U.S. Capitol Building Tour

+ The tour lasts about an hour and headsets are provided to prevent visitors from hovering over others to hear the tour guide.
+ To sit in the House or Senate session, collect the passes from your Senator of Congressman. Inquire for directions to the building and room number at the information desk. It’s a 10min. walk from the Capital.
+ The food in the cafeteria is delicious. I recommend the Chef’s Special — NY strip steak topped with onions and mushrooms sided with steamed spinach and baked potato.
— As of December 2015, the Capital is undergoing renovations and the rotunda is mostly covered except the core middle section. Metal bars cover the paintings.
— You will be greeted by police with M16s at the entrance. Expect to walk through the metal detector like you do at airport security. No liquids allowed! Not even water or Tabasco sauce. I watched as a couple was stopped because of Tabasco sauce. Remember Disneyland? The same rules apply here. Don’t worry. There are water fountains inside if you get thirsty and a cafeteria serving variety of food if you get hungry.
— No cell phones or electronics in the House and Senate sessions. You are allowed to use them everywhere else.

Like a lot of other people, I wrote to my congressman asking for a Capital Tour and a White House Tour. His office was kind enough to set me up even though I only gave them 21 days notice and not the recommended 4 – 6 months. Unlike other Unilocalers I didn’t get a personal tour of my congressman’s office (I’m guessing because they were out of session), just the standard Capitol Visitor Center tour. I got my reservation confirmations in email and brought them to the Capitol. As others have said, you can just walk up and request tickets, but this saved me probably a 15 – 20 minute wait.
You start the tour out by viewing a 13-​minute video. I admit, like a lot of Americans I’ve grown weary of the political process and how it all seems to have just become about jockeying for position and power and «punishing your enemy» in recent years, on all sides. That 13-​minute video should be required viewing by every member of Congress because it really was pretty inspiring and talked about the principles on which the Congress was formed – open dialog and debate and coming together on common values and goals. It was enough to remind me that as corrupt as the current set of yahoos roaming the halls are, the system in place was a good one that has produced some great results.
My advice – get a seat at the top of the auditorium close to the edges – this way you’ll be first in line when the doors open.
After the film, you get into lines of about 30 people which will be your tour group. Your tour guide is by luck of the draw, but we were fortunate enough to end up with Ms. Windham, who was absolutely superb.
I was expecting to get a tour of the whole Capital that you see on C-​SPAN, the Senate chambers, the House chambers, the committee rooms, and the offices and hallways. But the Visitor’s Center tour really centers around the rotunda – the area under the giant dome.
You start out in the «Crypt of the Capitol». It sounds kind of morose, and in fact at one point in time they were thinking of moving the remains of George Washington here (thank heavens his family wouldn’t let them). Right now it’s a room at the lowest level with giant beams that support the weight of everything above it. There’s also a marker that represents the exact center point of Washington, DC.
Ms. Windham was impressive as she knew every piece of building material and where it was from. She’d ask the group what state or country they were from, and would instantly be able to tell them where a statue that was relevant to them was in the building. She pointed out little architectural flourishes like the use of tobacco leaf and corn designs in the molding.
The only room with chairs you see on the tour is an historic restoration of the old Supreme Court Chamber, where among other things the Dred Scott decision was delivered.
You take the stairs to the West Terrace, outside of which Presidents are inaugurated. Then you climb the steps to the rotunda, where you see more sculptures, friezes, and paintings of scenes in American history (including the famous John Trumbull painting of the Declaration of Independence) and a true fresco by Constantino Brumidi called «The Apotheosis of Washington» that shows President Washington in the heavens. This is also the room where presidents lie in state.
You’re then brought to the old House Chambers, which is now just a big room with statues, two from each state. The room is an odd shape, and your tour guide will do something amazing that demonstrates the unique acoustics of the room.
I was a little disappointed at not being able to visit the actual chambers of Congress, which I guess other people’s offices of Congress enabled them to see. But then again, maybe that was for the best. Our tour guide was so passionate, so entertaining, so giving, and so enthusiastic that I think I’d rather leave Washington with that image of a government worker in my mind rather than what you see these days on the House and Senate floors.

The place you are going to visit is the Capitol Building Tour unless you get passes though your Senator or Congressperson to visit the galleries. You can sometimes get the passes at the Building tour center but that can be iffy.
Be sure to book your tour in advance online to visit the Capitol building tour. They show you a film then break you up in groups and take you to some parts of the Capitol building.
Afterwards you can walk over to the Library Of Congress through a tunnel without having to go through security again.
Closest metro: Capitol South. Follow the signs to Capitol Visitors center, it is below ground. You will need to go through tight security. NO FOOD AT ALL. THEY WILL MAKE YOU THOUGH IT AWAY!

Of all the tours and things you need tickets for, I would say this is one of the tours I would discourage against.
Security is not friendly, short-​tempered, and overall bad for first impressions.
That said, all the docents in red were super nice and friendly and helpful. We had 1 pm tickets on Monday, and one of them said we can get on an earlier tour for 12:20 pm. It turns out that was not a popular time as they were trying to hand out a lot of tickets for that tour time. (Tours can be reserved online ahead of time and run about 30 minutes or so. In the 30 minutes, there is a 13 minute film.)
We lined up and were finally shown into the North Theater at 12:30 pm. The video wasn’t informative or inspiring. (I thought the LOC had a much better video, filled with enthusiastic people.)
As for the tour itself, the theater audience lined themselves up into five lanes. One lane after the other was permitted to go through the Crypt and National Statuary Hall. Docents were spaced out to answer questions but visitors had no narration otherwise, thus my disappointment about not really learning much.

When I went on the Rotunda tour recently, it was under construction or currently is (I think). It was kind of a bummer if you wanted to take pictures because it had scaffolding around and it wasn’t pretty to keep snapping away. But this is a free tour which takes visitors around the Capitol Building and sulk in all the glorious U.S. history. Even though it’s free, I highly recommend to book a tour online because there’s so many people from all over the world visiting.
The tour starts off with a video in a theater and then the group gets split up into smaller groups to have their own tour guide. As soon as the tour starts, everyone gets their own headset and walks along while the tour guide does their thing in explaining everything around. There’s tons of people just mingled together because everyone ends up going to the same place, so you can get lost in the crowd and at times lose your tour guide. It’s not the best of tours, or well my guide wasn’t, she wasn’t engaging, it’s not like she had to be animated, but at least don’t sound like she was reading something from a book. If anything, I would rather have had access and just roam freely. And the tour is no longer than 30 minutes.
I did love the interior, it’s beautiful and kept up well.

Quite possibly the worst tour I’ve ever been on in my life. It was a huge disappointment. After booking an appointment, waiting in line, shuffling through a bunch of cattle shutes, you stop in a room with a bunch of ropes, you will see a chandelier, a hallway, a round room (NOT the rotunda), a very old small room that hasn’t been used for 200 years). That’s it. Do not waste your time on this tour.
This tour is an embarrassment to our country and should be shut down.

This tour is excellent and very informative. This tour takes around an hour but you get to see inside of the Capitol building and they have tours for every 25 – 30 minutes. This tour is free of cost and they have arrangements so you can bring people on wheelchair or kids in their strollers.

After heading to the US Capitol Visitor’s Center (
) we were lucky enough to snag 2 tickets to the 11:50am tour that was starting in just moments.
I cannot say enough good things about the tour. Our guided tour began after a brief moving in the Orientation Theater called «Out of Many One» — which gave an overview of the building of the US Capitol but the history of Congress — there is also a more detailed exhibit in the Lower Level of the US Capitol Visitor’s Center if you are so inclined. I personally could have done without the Orientation movie but it did give a good overview.
Afterwards we filed up the stairs to a «holding area» where we waited for our tour guide. I was hesitant because I 1) thought that there entire «11:50am» group would have one tour guide and 2) if this was the case I would not be able to hear a blessed thing. However my fears were quickly extinguished as about 20 of us were grouped together and we were each given ear pieces to clearly hear our tour guide.
Although his name escapes me our guide provided a wonderful and informative tour which lasted about 45 minutes. He brought us through several rooms — including the Capitol Dome and Statuary Hall. He was also quite knowledgeable providing factual and funny stories. For example — each state is allotted 2 statues in the US Capitol and regardless of where each tourist was from — he knew the statue. I would have liked the tour a bit longer but with so much to do in DC it was a good amount of time for those looking to cram a lot of history in a short period of time.
Another free tour in DC — I highly recommend checking it out regardless of whether you were able to secure passes before your visit to our Nation’s Capitol.

Great tour. Highly organized, funny and learned guides (with headsets), with just the right amount of information for just the right amount of time. It is a zoo when you get there, but the way they run it, it is a well-​oiled machine that really does leave you satisfied. One of the best things I experienced in D.C. Highly recommended.

Not only do you get to tour the Capitol and learn about its rich history and artwork, the tour is completely free! You can book online in advance either through the website or through your US Senator or Representative. We booked online for a specific time but showed up earlier and were able to join the earlier tour group. The tour begins by everyone going into the auditorium and watching an orientation video, «E Pluribus Unum». I know some people were disgruntled by the fact that you have to watch a video before the tour but we really enjoyed it. It may be cheesy but it was so patriotic and really put you in the mindset of what this country and its people have gone through to get to where we are today. After the video, you get separated into different group and receive headsets from your tour guide. Our guide was so incredibly friendly. He really knew his history and information about the Capitol and tried to answer every question our group had. The only issue was how rushed I felt during the tour. With such a large group it felt like we had a limited amount of time in each room before being rushed out. Overall the tour was incredibly informative and you really can’t complain for how much you get to experience for free!
Pro-​tip: Take the tunnel to go check out the Library of Congress.

One of the best tours available in DC! And it’s free!
You can either call ahead and make a reservation or just show up and they will it you on with the next tour group. My suggestion is to call ahead for a reservation. We visited during the «slow» season, and still waiting about 20 minutes until they issued us a visitors pass for the tour.
Our tour guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable and super friendly. We were lucky enough to be able to tour into 3 different rooms. One being the rotunda. Beautiful art ceilings that unfortunately were not very well appreciated by anyone there as the outside of the building is currently being worked on for maintenance. However, the grand rotunda still offered statues and beautiful large painting of events in American history. We were also able to walk inside an old, original room used for congressional meetings. Very breath taking. Lots of history. This is still a functional working building Monday-​Fridays so staff was seen walking around as well.
Overall, I feel we got lucky. I had read a review from a person whom had visited just 2 days prior and that group had not been allowed into the rotunda due to «construction». I absolutely loved this tour. It was hands down my favorite during our trip.

Tours go every 20 min but are very popular. As of this writing the Capitol is under renovation and the outside of the dome has scaffolding all around and the inside of the dome has some netting and tarps as workmen work. Yet if you find yourself in Washington and you have never seen our Capitol building don’t let that stop you!
You can book through your US Senator or US Representative but nowdays thanks to computers its easier to just do it yourself and you then have a printout with your confirmation so don’t bother your representatives.
I cant list a website or my review can be knocked out, but go to visit the capitol dot gov and you will see options. Ignore the doing it through your representatives and hit the lower one and do it instantly yourself! THEN when you get to the lower level you can turn right and get in at your time booked, while everyone on the left side waits for open spaces.
You first go into an auditorium for a film. After the film you will file into roped off lines. NOTE if you are a family or a group DONT get in different lines as each line is a separate group. ALL go in single file one behind the other or else you will totally screw up the whole operation!!! As you enter the line a red jacket guide hands you a headset that is set on their frequency and they will be that guide. If you are in a different line or row, your headset is set to the person who gave you that thus you GOT TO be in the same line. This way there can be many tours at once and they don’t all have to yell over each other. The guide collects your headset after the tour and then they are cleaned and reused.
On slower days you might be able to see a bit more as crowds are smaller. The only closed days are Thanksgiving and Christmas. So… since many people think these buildings are closed on other holidays, that’s the time to go! I went on Veterans day and there was next to nobody there!
There is a special once a day outside tour also, and at 200pm, a once a day tour of the Brumidi wall painting on the lower level. Again this is only one time a day so these fill up fast and its first come first serve. Those DONT go on Federal Holidays though.
Inside you will see the original Supreme Court Chambers. Yes it will be dark as they worked by candlelight! Some of the original furnishings survived. Your guide will advise you on that.
You will see the spot where many President has lied in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Countless statues of famous citizens abound as states continue to send in famous people statues. Some very well known, and many you have never heard of before. Not all of the ceiling is visible due to the workmen and their tarps.
Since this like most Government attractions in Washington is free and historical, if you have never yet been you have to go!
You enter from the north side of the Capitol building. Hard to say what you might call the front or the back, but it is the part on the OPPOSITE side of the mall, the OPPOSITE side of the reflecting pool. Notice the building right across from the Capitol as you enter, that is the current Supreme Court building.
If you still have time once you exit, turn right and take the walkway over to the mall side and the first building you will see there is the National Botanical Building. This is not to be confused with the National Arboratum which is over many acres on New York Ave a few miles away to the north.

When I decided to visit DC, I felt I had to do my «due diligence» and visit some cool landmarks/​monuments, including the Capitol Building.
My friend is awesome and booked a tour for us online. We got to the Capitol Visitor Center early and discovered that you don’t need to book a tour ahead of time, you can just show up.
We only waited in line about 15 minutes to get into the Capitol on a beautiful Saturday afternoon around 1 PM. Tickets for the tour were FREE!
The tour was about an hour long and started with a 15 minute video that pretty much summed up everything I learned about US History in 8^th and 10^th grade. It was a nice refresher course.
Our tour guide, Matt, was phenomenal! He was hilarious and super smart and made the tour interesting and enjoyable. I’m not a huge history buff, but loved hearing the stories behind the different rooms in the Capitol, as well as all the artwork and statues.

For all the rancor and hopelessness attached to Congress these days, they sure do have a bad ass house. Their side of the Mall is beautiful, and through our tour I really came to appreciate the layout of the building and area, and how the goals of the various planners and architects to create a place for the people’s government succeeded, even if the government itself is currently iffy.
We were able to get a tour of Capitol Hill from one of the staff of our Representative’s office, and while we were mostly alongside the standard Capitol Tours, skipping the lines made us very happy. The only area we hit that I don’t think is part of the main tour are the tunnels that go from the Congressional office buildings that surround Capitol Hill, which I didn’t even know existed! All the Members and their staff use the tunnels to go back and forth, thus avoiding the weather and the masses. I love secret tunnels.
From there we ascended into the visitor center hall and watched the movie before having our tour of the building. I liked the old House and Senate chambers the most; the Rotunda and Crypt are also really cool, though construction obscured the ceiling a bit.
We also went into the current House chamber, which was in session. I knew this, but whenever they’re having discussions and it’s not surrounding a big, important vote, no one is actually in the chamber and those speeches you see on C-​SPAN are basically them talking to themselves. It seems pretty sad to me that it’s all for show. Like, how bout you sit your asses in the chamber and listen to each other for a few hours a week? Maybe that would force you to design your discussions to be more entertaining, enlightening, and thus more productive?
All in all, though, I came out of it feeling entertained and enlightened myself. I’m really grateful to our Representative’s office for hooking it up, and I’d call the Capitol Tour an essential part of any DC trip.

The US Capitol is by far the tackiest building in DC and it’s helpful to take a tacky tour to see exactly why every gaudy detail exists. On the outside, the structure is majestic and beautiful until you learn what that statue really looks like on top. But on the inside it’s nothing but grandstanding marble, velvet and gold. But that’s what makes it so interesting: how did all of this junk come together in one place and somehow work? I’m not going to say the décor «pulls it off» but I will say that in limited circumstances the building is truly amazing. It’s not a small thing to pull states like Texas together with Vermont and California, for example, so how do you let every state feel like it has some ownership of the Capitol? A tour is in order to help you figure it out. I’ve gone through the tours a couple of times and they are fun – there’s a movie, you walk around a little, and then you leave. Even if there is a line, it doesn’t take long. You can also reserve tickets online and save the the hassle of showing up and hoping for a spot.
Protip: if you want a really good tour, arrange it via your Congressman (not Senator) who can even walk you up to the top of the dome, a rare privilege.

Really enjoyed the tour! Come on a weekday preferably off season so you don’t have to wait. We got straight in and it was 100% free! Nice movie to start and got to see the more ceremonial rooms. Obviously not the in use offices but it was very interesting and a good stop when at the capitol!

Disappointing! The tour is all about the statues and painting and carvings and sculptures on the building. If its not free, I’ll be mad.
For convenience, reserved online at
.

We contacted our congressman’s office a few months before our trip to DC. They were able to set us up with a tour of the Capitol and a tour of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. Next time we’ll request a tour of the LOC.
The tour is led by one of the congressman’s interns. All the interns and staffers that we met were all very friendly and welcoming. You meet at the congressman’s office and are led through the staff tunnel to the Capitol. You must first go through security. Although the intern offered to keep our large bags and water bottles in the office, I forgot that I had an unopened bottle of Mio water enhancer. I was told that I could either drink it or give it to the intern to take back to the office. Obviously, I was not going to drink it and I was not going to make the poor guy run all the way back to the office, so the dumped it.
The tour was interesting and informative. We watched a short movie first then took the tour. Total time was about an 1 ½ hours. I sat on the steps and sang «I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill.» Hey, don’t judge. Thanks to School House Rock I learned a lot at an early age. Including being able to recite the Preamble!
The pros of pre-​booking through your congressman’s office:
~ No long lines
~ Small groups or if no one else from your district is scheduled, it will be just you & your party.
~ No lines
~ Quicker security screening.
~ No Lines
~ More personal attention, more opportunities for Q&A.
The only con for us was that you don’t get headphones. So when you are in a room with the masses, like the Rotunda, it can be difficult to hear your guide. But that’s a minor complaint and he will repeat for you. Did I mention no lines???

*DC State of Mind*
Unilocal 365 Challenge x 2 #223/​365
**Stand in the middle or view where Senator Daniel Inouye was laid in state
**See the door that John Boehner walks through for each session
**Stand in the place of Abraham Lincoln’s desk
**View the different paintings…
**Oooh and aaahhh over the beauty of the building…
**Take a picture outside with the Capitol in the background and think of Schoolhouse Rock song, «I’m just a bill on Capitol Hill» (if you grew up in the 70’s-80’s)
Seriously!!! This should be on your «must visit» list when visiting DC. It’s free and it’s an experience that you shouldn’t miss because you’ll be standing in the middle of American history as well as be in the very place where the decisions are made for the American people.
After touring around the visitor center, we stood in line for our scheduled time. We were brought into an auditorium that featured a 15 minute film of the Capitol’s history then the attendant will take you on a tour, which you will have to use headphones to hear them as they speak because there are other group tours going around you. The tour is about an hour but the wealth of information shared while looking at different displays, the architecture, paintings, rooms… is just impressive.
But, definitely email your State representatives before your trip to secure a date and time to visit the Capitol.
It will save you time and it will be so worth it.

This is a time when knowing what your HRepresentatives can do for you is a plus. Our relatives from Pennsylvania contacted the PA congressman office and was able to book a tour of the Capitol. Who better to show us around the Capitol, but those who work there day in day out.
The building was impressive with pillars, and the curvature in the architecture made it so lovely. Room after room filled with history, even the staircases leading to another room displayed an impressive and special crystal chandelier gifted by another country.
The intern and one other staff representative from the Congressman’s office was so informative and helpful. They were with us the entire time and provided us with so many neat facts.
There are beautiful paintings on the walls, on the ceilings, statues of presidents made of bronze and so much more artwork than we could have expected. In this one particular room, you can book in advance for a tour near the top of the dome. The paintings are impressive and a beautiful mixture of mythical gods and political figures all rolled into one. A little hard to see from ground floor, but a future tour would be nice.
There is a neat trick in one room, where you can stand 20 feet on one end of the room and still hear an entire conversation with a room full of people chatting away.
This was a very special treat, so you should contact your State representative for a tour. September and October are slow months and a private tour is very possible. We got one and was so thankful. We waited in a security line for 2 minutes and it wasn’t too crowded as the staff members were able to weave us in and out. Later, we were able to return to certain rooms to explore some more.
The underground tunnel has about 100+ art pieces from elementary to high school students who won a contest and have their art displayed throughout for the entire year. This was a good hour or two tour and it was more than I expected. It was a perfect day to be indoor because it was a rainy and windy day. The tour allowed us to wait out the rain before exploring the outdoors of DC.