Smithsonian Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is not only home to the world's premier collection of American art, but it is also one of the most interesting and visited attractions in the United States. So if you are planning your trip, you can't leave it out of the things to see and do in Washington.

This museum is mainly oriented to contemporary art, although it also has rooms dedicated to crafts and photography, complete information about American art movements of all times and the largest number of works by the painters Edward Hopper and Albert Bierstadt and the African-American sculpture Edmonia Lewis.

If you want to learn more about local artistic creations, this museum offers an in-depth tour of 19th and 20th century American works, with an emphasis on artists after the Great Depression, the period that plunged the United States into one of the worst economic crises in its history.

Admission to the American Art Museum is free, as are all attractions on the Smithsonian circuit.

Admission to this attraction includes a tour of all the rooms, a guided tour and also admission to the Renwick Gallery, which is part of the museum but is located in a building near the White House.

Tickets are available at the museum's ticket office and guided tours, which are group tours, can be booked on the official website. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is open every day of the year except 25 December.

The Welcome Centre to the right of the museum entrance will provide you with all the information you need about the temporary exhibitions.

Given the magnitude of the museum, some tour operators offer tours with the assistance of an expert local guide or tours specialising in the work of some of the artists exhibited in the galleries.

Details of interest

• Price... Admission to the museum is free and includes a guided tour and admission to the Renwick Gallery.
• Opening hours... The museum is open daily, except 25 December, from 11.30am to 7pm. The Renwick Gallery is open from 10.00am to 5.30pm.
• Location... The museum is located at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, Washington DC. The Renwick Gallery is located at Pennsylvania Avenue & 17th Street, Washington DC.

Admission to the Smithsonian American Art Museum is free, so it is not included in the city's tourist passes. However, the museum's location, close to Washington DC' s best monuments on the National Mall, makes it very accessible.

The Washington Sightseeing Pass includes a bike tour of Capitol Hill, admission to the Madame Tussauds DC Wax Museum and several tours in and around the American Art Museum area, so if you buy the pass you can visit when you finish one of these activities.

The Washington Sightseeing Pass also includes transfers on Washington's hop on-hop off sightseeing buses, which have several stops in the American Art Museum area. This way you can save time and money getting to the National Mall using the services of your Sightseeing Pass.

The museum includes in its admission ticket the possibility to join a group and take a guided tour. I recommend you opt for this option, as the American Art Museum has the largest collection of works by contemporary American artists and traces much of 20th century American history through its exhibits.

A guided tour will give you an insight into the painters of the Great Depression, the greatest local exponents of photography and the many secrets of the museum.

A knowledgeable local guide will make sure you get the most out of one of the best museums in Washington DC.

The Renwick Gallery also has guided tours available and can be visited with the same ticket as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The museum is located at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, very close to the National Mall and the Capitol. It is the most visited area of Washington DC and can be reached in several ways.

By bus lines 79, D6, GT-US and L-100 have stops near the museum. By train, the museum is served by the Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line and Marc.

By Metro you can get there via the Yellow, Green and Red lines by getting off at Gallery Place-Chinatown Station. This is the most advisable option if you plan to use public transport as the bus can be delayed by traffic and the train can be a less direct option.

It is also possible to get there by car, but parking in the area is very limited, although the American Art Museum has agreements with most of them for discounted parking hours.

Washington DC' s hop-on-hop-off tour buses have stops nearby and are a good option if you're using this service to get around the city. You can also get to the museum by bike if you've rented one and are cycling at your own pace around the National Mall and Capitol Hill.

Useful details

• By bus you can get there... Buses 79, D6, GT-US and L-100.
• By train... Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line and Marc services.
• By Metro... Yellow, Green and Red lines, getting off at Gallery Place-Chinatown Station.

It is one of the twenty most visited museums in the United States and one of the hundred most visited museums in the world.

It has the largest collection of works by contemporary American artists and also one of the most comprehensive photography galleries, so visiting the American Art Museum is one of the must-see and do attractions in Washington DC.

The collection of works by New Deal artists is one of the most important. There you could see paintings that portray the zeitgeist of America through jazz, street life, industries, workers and families that were helping to change the country forever.

Edward Hopper's Cape Cod Morning and the realist paintings of John Sloan and Andrew Wyeth shine.

The museum also has an important sculpture collection. You'll find works by Edmonia Lewis, Augusta Savage, Hiram Powers and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.

There are rooms dedicated exclusively to the work of women artists and I recommend that you don't miss the historical review that the museum makes using the works as a reference.

Other exhibits include African American art, Asian American art, Latino art and works on paper.

There are also rooms dedicated to early American art, with works by local representatives Thomas Cole and Horatio Greenough. The museum's photography exhibitions are growing year by year and occupy a large part of the American Art Museum's holdings.

The complete tour of the American Art Museum can take approximately four hours. In that time you will be able to visit all the rooms and temporary exhibitions as well as the photography exhibition.

Guided tours usually last between an hour and an hour and a half and cover not only the museum's artistic heritage, but also its infrastructure and architecture.

If you are visiting Washington for just one day, you can opt for a simplified tour that will last no more than two hours.

To do so, you will have to choose which rooms you are most interested in visiting and divide your tour among those exhibits. I recommend that you do not leave out the last two floors or the photography exhibition.

The American Art Museum is large but it has an organised circuit, very well divided by sectors, so if you don't have much time before visiting it, you can organise an itinerary so as not to miss any of the most interesting exhibitions.

Keep in mind that if you also want to visit the Renwick Gallery you will have to move a few streets away, as it is located in another building, and the tour can take approximately two hours.

Interesting details

• Touring time... It could take you more than four hours to see the whole museum, but you can organise an itinerary and visit the main areas in less than two hours.
• I recommend you don't miss... The contemporary American art exhibitions on the top floor and the photography exhibition.

The museum is open from 11.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except 25 December. Guided tours start every hour and the last departure is at 18:00.

With admission to the Smithsonian American Art Museum you can also enter the Renwick Gallery, which is open from 10am to 5.30pm daily, except 25 December, as is the main museum.

Hours are subject to change without notice, especially as the museum occasionally hosts private events, so please check the calendar on themuseum' s official websitebefore your visit.

As one of the most comprehensive museums in Washington DC, and one of the city's most important museums, the Museum of African American History also provides some of the city's other heritage sites, making for an exhausting but interesting tour.

If you're short on time, I recommend that you organise an estimated itinerary of the rooms you want to visit and that you don't dwell too long on the lengthy explanations of each exhibit.

The American Art Museum is also a reservoir of American culture and a reconstruction of the country's history through the works of its artists. It is the world's most comprehensive museum of contemporary art.

If you have time, I recommend a leisurely visit because you can learn a lot about American society, its changes and its mysteries.

A very effective way to squeeze in time and avoid crowds at the museum is to arrive as soon as it opens at 11.30 am, before lunch. Since it is not an early-opening museum, most tourists choose to visit in the afternoon.

The museum is very well organised and the photography rooms are excellent, so my recommendation is that you don't miss it. There you can see some of the work of some of America's iconic photographers.

If you are interested in other similar attractions in the city, here is a list of the best museums in Washington DC.

If you are one of those who prefer to take a gift from each of the places you visit, in the museum you will have many options to get the ideal gift. From books and postcards to glasses and home decor you can choose from a wide range of items to buy.

The American Art Museum shop is located inside the main building and can be visited on your tour or you can purchase your gift in advance online and pick it up on the day of your visit.

The shop also provides information about the artists' work and about other art museums in Washington DC.

• Hours... The shop is open from 11.30am to 7pm daily.
• Location... The shop is located inside the museum building at G Street Northwest & 8th Street, Washington DC.

The American Art Museum's location, very close to the National Mall, also ensures that when you leave the museum you'll have plenty of options for where to eat. The Capitol Hill loop has plenty of local and international restaurants, and a few streets away, Eastern Market, you'll find cheaper, fast food.

Near Ford's Theatre you'll find affordable pizza restaurants and on U Street, off the main loop but just a few underground stations away from the museum, a wide variety of cuisine ranging from Salvadoran empanadas to Ethiopian desserts.

In the area of the National Esplanade there are plenty of cafés and bakeries, ideal places if your tour ends in the afternoon. There are also fast food places and some restaurants offering Mediterranean dishes.

Inside the museum you can also visit the Courtyard Cafe, which has an extensive menu that includes sandwiches, soups, cakes, salads, coffee and alcoholic beverages. Just bear in mind that it is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11.30am to 4pm.