Just wondering if you guys think it would be feasible to do both the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of American History in the same day? Or would that be too much?

Thanks!

It could be a bit much; each museum could easily take a day to see at a reasonable pace.

American History would probably take more time since there is more in it....depends on you and how much you like gazing up at rockets and planes, etc., at the A+S, not to mention the IMAX...enjoy.

Last year we spent a full day in American History and didn't see everything. We spent most of a day in Air and Space.

We went to Air and Space and Natural History in the same day and split another day between the National Gallery of Art and American History. A&S was by far our favorite museum. If you stop at every exhibit it will take a week to see each museum. If you skip the movies and stick to exhibits you are interested in, you could see each museum in 3-4 hours. Be ready for a lot of walking and aching feet.

There is a tremendous amont to see, particularly in the history musuem. However, some of it can be gone thru quickly or bypassed. Not everyone can spend hours gazing at old steam engines and farm machinery. I would say that for the average visitor, doing both in one day is no problem.

I agree with zootsi -- although a half-day isn't enough to see everything at either place, it will probably saturate you with museum-ness.

Another factor to consider is the length of your trip -- if you only have one day, go to both rather than spending the whole day at one and skiping the other.

momtx - it really depends on how much you want to see. I have done both of those in a day with family and friends who have visited me here, and they were quite happy with that.

You won't see everything, but you'll see enough, IMHO.

Welcome to DC!

Karen

One of the things that we really liked about these museums is that they're free. This meant that we could spread our visits out....For example, we went to Natural History for an hour one day right before dinner, then came back and spent more time on another day. (It helped that we were staying at the Loews, which is almost on the mall....)

That said, these two museums were somewhat surprising for my family (at the time 12yo, 9yo, 6yo). I had remembered Air and Space as truly wonderful, but to my Boston Museum of Science jaded kids, it was not very interactive and not very engaging (except for the one learning room area). We easily got through what they wanted to do in a few hours. American History, on the other hand, I expected they'd tire of quickly but they could have spent a full day there.

As others have said, you won't see everything, so don't try. Decide whether you'd rather see more things in less detail or fewer things more intensely. Also, the free-ness helps in letting you go with the flow. YMMV.

Another factor is schedules. IIRC, the America History has extended evening hours in the summer. So you could take a dinner break and go back.