Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

The museum opened in 1910 and holds something like a hundred and forty-five million specimens and artefacts, of which a very small proportion is on display. The Hope Diamond, 45.52 carats and deep blue from boron in the crystal, sits in the gem hall and is the single most-visited object. The fossil hall reopened in 2019 after a five-year rebuild and is organised around deep time and climate rather than a march of dinosaurs, with a Tyrannosaurus mounted over a Triceratops. An African elephant stands in the rotunda. The Ocean Hall holds a right whale model and a live coral reef tank. Entry is free, as at all Smithsonian museums.

What you actually see

• The Hope Diamond - 45.52 carats, blue from boron.
• A fossil hall rebuilt in 2019 - arranged around deep time and climate.
• The rotunda elephant - the museum's other fixed point.
• Ocean Hall - a right whale model and a live reef tank.

When to go

Year round; free always. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is one of the busiest museums in the world - school groups dominate weekday mornings in term. Security screening queues at the entrances. Some special exhibitions are ticketed. Very little of the collection is displayed.

Nearby

The National Gallery is east; the Washington Monument is west.