Planning a trip to Washington, DC? Senator Smith’s office is happy to help you arrange tours for your visit. To request any of the tours described below, please complete the tour request form, linked below. All tours can fill up quickly, so we encourage you to submit your tour requests as early as possible. If you have any questions, please email our Tour Coordinator at tours@smith.senate.gov.
Senator Smith’s staff is happy to answer any additional questions you may have when planning your visit—just call (202) 224-5641. She also invites you to stop by her office for a visit while you are in town. Her office is located in room 720 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, and is open Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm.
Senator Smith’s office can also provide Gallery Passes to watch the Senate’s proceedings or see the Senate Chamber. The Senate galleries are open whenever the Senate is in session. Additionally, the Senate galleries are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm during recesses of one week or more. If you also have a Capitol tour, we recommend picking up Gallery Passes before your tour.
United States Capitol
The Capitol Visitor Center offers tours of the U.S. Capitol led by professional tour guides Monday through Saturday, 8:50 am to 3:20 pm. These tours can be self-reserved on the Capitol Visitor Center website. Tours can be reserved up to five months in advance, and we recommend reserving your tour at least a month to a month and a half ahead of time as tours do fill up quickly. You can also request a Capitol tour through our office by completing the tour request form.
If all Capitol tours are full for the dates of your trip, the Capitol Visitor Center offers a limited number of walk-up tours throughout the day. To increase your chances of securing a walk-up tour, especially during the busy tourist seasons, we suggest arriving when the Capitol Visitor Center opens at 8:30 am to try to get in the 8:40 am tour, which is for walk-ups only. The Capitol Visitor Center also offers specialty tours that focus on a specific historic or artistic theme. For information on the specialty tours, please visit the Capitol Visitor Center website.
Capitol tours last about an hour. From March through August, please plan for 45 minutes to get through security. From September through February, please plan for 30 minutes to get through security.
Senator Smith’s office provides a limited number of staff-led tours of the Capitol, which are subject to staff availability. These tours can be offered Monday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. If you are interested in a staff-led tour, please make a note in the additional information section of the tour request form. Staff-led tours are not available for groups of more than 15 guests.
All Capitol tours are fully accessible to people with disabilities.
White House
Senator Smith’s office is pleased to help Minnesotans request self-guided tours of the White House. White House tours are usually offered Tuesday through Saturday, and approved requests will be randomly assigned a tour time between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm. The White House uses a lottery system for ticket distribution, so Senator Smith cannot guarantee that tour requests will be granted.
Due to the limited availability and popularity of White House tours, we recommend requesting White House tours at least three months in advance. We are not able to request tours less than one month before your visit. All guests will be required to submit identification information for security checks to finalize the request.
Please note that White House tour schedules are dependent on the President and First Lady’s schedules. As such, some dates will not be available for tour requests, and confirmed tours will occasionally be canceled or rescheduled with little notice.
FBI Experience
The FBI Experience is a self-guided tour at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Tours are offered Monday through Friday at 9:00 am, 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:00 pm, and last approximately 60–90 minutes. Since tours can fill up quickly, we recommend requesting FBI Experience tours at least three months in advance. We are not able to request tours less than one month before your visit.
SUPREME COURT
On weekdays when the Supreme Court is not in session, docents lead 25-minute Courtroom Lectures, usually scheduled for 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm. These lectures discuss the Supreme Court’s judicial functions, the building’s history, and the Courtroom’s architecture. Due to the annual closure of the Courtroom during the month of August, August dates may not be available. For more information on Courtroom Lectures, please visit the Supreme Court website.
All lectures are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Our office is able to reserve seating for a limited number of Minnesotans for only the 12:30 Courtroom Lecture.
BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING
Tours of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing showcase currency production from an enclosed walkway suspended above the production floor. Tickets are not required from September through February. From March through August, tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at 8 am at the BEP’s Tour and Visitor Center entrance. For more information on walk-up tours of BEP, please visit the BEP website.
Our office is able to request a limited number of reserved tours for Monday through Friday at 8:15 am and 8:45 am, year-round, and at 3:00 pm, 3:15 pm, 3:30 pm, and 3:45 through August. Since tours can fill up quickly, we recommend requesting BEP tours at least three months in advance. We are not able to request tours less than three weeks before your visit.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Tours of the Historic Treasury Building are offered at 9:00 and 10:30 am on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, excluding some holiday weekends. Some highlights of the docent-led tour include the Salmon Chase Suite, the Andrew Johnson Suite, and the Cash Room. Please note that this is not the tour for seeing the production of currency notes or coins.
Since tours can fill up quickly, we recommend requesting Treasury tours at least four months in advance. We are not able to request tours less than a month before your visit. All guests will be required to submit identification information for security checks to finalize the request.
OTHER POPULAR ATTRACTIONS
There are a variety of other free museums, memorials, and other attractions you can see while visiting Washington, DC. Tours and tickets for these attractions do not need to be set up through our office. Please see the following links for information to plan your visit.
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