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The Smithsonian’s huge collection of material and artifacts related to Native American art, history, culture, and language moved into its first permanent home in Washington in 2004. Items displayed include North American carvings, quilled hides, feathered bonnets, pottery, and contemporary prints and paintings, as well as objects from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

This is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to displaying the work of women artists, from the Renaissance to the present day. Fascinating and provocative exhibitions explore the work and social role of female artists over the centuries, as well as that of women in general.

Mail and fun don’t naturally go together, but at this wonderfully conceived museum, they do. The little Pony Express saddlebags, the tunnel-like construction representing the desolate roads faced by the earliest mail carriers, and the mail-sorting railroad car entertain and inform visitors.

The Phillips is internationally celebrated for its ravishing collection of Impressionist works, including Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party , Van Gogh’s Entrance to the Public Gardens in Arles , and Degas’ Dancers at the Barre , among others.

This is the Smithsonian’s commemorative version of the Ideal Toy Company’s 1902 bear, based on a famous Washington Star cartoon showing “Teddy” Roosevelt with a bear cub. In the National Museum of American History.

A fun and educational simulation of the planetarium experience, capturing at least some of the excitement of the heavens. In the National Air and Space Museum.

One of the world’s foremost specialized museums. Its holdings include over 17,000 objects, spanning 5,000 years, and it maintains one of the finest collections anywhere of Pre-Columbian, Peruvian, Islamic, and Coptic textiles and Oriental carpets.

These marvelous carvings capture African skill and vision in the use of wood. In the National Museum of African Art.