National Portrait Gallery

Easy entrance, FREE no crowds, plenty of restrooms and water fountains, nice large covered patio with lots of seating. Of course all the presidential portraits (Obama is finally back in residence).... but so much more.... some great traditional paintings (ex. Edward Hopper), castings of Lincoln, photography, and some modern art installations. Definitely easy to spend 3 4 hours here. If you can, leave your bags and drinks at home it makes security so much easier (all the DC museums have water fountains).

A lot of great arts to check out. Suggest at least setting aside 3.5 hours to tour the whole thing, though you might not be able to make the whole standing. I work out a lot and took 4 or 5 sits throughout the visit. They have self guided voice tour on their website which I personally enjoyed a lot. Make sure you bring water bottle limited water fountain there and it’s easy to get dry.

This is a gem of a museum not far off the mall area, maybe a 10 15 minute walk from the Archives building. The National Portrait Gallery is only half the museum. The other half is the American Art Museum. Plan on spending at least 4 hours. Better yet take two days and spend 4 hours each. I always go here when in town. Besides all the great art, I love spending time in the middle courtyard with its large atrium. It is bright, relaxing, has food, and a great place to rest your body before seeing more art. If you stay till they close, walk two blocks and eat in Chinatown. I always do.

This is a very nice gallery. Parking was confusing though and no one could help. I had a handicapped family member. The side on g Street was supposed to be an entrance for handicapped individuals, but parking was so bad we could not get her in there. We ended up just going in and getting a souvenir for the handicapped party on our trip because the only place we could park was in an area that was not the area for handicapped and they couldn't get up those steps.From the glances we were able to get, it was beautiful. I knew what the pictures looked like because I saw them online before we arrived.Shop is lacking in good assortment of souvenirs. I collect enamel pins and the only ones they had were of the Obamas. People would like more options that just those two pins. Only 2 keychains that did not directly say you were at the National portrait gallery. One was a paint pallet with a few colors on the pallet. Pretty but generic. The other was an impressionist painting. Pretty but would like more options.Overall, on okay visit. Not sure if I recommend for parties with disabled or handicapped parties.

A must-see. The gallery is actually two museums in one, it is just the right size. Seeing Obama's unique portrait was a highlight. The folk-art section also very interesting. It is very manageable and not overwhelming like some of the other mall museums. Visited 5/2023.