Air and Space - which one
 

Which museum do you reccomend and why (if we can only get to one) - the Air and Space on the DC Mall or the one near Dulles airport?
Thank you.

Well, the one near Dulles is supposed to be really great with all the bigger stuff, but it's also pretty inconvenient unless you have a lot of time in DC. The one on the law is the classic museum and the one most think about.

If you are the type that likes to read a lot in museums and do a lot of interactive things then I would go to the one on the mall. The Dulles location has more actual aircraft including the Enola Gay. The mall location has more science and space oriented displays.

There are no admission fees to either of the Air and Space museums, but you should be aware that there is a $12 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy Musuem (the one near Dulles).

Agrfee with above - but - husband and 21 year old son went to Dulles one last year. They have both already seen all the standard Washington attractions and wanted to see something a little different than the usual indoor museum. They both loved it.

I reccomend the Dulles one. It is really cool. The one on the mall, the building and the exhibits seem to be dated, but it is the original one. The dulles one has a neat tower and everything. The Dulles one is mostly airplanes and has other stuff like the space shuttle and airplane engines. It also has the SR-71, one the highest and fastest flying airplanes. The one on the mall is more hands on exhibits, with some rockets and airplanes. The Dulles one I would describe as impressive, while the Mall one is very interesting. Which one sounds more interesting to you and that's your decision. And if you have little kids, the mall one might be more fun for them. The Dulles one is probably more for adults. Enjoy Washington D.C.!

I'd go to the original one on the mall. The Dulles building is out of the way and not near anything else. If you go downtown, you can at least visit other museums within walking distance.

they are both amazing, but remember that the one on the mall is dated, and is more of an info museum. The one at Dulles is brand new, has a tower to watch planes land, and is all airplanes, without the exhibits that the mall has.

We've been to the Mall one several times in the past and just went to the Dulles one last month. They're so completely different, it's hard to say which you'd like better.

Personally, I like the one on the Mall because it's more interactive but I think SO really liked the Dulles one because of the historical aircraft there. He really wanted to see the Blackbird and I was surprised to see the Enola Gay (and surprised at its massive size). We saw an IMAX movie about fighter pilots which neither of us liked very much.

If you are a history buff the Mall location is hard to beat. Looking into those Mercury capsules or seeing The Spirit of St.Louis and the Wright Bros. Flyer was very emotional for me.

There is a new exhibit opening at the mall unit-A history of modern air travel and includes the nose of a 747. At present, the best of the closed Museum of American History and Technology is on exhibit at the air and space on the mall also. We were just there in early Nov and really enjoyed the museum on the mall.

Thank you all. I think we will go to the one on the mall. It seems that one has the planetarium, also. Will we have time to visit other museums on the mall - or is Air and Space an all day event?
thank you all so much for the helpful info.

The Air and Space museum on the mall can be an all-day event if you are really interested in the history of flight. The building is very large and covers as much of the history as will fit in the building. If you just want a quick look over, then you could be satisfied with 2 to 4 hours (yes, there are enough exhibits there to take that long). The annex at Dulles is even larger and the half-day we were able to allocate to that was not enough. If you do go there, the docent led tours are great. The docents that I listened to were older pilots who knew what the planes were and what they meant to aviation.