We went to see the Titanic exhibition but were slightly disappointed in its brevity as well as the marketing having given away all of the interesting points. It is not the best value when comparing to the other museums in town.
An amazing museum with tons of new exhibits! I went on the "God's Tomb" one [I can't remember the exact name] and the Titanic one. They were both mindblowing and beyond what words could ever explain. You felt like you were actually there. A great experience for sure. I can't wait to come back in a few years to see the new exhibits.
Queens and Pharoah's of Egypy. Great display technology..."virtual".
I finally got a chance to visit this museum this past weekend and it was pretty great overall. New visitors should be warned though that if you're expecting something on the scale of a Smithsonian then you'll be disappointed.
The exhibits span the bottom floors of two adjoining buildings (maybe more like 1 and a half) and rotate every few months. The two main exhibits right now are a pretty moving collection of portraits of various animal species. A number of them are rare, endangered, or already extinct so the exhibit notes that these may be the only portraits of them that ever exist. Very sad.
The other exhibit is an Indiana Jones prop collection that utilizes audio and video headsets to guide your through props from all four movies, behind the scenes information, storyboards, and stories from production. Nat Geo was also smart in that they integrated real life archaeological exhibits in this display so that you could understate how the real process plays out and where the movie drew its inspiration from. The only negative is that due to the small size of the walkways it can get cramped as everyone just tends to stop in order to watch their tablet screens.
The exhibit in the other building is an undersea photo gallery that documents efforts to protect more of the worlds oceans. This building also houses a movie theater that's currently showing a 3d film on Jerusalem that is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch. It's worth a watch for the scenery and aerial shots alone!
Last bit of advice, when you buy your tickets they'll give you an entry time to actually go into the museum. For me it was 30 minutes later but I'd imagine it could be longer during busier hours. Plan for the potential wait!
Smaller museum, but still a good place to explore for an hour or so.
Should be free. If i wanted to only see pics i would just go online.
wonderful amusing scientific with lots of information museum with amazing displays movies archeological items in dc
The museum was closed! Just my luck.
The store was still open and the first floor was cool. Just wish it was POSTED online, like hey, we're under construction.
Great place to take family or visitors exhibits , shows and displays...lines can get long, buy tickets online ask for discounts or military can buy for entire group and save.
The Tour of the Tomb of Christ takes the magazine that you had on your coffee table and brings it to a whole new level. The VR tour at the end is an experience like no other. A combination of science, religion, art and history. This is something for everyone.
The museum is an important facility for anyone who wants to increase knowledge, because the museum is a learning medium. Data and information are stored and well maintained, so anyone who needs it can access it
Overpriced for only 2 measly exhibits. I am extremely disappointed.
Technical difficulties prevented any showings. Personnel unable to correct. Waste of time. Refund promised.
Very bad experience, only photos in a small space. Absolutely not recommended
National Geographic was our favorite magazine growing up so when we recently visited DC, we decided to stop by. We weren't really interested in the special exhibition so we just headed to the small gallery adjacent the museum building to learn about the organization's colorful history and their current endeavors and missions. There are no admission fees to that gallery and you'll see some really interesting artifacts, such as their first issue, the cover pages of the most popular ones, and some of their iconic photographs. If you're interested in these artifacts, definitely check out that gallery.
It was not really much to see there. Sorry, it's my personal opinion
The cafeteria here is awesome and cheap and open to the public. Shhhh...
Convenient to Metro. A little pricey on the major exhibits, but comprehesive and well done.
Not much at all to do or see. The nefartari exhibit was very good though. All about Egyptian mummies. Nothing much as such to represent national geographic on the whole.
The current photography exhibit, 'Women' is very good. Easy to spend several hours taking it in.
It is a very interesting place and its proposals aimed at knowledge are very enriching.
This museum has brand new and captivating exhibits at least twice a year. My 7 year old and 14 year old love it add my husband and I did too!
Expensive and small exhibits. There was no depth in the Jane Goodall exhibit. The focus seemed to be on impressive technology and preaching environmentalism rather than teaching. The other exhibit was a photo gallery of woman from around the world. Should have done my research before going.
The Tomb of the Christ is amazing. The virtual reality of the church and tomb let you experience it like being there.
The Queens of Egypt exhibit is filled with wonderful things to see. I plan to go back several times, so I got a membership for $75.00. There are hundreds of artifacts, videos, and a virtual tour through Queen Nefertari's tomb that is spectacular. The ads and exhibit guidebook have a picture of the bust of Queen Nefertiti. If you think you're going to see the original, think again. You'll have to book a flight to Berlin for that. The one in the exhibit is a replica which was made in the 1930's and I'm sure is the spitting image. There are a lot of interesting things to read, but it's a challenge. I wondered whether the designers were in league with local chiropractors, because many of us were bent over, rears in the air, trying to read the information explaining the items in the cases. Poor lighting cast a shadow from our heads, making it even more difficult. Also, if you think you might get dizzy, have someone with you when you go into the 3-D theater. It's beautifully done and worth sitting or holding on to someone to see it.
We are reasonably intelligent people but had trouble with the signage because it says you start in one building, but yet you have to get tickets in the other building before you enter. Then we didn't realize the it's mainly an office building with one exhibit and a gift shop.
Well worth it
The kids loved it
Fantastic place especially for my son who is delighted with Egypt and its pharaohs. The outstanding women of Egypt in their time were on display. Very easy to get to but always one but parking. But very nice experience.
WOW....What a well done exhibit!
Queens of Egypt is a MUST SEE!
Just average against the popularity NGC has
Don t go with much expecations
Exhibit are limited to single floor.
Closed down the cash registers at 4:59 p.m. Even though the museum is open until 6:30, they refused to sell us a ticket for admission. Said that they don't allow entrance after 5 p.m. Wasted uber ride over and back. Lame.
It was ok. Saw the Tomb of Christ. It s a walking movie. Then walked through the untold story of the Titanic. I was thinking there would be more. Kind of a let down. But it was ok and I guess worth the money.
It is a place to visit, there is a free part and another that can only be accessed by paying and that is where I understand that the best samples are found, they should lower the prices of the paid part to make it more accessible for all those who want to visit
Great exhibits... but I'd love to see more about what happens behind the scenes with both photography and stories.
This place was awesome. Saw the Queens of Egypt exhibit... highly recommend it!
Queens of Egypt exhibit was AMAZING! Didnt view the rest of the museum due to time constraints.
I've yet to visit the museum, but the cafe I'm patronizing at least twice a week, more when the weather is nice. They have the most amazing food options and very reasonably priced.
When I went they had an exhibition of the queens of Egypt. Spectacular.
This was a very nice activity seeing the Tomb of the Christ. There was a 3d vertual reality tour. It was amazing and like being in Jerusalem. Thanks National Geographic!
Wish more was open, but for free you can't ask for more
Good Egyptian exhibit about Queens of Egypt. The cafe is quite good as well.
I visited, May 22, 2019. It was a spur of the moment decision to pass the time waiting for a document being authenticated the Philippine Consulate. I submitted the document at 11:00am but can't pick it up until 3:00p. I didn't want to go home to University Park and come back so I went to check out the National Geographic exhibit. They are currently showing the "Queens of Egypt" It's a very interesting exhibit. I also found out that there was a championship of the Geographic Bee. How I wish I could have joined the audience. National Geographic museum is a great place to visit.
The exhibits are small and geared to grade school children. It was interesting but not for the $15 admission.
To call this a museum is an insult to the other amazing museums in the area. Although I expected it to be small I was not expecting it to be composed of a SINGLE exhibit. Literally the ground floor of their office headquarters the "museum" wraps around in a haphazard tangled mess. The staff were not at all nice. When we asked about other exhibits we were grumpily told to go across the courtyard to their other building. The Yellowstone presentation consisted of floor poster like boards which were basic to say the least. The only memorable thing I left the "museum" with was a huge sense of disappointment and a wish for my money back.
Went to Queen of Egypt exhibition and it was very nice
Not worth it at all, it's only few pictures.
you may see way better collection of pictures online and at your own comfort
overpriced for a gallery of instagram photos printed on larger areas
some were really nice but i mean not really worth the $$
Queens of Egypt! Great exhibit! On display till September 2019!
Spectacular place to inspire the adventurer in all of us!!!!
Quite interesting, but the subject of evolution would not be well represented
Excellent museum. Takes a couple hours but worth every minute.
Excellent museum and great exhibition of Queens of Egypt. So well worth the trip to DC.
Always a 5 star visit.
This time we came to see the shark exhibit. Information education and tonns of fun
WRT the exhibition of Queen of Egypt, it very good and informative. While the exhibition only has one floor and with detailed reading of those exhibition, it is still no more than one hour s tour. So price is really high, $15 / adult.
Went to see Banff Mountain Film Festival. Wonderful time at Nat Geo as always.
Check out their After Hours events. Also independent film screenings.
Tiny. Super expensive. Took less than 20 minutes to walk through whole museum. May be worth it if the exhibits were more than blown up intragram pics but I doubt it. Furious I spent 35 dollars for me and my 2 kids. Do NOT recommend
I had high expectations for this museum. It is one of the few pay museums, so I thought it was going to be great. Was a huge waste of $30 ($15 x 2 tickets). We watched the Tomb of Christ, which was basically standing in a room to watch a 30 minute documentary and then look at a few pictures. Don't waste your time with this one. Go see one of the many free and way better museums in DC.
Great museum for who love to explore the world and nature. A lot of history about National Geographic group and exhibition around the world. There are two buildings which one is free for visiting and another one, exhibition area, which must pay fee admission (adult 15$).
nationalgeographic.org