DC National Archives Museum + Museum of American History Semi-Private

What your day looks like

This 5.5 hours Semi-Private guided combo tour welcomes guests to skip the line and experience the two “must see” museums in Washington DC. This is the best way to explore the experiment that is the United States of America! Start with our founding document and end with an exploration of what has happened since. Our guides provide stories, context, and anecdotes for the dynamic results. This is the best way to skip the line and save time, in exploring the experiment that is the United States of America! Start with the original handwritten “Charters of Freedom” housed in their spectacular Rotunda. Your guide will narrate the extraordinary circumstances that brought this nation into existence. No trip to the US Capital city is complete without a visit to the National Archives. Surround yourself with documents and paintings that offer both depth and nuance to the period that founded the United States of America. And at we take it a step further. In the Rubenstein Gallery, go even deeper into the philosophical foundations by viewing a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta. Your guide will encourage you to explore the concept of citizenship, what it means, and how the criteria for those included have evolved from a declaration that stated “all men are created equal”. After a break to ponder the complexity of history (and grab a bite) your guide will lead you to the Smithsonian American History Museum. This museum is a caretaker for an incredible blend of scholarly history and pop culture whose memories create a unique bond among the people who experienced them. Your guide will introduce you to the most famous items in the collection, like the flag that flew over Ft McHenry inspiring the poem that was eventually adapted into the National Anthem. Featured is the most visited exhibition in the history of the Smithsonian: the First Ladies exhibit. While you’re there, see why the most requested artifact is Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers displayed not too far from the top hat Abraham Lincoln wore that fateful night to Ford’s Theatre. Your guide will provide stories and background to expand on the reason these items (out of hundreds of thousands in the collection) serve as living touchstones for the concept we call the United States of America.