remember to print them and bring them with you to the Museum.
- Extended hours: During the spring, the Museum remains open for an extra hour on weekdays and distributes additional passes to accommodate the increase in visitorship. On weekdays from March 26 through June 8, 2012, the Museum will open at 10 a.m. and close at 6:30 p.m. Weekend hours will not change. See Museum Hours below for additional information.
September through February: Passes are not required to enter the Permanent Exhibition during these months. This is the best time of year to visit the Museum because the crowds are generally smaller. We continue to accept group reservations during this time.
Year-round: Passes are not required to enter the Museum building or to go to any of the smaller exhibitions, memorials, or special programming.
Upon arrival at the Museum, all visitors must enter through security scanners. Please allow extra time to go through this entry line.
For Families
The Museum has many activities appropriate for families with young children. Pick up a Family Guide at the Information Desk to learn more about Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story, an exhibition for children age 8 and up, and activities like exploring the Children’s Tile Wall.
The Museum recommends the Permanent Exhibition for visitors age 11 and older.
Museum Building
The entrance to the Permanent Exhibition is located on the First Floor. Entrances to other exhibitions and memorial spaces are located throughout the First and Second Floors and the Concourse Level. The Library and Archives are located on the Fifth Floor, and the Museum Café is conveniently located across Eisenhower Plaza on the 15th Street side of the building.
Museum facilities are accessible to persons with physical disabilities. See the Accessibility Guide for more information.
The Museum building is kept at a low temperature in order to preserve the artifacts displayed in the exhibitions. Please prepare accordingly.
Museum Policies
The Museum has two entrances. Our 14th Street entrance is for the general public. The entrance on 15th Street at Raoul Wallenberg Place is designated for scheduled, reserved groups for the Permanent Exhibition.
The following rules apply to the Museum building:
- Eating, drinking, and smoking are not permitted.
- Open food and drink containers are not permitted in the building.
- On entry, all visitors must pass through metal detectors and have their belongings scanned.
- Video/audio-recording is not permitted.
- Cell phone use and photography are not permitted in the exhibitions.
- Flash photography is not permitted in the Hall of Remembrance.
- Unauthorized use of Museum classrooms, theaters, and meeting spaces by outside groups or organizations is prohibited.
- The Museum cannot guarantee entry to groups that arrive more than 30 minutes after their scheduled group reservation time.
Museum Hours
The Museum is open every day except Yom Kippur (September 26, 2012) and Christmas Day (December 25).
Exhibitions: 10 a.m.–5:20 p.m.
Elevator entry to the Permanent Exhibition: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Information Desk: 10 a.m.–5:10 p.m.
Hall of Remembrance: 10 a.m.–5:10 p.m.
Museum Shop: 10 a.m.–5:20 p.m.
Museum Cafe: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Library: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday (closed all federal holidays)
Archives: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday (closed all federal holidays)
Extended Hours
March 26–June 8, 2012, Monday–Friday
Exhibitions: 10 a.m.–6:20 p.m.
Elevator entry to the Permanent Exhibition: 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Information Desk: 10 a.m.–6:10 p.m.
Hall of Remembrance: 10 a.m.–6:10 p.m.
Museum Shop: 10 a.m.–6:20 p.m.
Museum Cafe: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.; 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Saturday-Sunday
Library: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday (closed all federal holidays)
Archives: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday (closed all federal holidays)
*Extended hours are not in effect on weekends
Contact Information
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
Main telephone: 202.488.0400
VisitorsMail@ushmm.org
