DC has a plethora of museums, including 17 Smithsonian’s. If you’re looking for creative ways to get out of your house and into a new environment without actually leaving your house, we’ve compiled a list of virtual museum tours in DC. You can take a voyage to space, see live animals, discover famous women in history or view the Hirshhorn’s Sculpture Garden from a whole new perspective.

National Air and Space Museum

The Air and Space Museum takes visitors to the sky, showcasing the amazing technological achievements that have progressed aviation and space exploration throughout the last century. Students and educators can access STEM resources. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum maintains the world’s largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts, encompassing all aspects of human flight, as well as related works of art and archival materials. It operates two landmark facilities that, together, welcome more than eight million visitors a year, making it the most visited museum in the country. It also is home to the Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park

Go wild with online resources from one of the nation’s most popular zoological parks. At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, we save species. We provide engaging experiences with animals and create and share knowledge to save wildlife and habitats. Always free of charge and open 364 days a year, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.’s, and the Smithsonian’s, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. The Zoo instils a lifelong commitment to conservation through engaging experiences with animals and the people working to save them. Founded in 1889, the Zoo is part of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. Today, the Zoo sits on 163 acres in the heart of Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park and is home to 2,700 animals representing more than 390 species.

Ford’s Theatre

A working theatre, historical monument, world-class museum and learning center, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination for exploring and celebrating the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC. Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site is operated through a public-private partnership between Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service. Ford’s Theatre celebrates the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln and explores the American experience through theatre and education. A working theatre, National Historic Site, world-class museum and learning centre, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in Washington, D.C., to explore and celebrate Lincoln’s ideals and leadership principles: courage, integrity, tolerance, equality and creative expression.

In 1861 theatre manager John T. Ford leased out the abandoned First Baptist Church on Tenth Street to create Ford’s Theatre. Over the next few years, the venue became a popular stage for theatrical and musical productions. On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln visited Ford’s for his twelfth time for a performance of Our American Cousin. At this performance, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth; he died the next morning in the Petersen House, a boarding house located across the street. Ford’s Theatre remained closed for more than 100 years.
Ford’s Theatre officially reopened in 1968 as a National Historic Site and working theatre. Through its inspiring theatrical productions, live historic interpretation and engaging education programs, Ford’s Theatre offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in America’s past while revealing meaningful connections to today.

The Ford’s Theatre experience will inspire audiences from around the world to become compassionate leaders in their own communities, empowering them to live out Lincoln’s principles in their own lives.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the only museum in the world solely dedicated to celebrating the diverse artistic achievements of women. Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s collection features 5,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists, including Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, Lee Krasner, Louise Bourgeois, Chakaia Booker, and Nan Goldin, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware, botanical prints, and artists’ books.

NWMA brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments. To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays its collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Centre, publishes a member magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a centre for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House.

Hirshhorn Sculpture Gardens

The Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden displays some of the most unique artworks in modern and contemporary art, including painting, sculpture and photography. With more than sixty works of art displayed year-round, the Hirshhorn Museum’s Sculpture Garden offers visitors a contemplative haven in the heart of our nation’s capital. Comprising nearly a fourth of Joseph Hirshhorn’s initial gift, sculptures were and remain a critical aspect of the Museum’s identity, and the Garden, which opened with the Museum in 1974, provides the perfect setting for a collection of modern sculpture that, at the time, was said to be “without parallel in the world.” In addition to the outdoor galleries that make up the Garden, the Plaza surrounding the Museum building affords space to exhibit several recent acquisitions. Together, the two sites form a landscaped venue for some of the Museum’s most cherished works.

National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery captures America through the imagery of remarkable people who have shaped history. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.

Smithsonian 3D

A small group of technologists working within the Smithsonian Institution Digitization Program Office have brought the Smithsonian museum collections to life with 3D digitization. The 3D Program is a small group of technologists working within the Smithsonian Institution Digitization Program Office. We focus on developing solutions to further the Smithsonian’s mission of “the increase and diffusion of knowledge” through the use of three-dimensional capture technology, analysis tools, and our distribution platform.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

The National Museum of African American History aaand Culture learning lab offers students and teachers digital resources including imagery, essential documents and engaging videos. These materials bring stories to life and inspire readers to become agents of change. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in September 2016 with a ceremony led by President Barack Obama.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Fortunately, you don’t have to venture to the Unites States Holocaust Memorial Museum to experience their latest exhibit, Americans and the Holocaust, which examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped the American response to Nazism, war and genocide. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States’ official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

You might recognize the necklace from a little movie that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet called ‘Titanic’. The museum’s collections contain over 145 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, the largest natural history collection in the world. It is also home to about 185 professional natural history scientists—the largest group of scientists dedicated to the study of natural and cultural history in the world.

SPY Museum

The SPY museum may not be open, but you can still get-a-look into the largest collection of international espionage artefact’s online, some that have never been seen by the public…until now! The Museum provides FREE classroom lessons, resources, and activities that support traditional curriculum. Ranging in subjects, lesson plans include primary documents and step-by-step instructions for implementing activities in your classroom.