I must have visited this museum half a dozen times over the years, but each and every time, it…read morefeels so fresh...and always so awe-inspiring! It's been over a decade since we last visited...and it felt as if I visited it the first time. So many new additions, it seems? I was especially interested in seeing the parts of the museum featuring the Dinosaurs and the Human Evolution...as I recently saw series on Netflix and PBS. The exhibits on both were phenomenal. I won't go into too much details since everything has been written and then some by other Yelpers...but all I can say is that this should be part of each and every DC trip. It's definitely one of the more popular (bustling!) Smithsonian museums...and with good reason! It's truly a treat to see this and other amazing exhibits and art works at these Smithsonian museums...and all for free!

4.5 stars Great…read moremuseum with a lot to see. It's free and you don't have to reserve a ticket. I spent about 2-2.5 hours here one afternoon and still didn't get to see everything, so I came back the next day and it was still very fast paced. They have a lot of great specimens (including mummies) and some of my favorites like the Hope Diamond, all the gems, and the ocean critters. 2026 #13

Since my last review, I ended up purchasing a family membership to the Children's Science Center…read moreand it is the BEST purchasing decision I have made all year. It's close proximity means that I have a go-to spot to bring the kids on school breaks, rainy days, cold days, or whenever we simply have nothing to do. While there are a few standing exhibits, the staff does a really good job at changing things up (and keeping things topical) so each visit feels special. And the best part... SLIME. We've made slime conductors, spider slime, fluffy slime, snowflake slime, glow-in-the-dark slime .. basically alll the slime. The experiment lab always has a slime option and it is a highlight of every visit. My eldest daughter went from barely reading and needing help at the beginning of our membership to fully reading and creating experiments on her own. It is so much fun to see. For the littles, there is a small playroom with building blocks, magnatiles, books, and those large blue fort/construction material building materials. My two-year old loved spending time in this room but now that she is three she likes making her own hovercrafts and setting them sail in the wind tunnel. The staff is SO kind, SO helpful, and so passionate about what they do. I love how they offer volunteer/internship opportunities to teens and will also set up special traveling science labs to Title I schools. If you are a member you also get discounted or free visits to children's science museums all across the United States which has made this membership 100% worth it for our family. If you are looking for an experience gift to give a little one this year, I highly recommend the Children's Science Center!

Had a great time with my toddler today. She's not quite two so her admission was free and there's a…read more$2 discount for purchasing tickets in advance. I was worried there wouldn't be enough activity for her age but she had a blast playing with exhibits and blocks in the interactive room. She also made "play dough" as an experiment. The staff were all friendly and helpful, we will definitely be back.

This museum is so magical!…read more Our group of nine had a blast weaving our way from room to room. The museum is equally fun for kids and adults with topics like language, reading, translation and karaoke to make a few. Everything was so well thought out and interactive. I couldn't get enough of the library room where books come to life with video-like illustrations building off the pages. It felt like we were transported into Belle's massive and dreamy library from Beauty and the Beast complete with a secret hidden room off the side (tucked behind a bookcase door). We had kids ages 2-5 and it was perfect for them. Note that you'll need to park strollers in the basement level. To top it all off, we had a fabulous lunch at Immigrant Food located on the lower level. Oh, how could I forget to mention that the museum is free? Amazing!

Funny story - I was looking for kid-friendly ideas of things to do in DC and asked ChatGPT for…read moreideas. One of the responses was the Planet Word museum, which I never heard of. I looked it up and decided to try it! They recommend you get timed passes online ahead of time; it's free but they do recommend a donation. This museum is SO COOL! As someone who loves different languages and words I loved everything about this place! My kids loved all of the interactivity. There is a room with an interactive word wall and you can interact and answer and request more info on the history of certain words. For example, I learned that "ketchup" was named after a Chinese sauce even though they are not similar. There is also a magical library room where you can pick a book off the shelf and place it on a book holder and the book is read to you. There are also mirror shadow boxes that come to life if you read the inscription. Finally, the kids loved the karaoke room - you select a song and as you sing along you see the types of parts of speech at play in the song. Great experience, would for sure recommend and go back!

If you haven't been to Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center, aka the National Air & Space Museum right next…read moreto Dulles Airport, go!! It will NOT disappoint. First off...the museum offers free extra large storage lockers, large enough to fit a large rolling suitcase, so it's a super cool spot to check out before heading to the airport. And the displays! The Challenger Space Shuttle is always one of my favorites. You can't fully appreciate the size until you stand under and walk around it. Displays range from history of rockets to air balloons, early winged aircraft, military planes, commercial flight (there's a Concord on display), small aircraft and satellites. So much to take in!! The displays do change, so there's always something new to see when we've gone thru. All the docents are super friendly and engaging and they have several small interactive displays to help stoke the interest in air & space for the youngins as well!

Amazing! Incredible! These just scratch the surface of what you can experience at this museum…read more Having been to the National Air & Space Museum in the past, I remember when this extension opened near IAD. The big draw at the time, the Space Shuttle Columbia and a Skunkworks SR-71. Both highly impressive, more on that later. We arrived on a Monday just after it opened at 10am. It was like Romper Room with all the unruly kids blocking the entrance and cause a disturbance. Sadly the chaperones didn't seem to care. No entry fee to visit the center, there's even a free bus of you have an extended layover in IAD, but parking is $15. Still well worth the cost without the crowds in DC visiting the other museums. There are some great exhibitions! Lots of aircraft from a SPAD to a JSF. It was neat to see some private aviation aircraft along with lighter than air and aerobatics. The commercial side of aviation was a bit lacking. Yes, the Concorde is very impressive but neurons that and a Dash-80, annotation seemed to end about 1995. The space exhibitions were excellent. The Columbia was highly impressive to walk around and take in this has been to spaces numerous times and the first shuttle in space. Satellites, modern mission equipment, like Mars explorers AB's various heavy boosters. Was neat to see equipment from the early years of NASA, Mercury, Gemini and the legends who made history. The Vietnam and Korean displays were some of the best from MiGs to F-14s to the JSF. Really awesome to get up close and personal with these aircraft AB's pilots who flew them. The SR-71 is attire the display in the middle of the center with lots of information on its, little more than hour flight time from LAX to IAD. Just so much to see. But something you can do in a few hours, or all day off you want to read AB's experience all there is. Not as overwhelming as the Air & Space Museum but still highly impressive from young kids to aviation enthusiasts and everyone in between. Highly recommend this stop!

Can't believe no one's rated this yet. AMAZING place if you're an aircraft aficionado. It's got…read moresome legendary aircraft's like the Discovery shuttle, the SR-71 Blackbird, the STOVL model of the X-35B (which is now the F-35 Lightning) including the engines on display, F-14 Tomcat, the Concorde and HUNDREDS of more civilian and military aircrafts & artifacts. Parking is $15 standard and Entry is "FREE" which means you get here at 10 and can spend until 5:30pm any day of the week! There's restaurants, an Airbus IMAX experience and a souvenir shop. Guided tours provided as well which are EXTREMELY informative. https://maps.app.goo.gl/7AJTEZ5TxQeY1q1k8?g_st=ic

Days before D-Day, a secret message from the Japanese Ambassador was decoded in Vint Hill, a former…read moreU.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. The Japanese Ambassador was in Berlin, and had the power to get a meeting with Adolf Hitler. The U.S. gets this message and it gets sent to Eisenhower's staff. This message changed the U.S.' move. To buy time in Normandy for a few weeks, the U.S. puts on a fake ghost war, playing up Hitler's belief that Colette was significant. Fake tanks, commands and signals were staged. Germans in England who sided with allies played Hitler reinforcing Colette on purpose. (Last image is from this ghost war.) The impact of D-Day can be traced here. Very cool learning about cryptography and geospatial intelligence in the Cold War.

Happened upon this by complete happy accident and I cannot be more thankful to have discovered…read moreit!!!! Walking in we were immediately greeted by a delightful gentlemen who I unfortunately couldn't catch his name, that's on me he said it twice but I was so overwhelmed walking in! He took the time to explain exactly where everything was, what room included what, and what the key spots were. We only had a very limited time to poke around so I didn't even get to go upstairs unfortunately :( I was thrilled to see that they had merchandise, so we grabbed two amazing shirts that I've already worn. Clayton was incredibly charming ringing us up. His delightful jokes and willingness to put up with me going back and forth between sizes for 10 minutes still brings a smile to my face. I am so desperate to come back now that I know it is so close to DC (under an hour). Again, everyone was so kind and funny and just amazing and there was soooo much to look at. 10000/10, counting the days until I can come back!!!!

Museum moved to 9129 Center Street Manassas, VA 20110…read more Perfect charming military museum! I'll go again and again.

Welcoming and very knowledgeable personnel, and definitely enjoyed our visit! I highly recommend…read morefor anyone with an enjoyment of military history!

Space... the final frontier.... Whether you're a kid, or just a kid at heart, your mind will wander…read morewith the possibilities of seeing the actual vehicles and relics of historical significance and marvel at the drive of the human spirit to first take flight, then zoom past the curvature of the ocean until you hit new land, and, finally, break the bonds of gravity and stake your claim in the cosmos. I've been so many times, and it's free to go and see these incredible achievements of humanity in real life. You can look at the lunar capsule and imagine the bravery and ingenuity of the millions of people whose guts and brains it took, over thousands of years, to make such an achievement possible. This is the true legacy of humanity and it inspires while posing the question, what is next for mankind....

We loved coming to the air and space museum. We got the 10 am tickets for when it opened and the…read moreline wrapped around the building. We had a lot of fun here and watched one of the IMAX shows which was about the future of space, it was perfect timing because the astronaut on Artimus II was in it and it was the day they launched. My only wish is that it wasn't so crowded or a way to have less people to be able to enjoy exhibits more and have it be less overwhelming. My kiddo was definitely overwhelmed and overstimulated as were we. We didn't get though everything but all the top floor and some of the first. The cafe doesn't have a ton of food options and the line gets long but it was what we had for lunch.

This museum is AMAZING! Clean, quiet, open 364 days a year and IT'S FREE! If you are passionate…read moreabout history and like guns you will absolutely love this museum. I went on a Saturday but learned that during the week there is an extremely knowledgeable curator. I highly recommend this museum. Also they have a range at the museum so definitely don't forget to check that out as well.

Epic collection of firearms with a rich history. The staff at the museum were very professional and…read moreanswered all my questions thoroughly. The firearm collection is very extensive and goes beyond my highest expectations. We were immediately greeted at the front desk by Zack. He was very informative about the museum. 98% of the museum is made up of donations. About 8,000 firearms donated are in storage. Bill, one of the staff, was very helpful and talked about James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr.. I was impressed at the arrangement of the firearms and how they were organized in a meaningful way. It would take many hours to go through and read all the exhibits. We spent about two hours there. I was very impressed with the exhibit of weapons used in Hollywood movies. I adored the exhibit with taxidermy animals especially the bear. The Buffalo Bill and George Washington exhibit were very eye catching as well. The most spectacular moment in the museum was hearing about and see an exhibit piece owned by one of America's most notorious criminals, Charles Manson. The museum curator, Ernie, gave me vivid details of how the gun was confiscated by the police. Admission to the museum is free and one of Fairfax's finest and unique local attractions. Strongly recommend this museum.