The National Archives Museum
The National Archives Museum
The National Archives Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
About
Repository where the most important historical documents of the United States are held, such as the original Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution and the 1297 version of the Magna Carta.
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AU$75.90
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Federal Triangle
How to get there
- Archives • 3 min walk
- Federal Triangle • 7 min walk
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See what travellers are saying
- Steph SBristol, United Kingdom94 contributionsIt’s a National TreasurePaid a quick visit to the Archives museum a couple of hours before it closed and found this to be a great time as there was no queue and we walked straight in. There are a couple of cool exhibits but of course the main attraction is viewing the Declaration of Independence and making all the appropriate National Treasure jokes along the way. That aside it’s the Declaration and a crucial part of America’s history so I can highly recommend taking the time to see it.Visited September 2023Travelled with familyWritten 9 October 2023
- montanapescadoAlbuquerque, New Mexico1,474 contributionsQuality over QuantityThe museum here is not extensive, but it really doesn't need to be. You come here for the biggies.... the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A quick stop, but a real must for most American citizens. Be sure to see it once in your lifetime, but you probably won't need to go back.Visited November 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 18 November 2023
- SeamusOakville, Canada1,660 contributionsA Capital GemOne thing Americans get right is memorials and museums, and this attraction is right as rain. Not a large museum its significance, however, is unparalleled by any in the land. You know why you came: the only originals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, working copies of the Bill of Rights, written amendments to all of these documents that form the USA’s foundation. Hugely impressive to us Canadians, this has to be instructive for all Americans. A special bonus for lawyers, as well, is the Rubinstein Gallery of Rights, featuring one of only 4 extant copies of the Magna Carta, the 13th century document establishing the rule of law. The interactive display beside is very instructive as well. And BTW, the cafeteria here is better than the one in the Natural History Museum. No advance tickets needed.Visited December 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 11 December 2023
- Bea1,295 contributionsHome to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of RightsThe National Archives museum is a must museum when you are in Washington D.C. It is home to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. You can see these three important documents in Rotunda. We had to book a time slot ticket in advance. And you are not allowed to take photos inside.Visited July 2023Travelled with familyWritten 20 December 2023
- Car717758 contributionsGo!Even though the museum is under renovation this is a must see. The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, & The Bill of Rights! So powerful to see them in person. Make sure to make a free reservation online prior to going—then you hardly have to wait & can get right in!!!Visited March 2024Travelled with familyWritten 1 March 2024
- Cassie S36 contributionsAmazingThis is amazing. But there are pros and cons. Pros: •Has the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the deed to the staute of liberty. •It's great. •It's free. Cons: •It's tiny, only has 2 open exhibits, (The rights exhibit and the Declaration of independence exhibit) •It under construction (2 exhibits are closed) •Seeing the Declaration of independence is like a buffet line.Visited March 2024Travelled with familyWritten 9 March 2024
- Kate S346 contributionsFun Impromptu VisitWe had some extra time in between activities and decided to go to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights in person. The line wasn't very long and we were able to see everything within an hour. We did not see the rest of the Archives, though. Just those documents. The documents are cool to see, but very old and hard to even read because the ink is fading. Still cool to see in person, though!Visited April 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 2 May 2024
- Pwaynez64 contributionsAmazing important documents!Very exciting for a person who enjoys limited edition, exclusive, important items and documents. The Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence were definitely the highlights. The room where you view the latter 3 items was a cluster, allowing people to cut the line who didn’t want to read about the facts and history of them prior seemed to make the wait longer.Visited June 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 2 June 2024
- Kim CLa Crosse, Wisconsin883 contributionsThis is a hidden gem...This was an unplanned stop on my DC tour. I ended up here thinking I was going somewhere else, but I was really glad I came. There are some amazing documents here that you can see personally. Take some time to appreciate the documents that made our country possible!Visited June 2024Travelled soloWritten 12 June 2024
- KristinRacine, Wisconsin8 contributionsA Must See!Unexpectedly got to see the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth documents! Long lines, but moved very efficiently and quickly. We got tickets in advance. A guard noticed my dad’s navy vet hat and let us skip the line! The staff and volunteers were all very helpful and knowledgeable.Visited June 2024Travelled with familyWritten 22 June 2024
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4.5
3,597 reviews
Excellent
2,331
Very good
893
Average
286
Poor
59
Terrible
29
Pia S
katy195 contributions
Feb 2020
We went here in February when the crowds are small and it was still very hard to get to see anything. There really were no direction any where, and the staff weren't very friendly. You are not allowed to take any pictures at all, that may seems obviously but then you can take pictures in all the other museums in town. They keep telling you that you can't stand in line to see the displays but they don't do anything to move people ahead so you have to try to move in to see the display and then people get mad and think you are jumping the line. They should do like they do in England with the crown jewels they have narrow line and keep it moving so every one can get a change to see the displays. Also there really aren't anyone to answer any questions.Its interesting but with all the security you have to go through to get in I'm not sure if I would go again.
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris D
Athens, GA44 contributions
Apr 2022
A required stop every time I visit DC. The most obvious reason being that the Archives house original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are located in the rotunda on the second floor. Additionally, there are also several rotating exhibits located in the first floor galleries.
The one major complaint about the Archives is that chaos and disorder reign supreme, especially when the rotunda is crowded. There is little to no organization or management of crowds. The guards tell people that they can either take in all of the exhibits from left to right, or that they can go straight up to the three founding documents if they wish. This causes a major backup and delay for those who are attempting to take in the entire exhibit because those who are only there for the founding documents continually file in to the area for them. It would be more efficient to just have everyone pass through the entire exhibit and keep the line moving in a consistent manner.
Having read other reviews about the poor attitudes and service from the security personnel, I have to say that during our visit, they were very polite and accommodating. I am hoping that whatever issues may have existed with their engagement of the public have been resolved.
The one major complaint about the Archives is that chaos and disorder reign supreme, especially when the rotunda is crowded. There is little to no organization or management of crowds. The guards tell people that they can either take in all of the exhibits from left to right, or that they can go straight up to the three founding documents if they wish. This causes a major backup and delay for those who are attempting to take in the entire exhibit because those who are only there for the founding documents continually file in to the area for them. It would be more efficient to just have everyone pass through the entire exhibit and keep the line moving in a consistent manner.
Having read other reviews about the poor attitudes and service from the security personnel, I have to say that during our visit, they were very polite and accommodating. I am hoping that whatever issues may have existed with their engagement of the public have been resolved.
Written 2 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KKTraveler
24 contributions
Dec 2019
Absolutely a must see in Washington! You can get timed tickets which is good for crowded times or just go in general admission line. Don’t miss the Magna Carta on lower level. Beautiful handwriting and medallion. If you know more details of history it is fun recognizing signers names, other than most familiar ones, on the documents.
Written 9 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bellevue1
Lynnwood, WA1,022 contributions
May 2022 • Solo
Obviously, National Archives is a must visit when you are in DC. One thing i would like to mention is even when advanced reservation is no longer required, i strongly suggest you book your time in advanced. This will save you time in line for security check, especially during holiday weekend when line us super long.
I was 30 min early and was able to go in right away, bypassing those people in line.
It only coat $1, which is very worth it in my opinion.
I was 30 min early and was able to go in right away, bypassing those people in line.
It only coat $1, which is very worth it in my opinion.
Written 31 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lynn S
League City, TX587 contributions
June 2022
This was one of the highlights of our recent DC vacation. I didn't have the opportunity to visit here on my previous DC trip so I was very excited to go here and view the original founding documents of our nation. Here you can see the ORIGINAL Declaration of Independence (it is faded but you can still make out some of the words and you can definitely make out John Hancock's signature), Constitution and Bill of Rights. I was very thankful that a security guard announced to everyone that there wasn't a line and you could feel free to move around to view the documents, otherwise it might have taken a lot longer. They do not allow photography inside at all and while I understand why, that was a bit of a disappointment. The museum is not large and while you could spend several hours here, 1-2 hours is plenty.
Written 9 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jaskel08
California355 contributions
June 2024 • Family
The National Archives is one of the must see sites in Washington DC. Located inside is the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Emancipation Proclamation, and an original version of the Magna Carta. Inside the Rotunda where a lot of these documents are located, there are no lines to see each document. Visitors are allowed to walk directly up to each document and take pics without flash.
FYI, there is a long line to get in. But if you make reservations in advance….. it’s timed and very inexpensive, you get to bypass that long line. This is especially helpful if it’s hot/humid outside.
FYI, there is a long line to get in. But if you make reservations in advance….. it’s timed and very inexpensive, you get to bypass that long line. This is especially helpful if it’s hot/humid outside.
Written 2 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GretchenDK
Montclair, NJ138 contributions
Mar 2023
I only had a brief amount of time to visit this great institution so I focused mainly on seeing the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights, all located in the Rotunda. There were a lot of people visiting, mainly student groups. Upon entering you line up and the line is supposed to move around the semi-circle so people can see each display case. It did not work well as many of the students would congregate chatting and that made it harder for people to file around. I'm not sure why the security guards didn't tell them if they'd finished looking, to go back out into the foyer of the rotunda to wait for the rest of their class to finish. There were several guards there but they didn't say a word. This caused the line to back up. So if you think you can just run in and out to see those three main items, think again.
Written 23 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sandy B
11 contributions
July 2021
Absolutely chilling experience to get to see the Declaration and other documents in person. Fantastic to see them. After reading the security comment from another reviewer, I will say that we had a fantastic experience compared to the other museums we visited. We were one of the first groups of the day, so I don’t know if that made a difference, but all the employees were very pleasant.
Written 16 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike J
19 contributions
July 2019
The National Archives holds the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and US Constitution in one rather darkened room to protect the documents from fading - apparently one A Lincoln had them displayed in front of windows for 30 years so they have faded somewhat already. The guards do not take kindly to any light so don't even put your mobile phone on or they'll almost literally jump on you.
There is a queue to get in as numbers in the room with the documents are limited and the expected airport style security though the guards range from very jolly and friendly to downright miserable.
It's very interesting to be so close to these historical documents. There is also an exhibition about the archives and what they do etc.
There is a queue to get in as numbers in the room with the documents are limited and the expected airport style security though the guards range from very jolly and friendly to downright miserable.
It's very interesting to be so close to these historical documents. There is also an exhibition about the archives and what they do etc.
Written 8 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
justalittlebitocd
Melbourne, Australia659 contributions
June 2023 • Couples
we pre booked our ticket paying the $1 to skip the line so we walked straight in at our allocated time. NOBODY even checked our tickets. Anybody could have gone in that line and saved themselves a wait in a queue - lil tip there 😉 😉
Look, it’s a bit chaotic in there. Some people opt to start left and work their way along the display boxes , some start right and others just push in from the back. It was a mess. I think this needed to be better managed .
We started at the left and slowly worked our way through the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. Amazing history right there
glad we went . Kinda felt surreal seeing those documents
Took approx 30mins to 1 hour
Look, it’s a bit chaotic in there. Some people opt to start left and work their way along the display boxes , some start right and others just push in from the back. It was a mess. I think this needed to be better managed .
We started at the left and slowly worked our way through the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. Amazing history right there
glad we went . Kinda felt surreal seeing those documents
Took approx 30mins to 1 hour
Written 28 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There don’t seem to be any tickets available for this attraction. Are there walk up tickets available on the day?
Written 25 May 2021
You don’t need tickets, unlike several Smithsonian museums and the Capitol, unless you’re a large group.
Written 11 December 2023
My questions are
Are the staff (security guard /special police) of this place friendly to foreigners?
Are foreigners not welcomed at this place?
The reason I am asking these questions is because of the reviews here.
I am planning a family trip to the National Archives Museum. We are from a foreign country where English is our second language. My family members and I read the reviews here. It seems foreigners were not treated well here.
In one of the reviews, a foreigner did not violate any regulation, but one of the security guards threatened to toss this foreigner out of the museum.
Another reviewer, we think he is a foreigner, or looks like a foreigner. The moment he entered the gift shop, a security guard yelled at him, "Do not touch anything if you not going to buy. If you not going to buy anything, you shouldn't be in here!" But he just got into the gift shop and did nothing, why all the yelling?
In other reviews, similar to the previous two, security guard yelled at foreigners a lot. It seems that foreigners are presumed guilty of something.
Should we skip this place? Or, if we decided to visit this place, what should we prepare? What should we do to please security guards here?
Written 6 August 2019
What makes the Special Police so special here? Why many reviewers experienced rudeness and condescension of the special police officers at security checkpoint, rotunda, exhibitions, and the gift shop since 2009? Are most of the special police officers trained to treat museum visitors with rudeness and condescension? One of the reviewers mentioned military honor guards. Can you still see them at this facility?
Written 30 July 2019
I travel a great deal and it never ceases to amaze me how difficult tourists/visitors can be. My guess is that their demeanor is really needed to make sure that rules are followed. SO many people want to create their own rules. I have found that if you are pleasant, you will be treated fairly.
Written 31 July 2019
What exactly are the peak times for a visit? Would I be okay with not prebooking in late December?
Written 17 November 2018
Peak times are always going to be around holidays. We were visiting over a holiday weekend. Our tickets to the Archives were for the first groip in the am. I had been advised that the crowds would be bad to see the Declaration, Bill of Rights and Magna Carta. We raced upstairs to see these documents first and was glad that we did.
Written 19 November 2018
Hola sabeis si hay que pagar para entrar en los archivos nacionales y cuanto gracias.
Written 22 January 2018
How long would you spend here?
Written 30 October 2017
1.5 hours is about right but take into consideration you may have to queue to get in.
Written 4 November 2017
I plan to visit national archives museum on 17july- Monday. Do I need to pre book my ticket? Or is there any other way of obtaining one?
Would this museum be very crowded on a Monday?
Written 25 May 2017
I would go to their website and purchase a timed entry ticket (I think it was only $2 a ticket) and print it out/carry it with you. Our timed entry tickets definitely saved us time in March, and it would definitely be more crowded in July. It will get you out of the hot sun sooner! Enjoy!
Written 28 May 2017
What day did you visit? Weekend or during the week i am going on Monday. I am trying to judge best time of day to go.
Written 10 April 2017
I went on a rainy Monday in January. There were no lines or waiting. If you go on a sunny day, go early and start at top at the Constitution and work your way to the bottom. That way you will do it the opposite way of everyone else who starts at the bottom and works their way up. This will allow you to skip the long wait to see the documents.
Written 12 April 2017
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