National Gallery of Art

Affiliated with but not a part of the Smithsonian, the National Gallery needs two buildings (connected by an underground tunnel) to house its massive collections (more than 110,000 objects) of painting, sculpture and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the present. The gallery, being a generalist sort of spot, doesn’t quite excel in any one area (the Hirshhorn has better modern art, and the American Art Museum keeps a better national retrospective), but it’s still pretty impressive. Kids love the walking escalator that traverses the two buildings. The original neoclassical building, known as the West Building, exhibits primarily European works, from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including pieces by El Greco, Monet and Cézanne. The National Gallery is also the only gallery in America displaying a da Vinci (Ginevra di’ Benci). Interactive computers in the Micro Gallery allow visitors to design their own tour. Across 4th St NW, the angular East Building, designed by IM Pei, is where you’ll find an incredible giant mobile designed by Alexander Calder, along with other abstract and modern works.