Visiting Dumbarton Oaks for FREE & 25 things to see there

On the occasion of ‘spring forward’ and International Women’s Day, my mom and I went to Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, the brainchild of two well-traveled and well-read women, Mildred Bliss and Beatrix Farrand. In this vlog, I am listing down the 25 things that we saw at the gardens as well as in the museum. This list is a map/route that you can consider following to tour the entire estate. As you would see in the video, we started at the Gardens and ended our tour with the museum.
The Dumbarton Oaks Gardens is situated on 32nd NW and is open from Tuesday through Sunday (Monday closed), 2 pm to 5 pm. Before you enter, please collect the brochure from the security at the gate. It has a brief information on the estate/gardens, a map for self-guided tour and includes 'star attractions' of the gardens.
The Dumbarton Oaks Museum is located on the R Street- it is in the same complex but the general public cannot enter it through the gardens. It is spread across one floor and has 4 main galleries: Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, Music Hall and the Book Reading Room. You can pick up a floor plan as soon as you enter the museum. That way you will know what gallery is located in which section of the building. We loved the Pre-Columbian Gallery section because of the building structure that surrounds a beautiful water fountain and is surrounded by the Dumbarton Oaks gardens.
*Fun-fact for kids of all age* The Pre-Columbian Gallery has microphones and speakers installed on the ceiling. If you stand on the path of these microphones and speak, you will be able to hear your voice through the speakers. I thought that was very cool and had fun hearing myself. It must have been added for the tour guides. I saw a few people stumble upon without knowing what was happening and how they were suddenly hearing themselves louder. Make sure you don't shout and maintain basic decorum.
If you are in the MD, VA and DC area, I would like to recommend you to stop by at the The Dumbarton Oaks. Check out their website to plan your visit- www.doaks.org/...
Tips:
1. Entry to the Museum is always FREE. However, entry to the Gardens is FREE only in winter i.e. from 1st November to 14th March . From 15th March to 31st October the entry tickets to the gardens is $10
2. STREET PARKING only. In order to get a closer parking spot for free, go on a Sunday.
3. There are ample places to sit, so traveling with elderly people won’t be a problem.
4. We mistakenly went to the Dumbarton House which is a Federal style house occupied by Joseph Nourse, the first Register of the Treasury. It is located on Q St. NW. The one we wanted to visit was Dumbarton Oaks, a historic estate owned by Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss. It is located on 32nd NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. This happened because I saw the Dumbarton House on our way to the Dumbarton Oaks and assumed that they are the same. If you want, you can also visit the Dumbarton House. They offer self-guided tours for $10.
5. You can spend an entire day at the Gardens. We spent about 2 hours at the museum.
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Date of visit: 8th March 2020
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