National Geographic Museum
Located on the first floor of the National Geographic Society’s headquarters, NatGeo’s museum offers exhibits about exploration around the globe. They’ve also quietly been leading the charge on immersive 4D museum experiences. Their interactive Tomb of Christ: Church of the Holy Sepulchre Experience runs through Jan. 1. $10-$15
National Building Museum
Known for its majestic Great Hall, the museum looks at all things architecture and construction. In the summer, the museum’s Summer Block Party, featuring an outsized art installation in the Great Hall, has become a summer bucket list item for locals. $7-$10
Museum of the Bible
This new museum near the National Mall hasn’t been without controversy, but it’s been attracting visitors all the same. The recreation of the Nazareth village is a Colonial Williamsburg-style look at how Jesus lived, and the fly-over virtual tour (tickets: $5) of D.C. explores where you’ll find Bible inscriptions on the city’s iconic monuments and memorials. A top floor fast-casual restaurant with a menu by local chef Todd Gray is worth the lunch break. $19.95 suggested donation
Artechouse
Exploring the intersection of art and technology, this relatively new museum in southwest D.C. has quickly become a must-see. With a towering, curvilinear screen as its centerpiece, exhibits focus on wowing visitors with its interactive installations. Currently on view (through Jan. 13) is New Nature by artist Marpi, which looks at plants and animals through an awe-inspiring lense. $8-$15
Newseum
Outside, the striking glass and steel, seven-story museum along Pennsylvania Avenue displays 80 front pages culled from 800 newspapers every day. Inside, the museum offers a look at the history of journalism, including a 4D film about investigative reporting; an interactive look at the fall of the Berlin Wall (complete with the largest peace of the wall outside Germany); and a moving look at how reporters covered 9/11. $14.95-$24.95
The Phillips Collection
This was the first museum of modern art in the country and includes over 4,000 significant works of contemporary art. The museum’s most famous painting is Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, on display near works by Monet, Picasso, Modigliani, Miró, Van Gogh and other modern masters. Don’t miss the Mark Rothko Room (above), which houses four of the artist’s bold abstracts. $10-$12
National Museum of Women in the Arts
This gender-centric museum contains the world’s largest assemblage of art by women—more than 4,000 paintings and sculpture by women from the 16th century to the present. See notable works by O’Keeffe, Cassatt, Morisot and Kahlo (left) inside this former Masonic Temple. $8-$10
Spy Museum
The Spy Museum is readying to move to a new home in L’Enfant Plaza, but you’ve still got until the end of December to tour the popular Penn Quarter museum. Don’t miss their James Bond-inspired exhibit, Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains, which isn’t moving to the new digs. $14.95-$22.95
