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Study Tours

Study Tours

Smithsonian Associates Study Tours takes the educational intent of our fabulous programming outside the classroom and on the road!

About our tours

Each tour is led by one of our Study Leaders with expertise in the subject matter along with a Smithsonian Representative to handle all the logistics and comforts of the group. The study leader imparts knowledge both formally and informally throughout the tour, with methods that can include a background lecture, handout materials, narrating site visits, and stimulating social engagement with all participants during the course of the tour.

Tour types

Study tours include day bus trips, multi-day and overnight tours, and shorter neighborhood walks or visits to specific sites. We offer over 70 study tours each year, and we hope you will join us!

Select a tour type to learn more:

Day bus tours visit destinations as close as Capitol Hill and as far as New York City or Maryland's Eastern Shore. Topics for these tours are wide-ranging and cover subjects such as military history, art, architecture, railroading, horticulture, gastronomy, and literature.

Popular tours have included:

  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater
  • John Wilkes Booth's Escape Route
  • Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
  • Sultana Cruise & Historic Chestertown
  • The Cloisters of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Overnight tours give Study Leaders the opportunity to take a group a greater distance from Washington, DC. Study Leaders spend more time with participants and explore the subject in greater detail. The majority of these tours depart from Washington, DC, however for some tours the group meets at the destination.

Popular tours have included:

  • Best of Brooklyn, New York
  • Berkshires Summer Sampler
  • Exploring Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago
  • Corning Museum of Glass
  • West Virginia Railroad Spectacular

Walking and on-site tours last two to three hours. Participants meet directly at the tour destination and spend time with the Study Leader exploring that particular subject or neighborhood.

Popular tours have included:

  • Inside Smithsonian Libraries
  • Architecture on the National Mall
  • Dupont Circle and Embassy Row
  • Sunrise Hike at Great Falls
  • Roosevelt Island Walks

Resources

Meet your Study Leaders

All upcoming Study Tours

Programs 1 to 5 of 8
Art + History Museum Tour
Friday, ​January 10, 2025 - ​10:00 a.m. ​to 3:30 p.m. ET​
In-Person Tour
Register

View iconic masterpieces and learn the stories behind their creation as lecturer Paul Glenshaw leads an engaging tour of three museums focused on several of the great works featured in his popular Art + History series for Smithsonian Associates. Start the tour at the National Gallery of Art followed by a brisk outdoor walk and lunch at a nearby restaurant. Enjoy the afternoon at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Art + History Museum Tour
Friday, ​January 17, 2025 - ​10:00 a.m. ​to 3:30 p.m. ET​
In-Person Tour
Register

View iconic masterpieces and learn the stories behind their creation as lecturer Paul Glenshaw leads an engaging tour of three museums focused on several of the great works featured in his popular Art + History series for Smithsonian Associates. Start the tour at the National Gallery of Art followed by a brisk outdoor walk and lunch at a nearby restaurant. Enjoy the afternoon at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

A Cultural Symphony: The New York Philharmonic, the Met, and the Guggenheim
Saturday, ​January 25, ​2025 - 8:00 a.m., ​to Sunday, ​January 26, ​2025 - 10:30 p.m. ET​
In-Person Overnight Tour
Register

Immerse yourself in Manhattan’s cultural splendors during a winter weekend getaway filled with a blend of the city’s finest music and art—plus a Saturday night on the town to enjoy as you’d like. The weekend includes a performance by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and tours of exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Art historian Ursula Rehn Wolfman leads the visit.

Egyptian Art and Culture at the Walters Art Museum
Saturday, ​February 22, 2025 - ​9:00 a.m. ​to 5:30 p.m. ET​
In-Person Tour
Register

Visit the world of ancient Egypt during a day at the Walters Art Museum with Egyptologist Jacquelyn Williamson. A guided tour explores the museum’s collection of statuary, reliefs, stelae (commemorative stone slabs), funerary objects, jewelry, and objects from daily life that date from prehistoric to Roman Egypt. Williamson even gives a lesson on the basic hieroglyphic offering formula, which appears on memorial statuary and is designed to provide the dead with essential goods in the afterlife. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Indoor Gardening: Houseplants Galore
Tuesday, ​February 25, 2025 - ​10:00 a.m. ​to 12:00 p.m. ET​
In-Person Tour
Register

How can you best care for the plants that enhance your daily life? Staff members of the Interiors team of Smithsonian Gardens are ready to take on the topic. The pros help sift through the overwhelming amount of available houseplant care information to determine what is right for you and your plants by covering everything from plant selection to design, ongoing care, and the newest varieties on the scene. The program also includes a horticulturist-lead tour of the Smithsonian Gardens exhibit “Human/Nature: Why People Are Drawn to Living Things.”