Visitor Page

Visitor Information

Each year, the Department of Botany receives visitors from research institutions around the world. The purpose of such visits usually involves working with the vast botanical collections maintained by the Department and consulting with members of the staff on the subject of their research.

ARRANGE YOUR VISIT: The logistics of arranging a visit are quite simple. Contact the Resource Account, providing the following information: name, institutional affiliation, proposed dates, and purpose. Please reach out well ahead of time (at least two weeks in advance) so that the necessary arrangements can be made. Note that the herbarium is not open on weekends or federal holidays.

ACCOMMODATIONS: The Department of Botany is located in the National Museum of Natural History at 10th St and Constitution Ave, NW (on the National Mall). As such, there are very few hotels within walking distance. However, we are quite accessible by Metro subway (at Smithsonian, Federal Triangle or Archives/Navy Memorial stations) which ties us to numerous hotels and bed & breakfast houses in the city, and by the Metro bus system.

TRANSPORTATION: Washington is served by three major airports: Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA); Dulles International (IAD); and Baltimore-Washington International (BWI).

• From DCA, you can take a taxi or Metro (Blue Line to Smithsonian Station or Yellow Line to Archives/Navy Memorial Station).
• From IAD, you can take a taxi or Metro (Silver Line to Smithsonian Station).
• From BWI, you can take a free shuttle to the BWI Amtrak Station, where you can take Amtrak or a Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) train to Union Station in Washington. Other transit options can be found here.
  
  We are also directly accessible by inter-city trains stopping at Union Station in Washington. Check Amtrak , MARC, and VRE for more information and schedules.