As others have mentioned on here, go for the building not the exhibits. If you have time to spend here then take a look around the exhibits. If you don't have a lot of time just walk in tell the guard you are here for the museum and go walk around the building and take some pictures. You don't have... More

Maybe this is misnamed - I read some of the negative reviews since we thought it was so good, and everyone who gave it negative reviews were upset because "there was nothing there". To us, the attraction is the building itself. It cost us nothing to go in, and we took a great docent led tour (again free) that is... More

The wife and I were in DC without kids recently. I am glad we had not wasted time on the Nat'l Building Museum on earlier trips when we had the kids in tow. There is simply not enough to it (and I have a longstanding interest in architecture). The building itself is the real attraction -- a grand, immense neo... More

An amazing transformation of a building...the columns are the largest we have ever seen! Be sure to take in the frieze on the exterior of this gem!!

When I went it was free to enter the building and you just had to pay for the exhibits. At the time they had an amazing mini-golf exhibit but that has since left. The exhibits are not all that nice - there were a few typos and really just felt like they were trying too hard. But the building? That... More

I really wanted to like this museum, but it felt like the exhibits were a bit light. I wanted more depth and a little more critical analysis. On the other hand, the setting is beautiful. Maybe skip the museum, and instead just have lunch in the beautiful atrium.

Very interesting building originally built for the pension bureau after the Civil War. Awesome central courtyard with huge columns and interesting architectural detail. Visited with a group of 8th graders and they were underwhelmed and quite bored after about 20 minutes. Worth stopping to look at if you're in the area but definately not for the teenagers.

I had never seen this building when I lived in DC so when my son said I HAD to see it I was pleased by its great size. They had a floor of leggos for the kids and other things. I liked the way the place was laid out and although I spent just a half hour there, it was... More

The building room was fantastic. My 5 and 7 year olds had a ball building with the large foam blocks, the small ones and especially the interactive screen... they spent so much time standing, sitting, reclining in front of it and watching the blocks build up inside the outline of their bodies on the screen and then watch them fall... More