WASHINGTON DC MUSEUMS

Where else can you explore the history of crime and punishment, experience driving and shooting simulators, and learn the real CSI procedures? At the Crime Museum you explore all this and more.

Described by Good Morning America as a "must see for CSI fans," the Crime Museum includes a crime lab and the filming studios for America's Most Wanted. A simulated FBI shooting range, high-speed police-chase, and hundreds of interactives and artifacts pertaining to America's favorite subject fill the 3-floor, 25,000 square foot museum.

The International Spy Museum is a privately owned museum dedicated to the field of espionage located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the street from the Old Patent Office Building (which houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery) and one block south of the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station.

The museum was built by The Malrite Company at a cost of US$40 million. Despite being one of the few museums in Washington that charges admission fees, it has been immensely popular since its opening in July 2002.

The over 600 artifacts in over 20,000 square feet (1900 m²) of exhibition space[3] relate the history of espionage and spies in real-world practice and in popular culture. The museum has extensive exhibits on espionage methods and materials dating from the Greek and Roman empires, the British empire, the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, the World Wars, and the Cold War years.

Most of the exhibit areas bring visitors into the era's espionage environment. Numerous visitor-interactive stations are located throughout the exhibit areas. At the terminus of the exhibit area an 8-minute feature film updates and describes how modern technology has changed the face of warfare and terrorism.

More than just a wax museum! Madame Tussauds Washington D.C. is a fully interactive experience, where visitors are able to touch, see and hear historical icons and celebrities in a way unlike any other Washington D.C. attraction. At Madame Tussauds Washington D.C., experience the glory of the U.S. presidency first-hand in an unparalleled interactive exhibit, featuring life-sized wax figures of all 44 Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama. Madame Tussauds Washington D.C. is a highly-interactive wax attraction that invites guests to meet America's history makers, Presidents, A-list celebrities, sports icons, music legends, and more. With over 100 incredibly lifelike wax figures, guests of all ages can touch, hear, and experience history among the U.S. Presidents then step into the glitz & glam life of the Hollywood élite.

For more information visit www.MadameTussaudsDC.com

The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year. The museum's collections total over 500 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and human cultural artifacts. With 7.4 million visitors in 2009, it is the most visited of all of the Smithsonian museums and 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.

Museum exhibits include:

• Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals
• Hall of Human Origins
• Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology
• Hall of Mammals
• Insect Zoo
• Ocean Hall
• African Voices
• Butterflies + Plants: Partners In Evolution
• Western Cultures Hall
• Korea Gallery
• and many other temporary exhibits

Find out for yourself why everyone is calling the Newseum the best experience Washington, D.C., has to offer. Each of the seven levels in this magnificent building is packed with interactive exhibits that explore how news affects our shared experience of historic moments!

With 15 theaters, 15 galleries and more than 25 exhibit spaces, visitors of all ages are putting the Newseum at the top of their list of favorite things to do in Washington, D.C.!