I had never been here before attending a smaller/private show with a couple groups of kids over the…read moreweekend. I've been to a few planetariums, but this one was pretty great, especially given it's random location. I think the person putting on the show was named Bob? Anyway, he did an awesome job. I learned and saw things I had never learned or seen before and he did a great job of explaining things without boring me and the many children in the room to death. Planetariums can make me dizzy and nauseous, also I had to look away periodically, but he moved at a pretty good pace, so I actually could enjoy much of the presentation. It was about light and went into a bit more about planets and the universe later on. I would definitely return.

The Arlington Planetarium is back and open to the public! If you love science as much as I do or…read morejust want to learn a little more about what you are seeing in the local night sky, then come out to the planetarium. My husband and I attended for the first time last night and we plan to return for the monthly presentations. The planetarium provides a small and intimate environment for families to learn about different scientific topics and study our local night sky. The planetarium is part of the Arlington Public School system and as such, hosts school aged educational programming in partnership with local schools. However, most of the cost of operating the facility and programming comes from members of the community who support via membership in the Friends of Arlington's Planetarium nonprofit organization. Volunteers actually run the monthly public outreach events. This is a great place to rediscover the beauty of the world and universe around us. There is a small parking lot outside the building and they do offer restrooms, as well as a small gift shop (table) inside. Thanks for an excellent evening. We will be back next month! :-)

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.

The planetarium is nice, it's not what I was expecting, I thought it would be more along the lines…read moreof a film, not a ranger narrating everything the whole time. But it was still nice. If you're not a kid person, don't go. All in all, it was nice, just wish the show was a bit longer, 30 minutes flew by.

Fun family activity for a weekend - so many great trails nearby! Parking is ample and there are…read morebathrooms the nature center, as well as great directions from the staff on site. We parked near the horse center and got a chance to watch horse riding lessons.

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!

There's fun kids' activities in the Maryland Science Center downtown Baltimore. We're members, so…read moreit's free to go as often as we like! With that, we can stay with any one thing we're in the mood for, and next time see other stuff. This time, (Apr 2026), it was all the color-panel floor! No, I dont know what the official name is. The kids with us just ran and danced and played across the changing shapes and colors, and sometime just lay there as the colors and shapes changed around them, while other kids of all ages joined in for longer or shorter times. I don't think they have free days, but there are some inexpensive entry categories, and you can bring a friend in with anything but the most basic membership.

Overall, I really enjoy the center and think that it can be a wonderful place for families…read more Pros: it's a big facility and plenty for kids to see and do. My favorite location at the moment is the new Space Center which was just opened this year. It has some fun interactive exhibits and encourages kids to think about the universe around them. Also, there's a Kid's Rook filled with all sorts of in doors interactive activities including a giant water take, and many manipulatives. The live shows and science demonstrations are varied and incredibly well scripted and interactive. We've seen about 5-6 different shows this year and both my kids (ages 5 and 8) have loved and been engaged for every one. Staff are overall super friendly and they keep the facility super clean with the exception of the men's bathrooms. There's also a room where kids can conduct their own supervised experiments which is wonderful. And there's a new maker area that opened a few weeks ago where the kids are challenged to design all sorts of contraptions using recycled material (my kids spend 90 minutes there this morning!) Cons: no refreshments except for a really poorly designed self check out for frozen burgers and soft drinks and chips. This place could do with an actual eatery. Some areas are feeling and looking old. The dinosaur exhibit feels ancient and several of the areas, like the interactive screens do not work properly. It needs an upgrade (and so do a couple of other areas). Summer field trips can be unpleasant. At times, hundreds of unsupervised children can be in the facility and staff do not know how to force chaperones to be watching their children instead of being on their phones. I've seen kids shove other kids, steel toys from them, or simply be completely unsupervised at times and it makes me worry for their own safety. This was a repeated problem over the summer. The men's bathrooms especially on the second floor smell awful and are disgusting. Overall: my family and I have a membership and we do come a lot (probably 20 times a year). I feel like you can get a ton of use for it and kids have fun and can learn quite a bit while they are at it.

I was raised in the greater DC metropolitan area and began visiting the museum at age eight…read more There have been many changes and updates to the Air and Space Museum, and the hardware is magnificent. I noticed that not one spacecraft -- particularly the robotic -- have a single description of the hardware. Why not? What visitor has looked up at the Mariner or Voyager spacecraft and wondered what the components are. Same for the Martian landers and surface robots. I think the Museum staff is missing the point: it's great to have the machine there, but explain something about its structure and components -- and explain the hardware's purpose. I noticed a lot of young children in the museum. I don't mind them, but the experience is lost on them, too young to understand what they're seeing, or to understand most explanations. I noticed several of them falling down stairs yesterday, unsupervised by the adults with them. Perhaps there should be a lower age limit? (There were no apparent injuries to any of the kids.) Last of all: there is an exhibit about SPEED. Know what populates the exhibit? Cars. Really? How does this apply to an Air and Space museum? Just filling up the space? Don Garlitz and Mario Andretti are no doubt legends in their time, but what does this have to do with aviation or spaceflight? There are dozens -- if not hundreds -- of speed records set in manned aviation and spaceflight: why not have these records posted? This exhibit was exceptionally disappointing. All in all: I think the leaders of the museum have lost their vision.

The National Air and Space Museum is absolutely worth a visit when you're visiting Washington DC…read more It's on the national Mall and one of the best of the museums. We spent about two hours there in total and it was incredible. We found that the Wright Brothers Section was one the most enjoyable to us. A very extensive history of aviation as well as land speed records. Their Gift Shop is absolutely amazing as well. Reservations are required and you cannot enter and tell the time of your reservation. Associates are quite welcoming and friendly when you enter. Overall, A+ experience!

I am so glad that this theatre is still in operation…read more Also contains a first rate museum in the basement that includes the gun used to kill Lincoln and a pillow that still has dried blood on it So glad that I went!

The famous for theater has become more of a museum nowadays than an active theater, but it still…read moreholds some performances today. It's the historic theater that Lincoln was shot. There's plenty of memorabilia to Lincoln's life and life back then within the theater. It's a very cool historic site that is worth the ticket to admission! Being in the same room and looking up at the box that Lincoln sat in where he was assassinated was a very interesting and also somber experience !

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

Small kids play area located on the first floor of the American history museum. Nothing big or…read morefancy but a good spot that is enclosed with staff at the doors so kids can play freely in the area.

If you have littles, the Wegman's Wonderspace on the first floor of the National Museum of American…read moreHistory is a great place to get your wiggles out on a cold or rainy day. Concept wise, this place is tops! There is a special seating area for parents, a child-sized replica of Julia Child's kitchen, farm replica complete with a hen house, construction area, and the piece de resistance -- a discovery climbing station. There is a museum employee at the front door who helps check guests in, but I suggest having an actual play space attendant to make sure that things do not go array. It can get crowded quick and there are lot of really big kids mixed in with the babies/toddlers and I feel like if there is not dedicated eyes on all corners things could get pretty crazy. Bring a pack of sanitizer wipes, lower your expectations, and make sure you are keeping an eye on your child and you'll have a great time!