How to plan a walking tour of the best museums in Washington, DC

Washington, DC holds a special place among the American cities — not just for its importance as the nation’s capital, but for its breadth of rich cultural experiences, too. Visitors will find some of the world’s most esteemed museums, libraries, galleries and institutions here, covering everything from contemporary art and natural history to space travel and go-go music.

Downtown DC and its attractions are easy to explore on foot, although bikes can also be hired through rental schemes across the city. The route below, which includes some of the city’s big-hitting museums and unexpected treasures, is around 11 miles and takes just over four hours on foot, without stopping. Travellers should consider breaking it up into stages, allowing plenty of time to appreciate the art, artefacts and experiences on display, as well as the timeless city views along cherry tree-lined avenues and the National Mall.

1. Phillips Collection

Start at this striking, red-brick museum in the leafy Dupont Circle neighbourhood. Founded in 1921 by art collector Duncan Phillips and his wife Marjorie, the Phillips Collection was the first museum of modern art in the US and continues to change and expand with new exhibits. The intimate collection is a rollcall of some of the most celebrated names in American and European art, including Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse and Whistler. Be sure to admire the masterly strokes of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, and the Rothko Room, home to four distinctive abstract oeuvres. A couple blocks away is Planet Word, an immersive language experience and the first voice-activated museum. Free to visit, the museum engages, educates and showcases the immense power of language with various interactive exhibits, including a 22-foot-tall wall of commonly used words. 

2. National Museum of Women in the Arts

Half an hour’s walk along Connecticut Avenue and H Street NW leads to the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), housed in a glorious 1908 Masonic temple that’s fresh from a 2023 renovation. Over 1,000 female artists have work on display here, including Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as lesser-known names from the Renaissance through to the present. This is the only major museum in the world to have an all-female collection — a responsibility the NMWA takes seriously; the gallery’s advocacy and education programmes aim to redress the gender imbalance in the art world.

3. National Mall 

Make the short walk south — past the White House and President’s Park — and the National Mall unfurls like a vast, green carpet, bookended by the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol, with the towering Washington Monument at the heart of it. Located around this iconic, two-mile grass promenade are some of the country’s most hallowed landmarks: the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Smithsonian Castle and the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, where visitors can admire the ornate surrounds of the Main Reading Room. At a leisurely pace, a full lap of the Mall can easily take over two hours, so allow time to take it all in. Come back at dusk to watch the sunset spilling over the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool.

4. Smithsonian museums 

Many of the Smithsonian Institution’s 21 museums stand proudly on the National Mall. The world’s largest natural history collection is on display at the National Museum of Natural History, charting the earth’s story with exhibitions and activities, while the National Air and Space Museum offers a deep dive into the history of air and space travel, with exhibits including Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit and a model of the Star Trek Starship Enterprise. Explore the nation’s political and cultural identity, from the colonial era to the modern day, at the National Museum of American History, where highlights include George Washington’s military uniform and Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

5. Go-Go Museum & Café

Hire a bike to cross the Anacostia River and seek out one of the city’s newest museums. As its name suggests, the Go-Go Museum and Café celebrates go-go music, the lively style of funk known for its distinctive snare beat and call-and-response vocals. Declared the official music of DC in 2020, go-go has its roots in the city’s African American community, with local guitarist Chuck Brown (1936-2012) dubbed the ‘Godfather of Go-Go’. Music lovers can learn more about the genre and its place in the American soundtrack through exhibitions, outreach programmes and live music performances. The museum is slated to open in early spring 2024.

6. Rubell Museum

Back across the river, on 1st Street SW, the Rubell Museum is a vivid romp through contemporary art. This is one of the largest private collections of modern works in North America, amassed over a period of nearly 60 years by Don and Mera Rubell and their son, Jason. Their support of artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons and Keith Haring at the beginning of their careers allowed them to obtain some of their earliest works. See them showcased alongside underrepresented contemporary artists through a collection of paintings, sculptures, videos and photography.