See the best of the Smithsonian Museums on a 3-hour guided tour of the highlights of the American History, Natural History, and Air and Space Museums. Includes Reserved Entry to the Air and Space Museum! The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex with 21 museums and miliions of objects! The Natural History, Air and Space, and American History Museums are 3 of the most popular, often referred to as the Big 3. Each of these museums can be overwhelming so we put together a highlights tour. Our expert guide will take you through each of the museums and showcase all of the "must see" items in each. Including: Lincoln's Top Hat, Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, the Cursed Hope Diamond, iconic Dinosaur fossils, the Original Wright Flyer, and artifacts from the Apollo 11 lunar mission! Note that there is walking between the museums for a total of roughly 1 mile. Total walking for this tour equates to approximately 2 miles.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 14.
Meet your guide inside the Unscripted Guided Tours DC Welcome Center at 400 7th Street NW, at the corner of 7th and D NW
Learn the full history of the Smithsonian Institution as you pass the building where it all started, known locally as the Smithsonian Castle or the Red Castle.
Enjoy reserved entry to the Air and Space museum, where your guide will show you the top highlights including the Wright Flyer, space command modules, and more!
See the famed hope diamond, visit the fossil lab and The Last American Dinosaurs exhibit.
Your guide will help you explore many highlights including pop culture icons, military history, and presidents' & first ladies' artifacts.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 761 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Smithsonian "Big 3" Highlights Tour (Air & Space Entry Included) lasts about 3 hours. The itinerary has 5 stops.
Prices start at $89 per person for this Washington DC experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day, starting at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
Children aged 0–11 pay from $79, adults from $89.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
The meeting point is Meet your guide inside of the Unscripted Welcome Center at 400 7th Street NW. Look for our signs out front. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN.
It is a small-group experience with a maximum of 15 participants.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Wheelchair accessible Transportation options are wheelchair accessible All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Confirmation is sent by the operator within 24 hours of booking.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
There is a bit of walking but the pace is reasonable. We started in the American History Museum and ended in the Air and Space Museum. I really enjoyed the tour asking questions and chatting with the guide. She was very knowledgeable and friendly. I recommend this tour. Getting familiar with the museums makes any future visit so much better since now I have an idea of where to start.
It was awesome, especially if you are traveling with someone who gets bored of mueseums in 15 min. Dash held my husband's attention for a full 3 hours.
Meg was wonderful! These museums are so vast you need a guide to give you the highlights especially if you are short on time. Excellent!!! Highly recommended to other families.
A nice tour, cut a little short as the Natural History was shut at short notice, but our guide offered alternatives. Very informative and great if you want to see the highlights.
I don’t believe you are going to find a better storyteller than Dash. He is a human encyclopedia and very entertaining at the same time. We were able to dive deep into some of the museums attractions rather than skimming over the entire museum.
With some of the biggest collections in the world, all of the Smithsonian museums can be very overwhelming, but focusing in on a few objects can really help make them easier to navigate! Thanks for taking a tour with us!
Perfect! Really enjoyed all the details provided by Evelyn our tour guide! Glad to see the highlights then able to go back to the ones we want to spend more time at.
That's exactly what we hope for with the Smithsonian "Big 3" Highlights tour...that you see the best of everything, and then you know exactly which ones you want to go back to see more of! Thanks for touring with us!
Guide was engaging & knowledge! Recommend Dash any day . I enjoyed every moment. Answered all our questions gave additional information!!
We're so glad that Dash was able to add even more to the tour than you expected. Thanks for touring with us!
Really a great tour, Dash, our guide, was fantastic! Great for adults and kids, super informative and fun.
A great tour for the highlights of each museum. Christina was a wonderful guide who not only kept tabs on our group but was a wealth of information.
Christine was super nice and informative. I had a great time and it was well worth the money. Loved that you could see all the highlights in a short time.
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithsonian "Big 3" Highlights Tour (Air & Space Entry Included) | 3 hours | 4.8 (476) | $89 | |
 US Capitol "Big 3" Highlights with Reserved Entry | 3–4 hours | 4.8 (2,161) | $89 | View |
 The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum Exclusive Guided Tour | 2h 30min | 4.9 (226) | $105 | View |
| Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Guided Tour Semi-Private 8ppl Max | 2h 30min | 4.9 (175) | $105 | View |
 Smithsonian Natural History + Air and Space Museum Private Tour | 5h 30min | 4.9 (69) | $215 | View |
 Smithsonian Natural History + Air & Space Museum Tour 8ppl Max | 5h 30min | 4.9 (64) | $215 | View |
| Air & Space Museum Small-Group Express Tour With Reserved Entry | 1 hour | 4.3 (6) | $59 | View |