National Aquarium
add photosThe National Aquarium in DC has more than 1,500 specimens and 250 species are in the collection.
11 Reviews for National Aquarium
27
00 families found this helpful
"Wait for the renovation"
Not worth it. Wait for renovations to take place. Its located in the basement of a federal building. If you blink you'll miss it. parking is bad. Don't waste your money... small fee to get in. Better to walk west to the White House and check out the grounds. Also there is a great theater across the street, National Theater.
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0 families found this helpful
"National Aquarium"
This place is AWESOME!! I almost want to go back to DC just to check this out again! They have a TON of fun, big, exciting exhibits to check out. My favorite was definitely the mind-bogglingly large shark tank!! It also had an awesome pool full of stingrays with employees swimming in it!
0 families found this helpful
"Not worth the money"
We just came home from a week in DC. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is amazing and worth every penny of its expensive tickets, but the National Aquarium was a big disappointment. I wish I had read these reviews before going. We spent $26 for the four of us and my kids were bored and running out the door within 10 minutes (and they LOVE the aquarium at home). This is just two rooms in a poorly-lit basement. Go to the National History Museum instead - you'll love it!
'11
1 family found this helpful
"Ok, there are real fish"
It's small, it's in the basement, it's not a big wow. Given that there are so many free museums and activities that are great for kids in the DC area, this is probably not worth the admission fee.
If your kid is really hankering for an aquarium, this one is serviceable. But if you can spare the time and make the travel happen, it's well worth it to visit the Baltimore Aquarium, which is truly amazing.
1 family found this helpful
"Not worth it"
It is not worth the money. It is in a basement. It is oneof the only mesuems youy actually have to pay for. We were vey disappointed. We have been to many other auaruims and this one is not worth the trip. My kids were young and they were bored. Older kids might enjoy more or a child very into fish but overall the other mesuems in the area that are free are a better choice.
0 families found this helpful
"National aquarium"
I dont know that I could have been much more disappointed in the lack of everything at this aquarium. I took my oldest when he was 2 or 3 and he enjoyed seeing "fish!" but honestly, I would compare this quantity of fish to that of a pet store. This is not one that I will revisit.
0 families found this helpful
"Small aquarium"
This aquarium was a nice excursion near the japanese street festival during the cherry blossom festival in washington dc in april. It happen to be a super windy day and this place was a nice shelter to goto. Kinda pricey for a small rectangular aquarium. You also have to go through security to get in. The cashier said it would take about 45 minutes to complete but our rambunctious 2 year old finished it in 15 minutes. Most of the tanks are up high and so you have to lift small toddlers to see what was in the tanks. She loved the little alligators (she thought were dinosaurs) and probably spent more time looking at the little plastic animals in the tiny gift shop than the real fish in the aquarium. The bathroom was small as well and not many stalls and no baby changing station.
0 families found this helpful
"national aquarium"
Its only one room in the basement of the Commerce Building. While the kids loved looking at the fish, even they were like, "That's it??" Its one of the few activities in DC that isn't free, so I would recommend catching other attractions and hitting the National Aquarium in Baltimore instead.
2 families found this helpful
"This aquarium is awful"
I strongly recommend that your family find another way to spend its vacation time. We spent about 15 minutes here. The entire place is poorly lit, the tanks appear as though they are rarely cleaned, and the alligators are about 10" long. Any place can add "National" to its name and make you believe it's part of the Smithsonian or other quality establishment, but that doesn't make it so. If I could give a rating of Zero Stars, I would without hesitation. Avoid this place at all cost.
1 family found this helpful
"dark,poor layout"
Our family really loves animals and learning abut animals. That was the only thing that saved the aquarium for us. The place was very dark and essentailly a large rectangle. Much of the signage was worn away and all of the tanks were very small and the presentation monotonous. It really was not worth th money spent.
0 families found this helpful
"Tiny Aquarium--Go to Baltimore!"
This aquarium pales in comparison to the Baltimore Aquarium and is near enough that if you are traveling in the area, you should take the extra 40 minutes to get to the inner harbor and go see an impressive aquarium.
My 1 1/2 year old liked what he saw but I was shocked to have completely exhausted the place in a half hour.
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