The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and holds one of the world’s largest natural history collections, all free to enter with no tickets required. The Hope Diamond draws steady crowds in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, while Henry, an 11-ton African bush elephant, has greeted visitors in the main Rotunda since 1959.
Highlights include the Hall of Human Origins, the National Fossil Hall (Deep Time), the Ocean Hall, Egyptian mummies, and the paid Butterfly Pavilion and O. Orkin Insect Zoo. The museum’s scale makes it easy to spend hours moving between wings covering everything from dinosaurs to deep-sea life.
The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with extended hours to 7:30 p.m. during spring and summer, and it’s a short walk from the Smithsonian Metro station on the Silver, Orange, and Blue lines.