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Pentagon Tours: Reservations, Parking, and Visiting Tips

The Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, is one of the world's largest office buildings with about 6,500,000 sq ft. providing office space and amenities for more than 23,000 employees, both military and civilian. The building has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and a total of 17.5 miles of corridors. Guided tours are given by military personnel and are available by reservation only. Pentagon tours last for approximately one hour and provide an overview of the mission of the Department of Defense and the four branches of the military: Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps.

The outdoor Pentagon Memorial that commemorates the 9/11 attacks is open to the public with no reservations required. It is not included in the guided tour.

Arranging a Tour

To take a guided tour of the Pentagon, you must make a reservation in advance . Tours are conducted Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm and Fridays between 12 pm and 4 pm. Reservations must be booked from 14 to 90 days in advance. U.S. citizens can reserve a tour online, but foreign residents must contact their embassy to reserve a tour. All visitors must pass through a security scanning device and no photography will be allowed on the tour. You must arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled tour and bring along your confirmed reservation letter and photo identification.

Getting to the Pentagon

The Pentagon is located off of I-395 on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The best way to get to the Pentagon is by Metrorail and the Visitor Center is located next to the Pentagon Metro Station.

There is no public parking at the Pentagon, but visitors may park at the Pentagon City Mall and walk to the entrance through a pedestrian tunnel. If you are not familiar with the area, it can be confusing, so be sure to leave plenty of time to find your way to the Visitor Center.

The tunnel is located across the street from Macy’s on the far side of the Reserved Parking Lot. Once through the tunnel, walk to the right until you see signs for the Metro Station and the Visitor Center. (When leaving, note that the tunnel is at the far end of parking Lane 7).

Major Points of Interest on the Pentagon Tour

The Pentagon is a building with a long and significant history with many points of interest you won't find anywhere else in Washington DC.

• The Hall of Heroes: includes the names of all the recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.
• Overlord Embroidery: 34 tapestries created by Sandra Lawrence depict the story of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
• Faces of the Fallen Memorial: an exhibit features individual portraits in honor of the service men and women killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• POW-MIA Corridor: the exhibit recognizes United States military personnel taken as prisoners of war (POWs) or listed as missing in action (MIA).
• Soldiers and Signers of the Constitution Corridor: numerous paintings in this corridor commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and portray the founding fathers of our nation.
• 9/11 Memorial and Chapel: commemorates those killed in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The indoor memorial displays the names of the 184 victims. The chapel provides space for prayer and remembrance.
• 9/11 Memorial Quilts: project initiated by Jeannie Ammermann to honor those killed on September 11, 2001 evolved into a multi-quilt project that drew volunteer quilters from all parts of the U.S.
• Pentagon Center Courtyard: 5.5 acres of outdoor space in the interior of the building includes food concessions and casual seating areas.

Visiting Tips

As you get ready for your tour, here are some tips to make sure the experience goes as smoothly as possible and you get the most out of it.

• Although, the Pentagon recommends you arrive 15 minutes before your tour, plan to arrive 30 minutes early to allow time to go through security.
• The best time to take the tour is mid-day when transportation to the Pentagon is less congested.
• The tour includes walking a distance of about one and a half miles through the Pentagon corridors and staircases, so wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
• Be sure to visit the Pentagon Memorial after your guided tour of the Pentagon. It won't be included in your tour.
• Enjoy a casual lunch at the Pentagon City Mall before or after your tour. The mall has one of the nicest food courts in the area and more than 170 specialty shops.

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See the Pentagon on a Guided Tour

​Did you know the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense opens its doors to the public?

The Pentagon, America’s symbol of military strength located in Arlington, is the world’s largest low-rise office building. With advance planning and some background checks, you can receive a 1.49 mile walking tour of the massive building that is like a self-contained city.

The Pentagon Tours program lets more than 100,000 visitors annually see the corridors and hallway displays. Tour guides are active duty personnel from the National Capital Region’s military ceremonial units, and it’s no easy job: a guide walks backwards the whole time while presenting 33 pages of tour info memorized verbatim.

For tourists, it’s a great way to get your steps on a vacation to the capital area. Find out about all the shops and services available to Pentagon employees and be dazzled by the various gifts to buy at the Fort America gift shop, from challenge coins to Pentagon apparel.

Visitors get to see a memorial quilt honoring the victims of the terrorist attack in 2001. After a hijacked airliner hit the building on Sept. 11, 2001, it took a year to rebuild the damage to the outer rings of the building. Following a visit inside the Pentagon, see the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial , and you’ll have a chance to contemplate, read excerpts on the individual lives and also sign a memory book.

To sign up for the 60-minute Pentagon building tour, reservations can be requested at the Pentagon website 14 to 90 days in advance. Tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, not weekends and federal holidays.

At least one form of current photo identification is required for visitors over age 18 such as a U.S. Passport, U.S. Passport Card, driver’s license meeting REAL ID standards, photo ID issued by federal, state or local government, Native American Tribal Document, U.S. Border Crossing Card, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card, foreign passport or a foreign passport with a temporary stamp or temporary printed notation on a machine readable immigrant visa. Leave your camera in your bag because you are not allowed to take photographs or use electronic devices during the tour. Weapons and large bags are prohibited.

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Ultimate Guide to the Pentagon

One of the largest office buildings in the world, the Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. A symbol of American military strength, the concrete and steel building is recognized around the world. Nearly 30,000 military and civilian personnel work inside the Pentagon each day. Covering approximately 6.5 million square feet, the building contains a food court and mini-shopping mall. Because of its size, the Pentagon has six ZIP codes. It uses the place identifier for Washington, DC even though the five-sided building is actually located in Arlington, Virginia .

The Building

The famous edifice has five rings, five floors above ground and two floors below ground. There are almost 18 miles of corridors. Despite its size, the layout of the hallways and interconnecting walkways enables an individual to reach any office in less than seven minutes. The rings are labeled “A” through “E” from the interior courtyard to the outside. Because the E-ring is the only one with exterior views, it is the location for offices of the most senior officials. The five-acre courtyard park is nicknamed Ground Zero. The term was inspired by the belief that the park would be a primary target for Soviet nuclear missiles during the Cold War. The Pentagon is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The U.S. Capitol would fit in just one of the building’s five wings.

The Northern Mall Terrace façade features a portico that leads to a 600-foot-long terrace that is used for various official ceremonies. The portico of the River Entrance façade overlooks a lagoon and a landing point. The dock was once used by duty boats that transported service members across the Potomac River to Bolling Air Force Base. The main visitor entrance, the Concourse Entrance façade, is the location of the Pentagon Metro stop. The other two facades are known as the Helipad and South Parking entrances. The site of numerous anti-war protests over the years, the Pentagon was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

History of the Pentagon

During World War I, the War Department was housed in a variety of permanent and temporary buildings in and around Washington, DC. In the late 1930s, a new headquarters was constructed in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. This building soon proved inadequate. It is currently used by the State Department. With the rapid expansion of the War Department during World War II, Secretary of War Henry Stimson lobbied President Franklin Roosevelt for a large permanent office building. In 1941, it was agreed that a new large office building would be constructed in Arlington. The original site selected for construction was the pentagon-shaped Arlington Farms, a temporary housing complex for female civil servants operated by the Department of Agriculture.

When concerns arose that the new building might obstruct views of Washington, DC from Arlington National Cemetery, the construction site was moved to the former Hoover Field Airport. To keep costs down, the building’s pentagon-shape design plans were retained. The configuration was reminiscent of the star-shaped forts built during the gunpowder age. To reduce the amount of steel used, architects incorporated ramps rather than elevators in the building. Steel was in short supply and needed for the war effort. The exterior façade is adorned with Indiana limestone. Architectural, design and construction work were accomplished simultaneously, and the building was constructed in sections to save time. Colonel Leslie Groves who later oversaw the Manhattan Project as a general officer, supervised the work on the Pentagon. The building cost slightly more than $31.1 million to complete in 1943.

During construction, segregation laws in Virginia required separate rest room facilities for blacks and whites. As a result, the Pentagon has a higher ratio of rest rooms for its occupants than most similar size office buildings. It was the only public building in Arlington with segregated rest rooms until 1965. On Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the western side of the Pentagon killing 189 people. Although approximately one-third of the building was damaged, the repairs were completed by the anniversary of the attack. The repairs were incorporated into a larger ongoing renovation program that was completed in 2011, which brought the Pentagon up to standards required for modern office buildings.

Must See Exhibits

More than 100,000 people visit the Pentagon each year. A 60-minute guided tour highlights the history of the building and the Department of Defense. Covering approximately 1.5 miles, the guided tour includes the Hall of Heroes, which honors America’s Medal of Honor recipients, as well as an exhibit dedicated to prisoners of war and those missing in action. You will also see numerous portraits of the country’s founding fathers and a painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

While at the Pentagon, guests can also see the National 9-11 Pentagon Memorial. Situated on the west side of the building, the memorial is dedicated to those who lost their lives that fateful day. The 2-acre park features illuminated benches engraved with the names of the victims, memorial pools and a wall ranging from 3 inches to 71 inches in height to represent the ages of the youngest and oldest victims. There are also 85 paperbark maple trees. Open seven days a week, it is the only place on the Pentagon grounds where photography is permitted.

There is also a burial marker in nearby Arlington National Cemetery . It marks the grave of the 184 victims of the attack on the Pentagon. Located in Section 64, the five-sided granite marker lists the names of those who perished on the plane and inside the Pentagon.

The Pentagon parking lots are used as the staging point for a number of annual events. These include Rolling Thunder, a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts showing support for America’s prisoners of war and missing in action, the Army Ten-Miler and the Marine Corps Marathon.

Know Before You Go

You must make reservations for the guided tour at least 14 but not more than 90 days in advance. Tours are offered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. except on federal holidays. Visitors 18 and older require a valid government-issued photo ID. The tour starts at the visitor center just to the left, inside the Pentagon Metro entrance. Arrive at least an hour before your scheduled tour to pass through security. The Metro stop is on the Blue and Yellow lines. The Pentagon does not have public parking.

Nearby Attractions

Arlington National Cemetery is the location for the Tomb of the Unknowns and the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy along with numerous other monuments and memorials. It is also the burial ground for many famous Americans and war heroes, including Audie Murphy, Abner Doubleday and Joe Louis. There are monuments and memorials to the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia as well as Women in the Military Service, Pan Am Flight 103 and Spanish American War Nurses.

Formerly known as Columbia Island, Lady Bird Johnson Park includes scenic walking and driving paths, colorful plantings and blooming trees that provide vivid Spring and Fall foliage. There are overlooks and picnic areas as well. The park also features the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove and the Navy and Marine Memorial. The Mount Vernon Trail passes through the park.

clock This article was published more than  5 years ago

A Pentagon tour? About as exciting as visiting an old shopping mall.

Like many a daydreaming Green Line rider, I’m forced to visit the Pentagon Metro stop a few times a month. Only when sunlight streams through the windows of the Yellow Line train I’ve boarded by accident do I realize my mistake. “Shoot!” I say, often out loud. “Not again!”

Last week, for the first time, I got off at that stop on purpose for a Pentagon tour. Anyone can sign up online for a tour, though it takes a month to process a request. Following the Pentagon website’s advice, I arrived an hour before my tour’s start time to clear security. Going through the airport-style scanners took me only about five minutes, so I spent the rest of that time perusing the Pentagon visitor center.

A lobby-like area, the visitor center includes five large kiosks, one for each branch of the U.S. military. Though they once promoted the missions of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force, the kiosks currently serve as a showcase for broken screens — I counted 10 in all. I also found two working screens showing unnarrated footage of soldiers and airplanes, and one broadcasting someone’s Windows desktop background.

Other points of interest in the visitor center include a replica Department of Defense podium where tourists can pretend to give press briefings, and signs in six languages explaining that the tour is offered only in English and that you may not bring a translator or even have a side conversation in a foreign tongue. (The Pentagon website disagrees with these signs, saying a tour group can bring along an approved translator.)

As the tour began, a young, uniformed soldier piled rules on top of rules. “Photos and videos are strictly prohibited,” he said. In fact, if we were caught with our phones out, “that might be the last time you see them.”

Had I accidentally signed up for boot camp? It felt that way, especially when two uniformed military members bookended my group and marched us out of the visitor center in tight formation.

As we entered the main building and passed beneath a “Welcome to the Pentagon” sign, I felt a shiver of excitement. This was the real, actual Pentagon! Like in the movies! That thrill, however, evaporated the moment we stepped inside.

“Did everyone picture the Pentagon looking like this inside their head?” said our guide. “Me either.”

I know I was surprised. The Defense Department, currently burning through a $700 billion budget, has a headquarters that looks, in part, like a dated shopping mall. It’s a suspicious mismatch, like a family living in a dilapidated house to avoid attracting attention to their expensive jewelry or massive nuclear arsenal.

With 26,000 employees, the Pentagon is like a small city, with many stores and eateries, its own post office and DMV, and four Starbucks, our guide said. “Starbuckses? Starbucks? I’m not sure what the plural of Starbucks is,” he added.

That got a wan laugh, but his next joke — one that was about military acronyms — went right over our heads.

“Sorry,” the soldier apologized. “It’s in the script.”

What script? I later discovered that Pentagon guides are required to memorize 33 pages of information and recite it more or less verbatim. (They are also required to throw in at least two fun facts, submitted and approved in advance.)

After transiting the mall area, we walked through many featureless office hallways while listening to our guide recite the history of the building and the military with the same, brain-numbing cadence developed by flight attendants to lull demanding passengers to sleep. The last thing I heard before blinkering out of consciousness was the preposition-intensive mission of the U.S. Navy: “operating on, under, above and from the sea.” (Beside, beyond and between must have been taken by the Coast Guard.)

I started paying attention again when we entered a chapel devoted to the people who died during the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. A small room bathed in eerie green light, it contains panels etched with the names of the dead, and a book for writing condolences to their families. A few tourists wrote notes while the rest of us loitered around, feeling sad. As we left the chapel, the guide pointed out the walls that were destroyed by the aircraft, and noted that they’d been carefully rebuilt so there’d be no visible seam or scar.

As the tour came to a close, our guide told us a final fun fact. During the Cold War, he said, Soviet spy satellites noticed a structure at the center of the Pentagon courtyard attracting large numbers of people. The Russians thought it was the entrance to an underground bunker, he said, but it was actually a hot dog stand. “It was rumored that a lot of their nuclear arsenal was aimed at that building,” the soldier added with a laugh.

That didn’t exactly strike me as funny, especially after seeing the 9/11 memorial, but I chuckled politely and then escaped gratefully back into civilian life.

Pro tip: Put the phone away, or you might never see it again.

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Can I Tour the Pentagon?

The pentagon memorial is open to all visitors, and public tours inside the pentagon are available to us citizens with advance reservation..

Yes, but public tours inside the Pentagon are available to US citizens only with advance reservations. The Pentagon Memorial is open to all visitors.

How to tour the Pentagon

The Pentagon, located just outside Washington, DC in Arlington, Va., is the headquarters for the United States Department of Defense. It is open for official tours through the  Pentagon Tours program .

Pentagon tours must be reserved at least 14 days in advance and no more than 90 days in advance. Tours are conducted Tuesdays and Thursdays (excluding federal holidays) at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tours fill up quickly and it is highly recommended that you book well in advance of your visit. You can make a tour request online . International visitors must request a tour through their home country’s embassy.

Individuals who have a Pentagon badge and escort privileges are permitted to give a self-guided tours to friends or family. If you are assigned to the Pentagon or if you are visiting a Pentagon staff member, contact the Pentagon Force Protection Agency at (703) 697-1001 to determine escort status.

Nighttime at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Virginia

Touring the Pentagon

Tours are 60 minutes and cover about 1.5 miles inside the Pentagon, which is one of the largest office buildings in the world. Tours include the history of the four branches of the military and the opportunity to see the indoor memorial near the Sept. 11 crash site and the Sept. 11 Memorial chapel, as well as the Hall of Heroes (featuring the names of all the Medal of Honor recipients) and a number of other military displays.

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Parking, security and accessibility

There is no public parking at The Pentagon. The Pentagon can be reached via its own dedicated Metro stop on the Blue and Yellow lines or you may choose to park at Pentagon City Mall and make the five-minute walk to the Pentagon via pedestrian tunnel. Once you’ve arrived, check in at the Pentagon Tours window near the Metro entrance.

Visitors must check-in at least 60 minutes prior to their scheduled tour to allow time for security. You will be asked to present your tour confirmation email and photo ID. All visitors will go through security scanners. All purses are subject to search. Large bags, including backpacks, shopping bags and camera bags are NOT permitted on the tour. Cell phone, cameras, recording devices and other electronic devices cannot be used on the tour and no photography is permitted inside the building.

Ramps are available for visitors with disabilities. Tour visitors in wheelchairs must bring someone who can assist them on the tour.  A signer will be added to tours to assist hearing impaired visitors provided that two weeks' notice is given. Special tours for visually impaired visitors can also be arranged with two weeks' notice.

There are so many great tours and sightseeing opportunities in Washington, DC. Discover  your next tour adventure .

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After 2-Year Hiatus, Pentagon Reopens for Tours

The seat of national defense is also home to a spectacular display of military history, by eun yang, news4 anchor • published may 19, 2022 • updated on may 19, 2022 at 10:29 am.

The Pentagon has opened again for tours, more than two years after it last offered them. The tour guides are dedicated to informing the public about the many contributions of the country's servicemen and women.

Army Specialist Tyson Weichbrodt imparts the gravity and emotion of Sept. 11, 2001:

"It was at 9:37 in the morning, Sept. 11. Flight 77, a 757 under the control of terrorists, was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. It killed all 59 people on board and 125 people working here at the building. Their names, in alphabetical order, are listed here...."

The America's Heroes Memorial is located where the plane crashed into the Pentagon, an essential stop on these tours, which recently reopened to the public to tours.

We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.

'We want to impress on the public how seriously we've taken and remind them of the sobriety of that day," Specialist Weichbrodt said, "particularly for the younger generation, who was not born or perhaps very little. It's particularly impactful for them to understand what happened."

For Specialist Weichbrodt, sharing this defining moment in American history has personal meaning.

"It frames so much for me, that event, how I think of myself as an American, and it certainly contributed to my decision to join the military," he said.

Only the best in the building are selected to be tour guides. They have to go through an extensive process for which not even their military training could prepare them.

"So it was a 15-day process, 33 pages of scripts that we had to memorize verbatim, so every day we were learning about page and a half, I would say, front to back, of scripts," said Navy Seaman Ariana Diaz. "At the end of the process, you get three days to test out."

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That final test involves giving your colleagues a tour. It is a distinct honor, one that Seaman Diaz considers a highlight of her time at the Pentagon.

Her favorite section before is dedicated to women in service.

"It wasn't until 1901 with the Army nurses' corps, and 1908 with the Navy nurses' corps, when women were officially allowed to serve, and that was just as nurses," Seaman Diaz said. "Today, we're allowed to serve in every position, that being on submarines, on battleships, things of that nature. Thanks to these women, they were kind of being pioneers for me, specifically women in service."

Now, Seaman Diaz is a role model herself.

"I'm the first woman in my family who served in the military. So being able to work here has definitely shown me what I can do for further generations," she said. "My nieces, I want them to be just as great, if not greater. Maybe one day, they'll be able to be the president or the secretary of defense."

That's just a fraction of what you'll see and learn on the entire guided tour.

Tours are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. You must register online in advance.

For security reasons, you may not bring any electronics on the tour or take videos or photos. You also won't be able to store your electronics on-site, so remember to leave them behind. Prohibited devices include cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, cameras, storage devices/flash drives, scanners, headphones, virtual reality devices, transmitters and GPS devices.

Take the Metro, because parking is a challenge. And wear comfortable shoes, because you'll be walking about 1.5 miles during the tour.

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Pentagon Tours Security

• Tour Details

Arrival and Check-In

You must arrive at the Pentagon Visitor Entrance 60 minutes before your scheduled tour to allow time for processing through building security. All visitors must pass through a security scanning device similar to those found at airport security checkpoints.

Your tour may be canceled if your group has not processed through security and checked in at the Pentagon Tours window inside the Pentagon Visitor Center prior to your scheduled tour time. Click here for more information about getting here.

Identification

All visitors 18 years of age or older will be required to present a valid government-issued photo identification or passport when they arrive at the Pentagon. For a list of valid forms of identification needed for Pentagon access, visit the following link: Acceptable ID List

• U.S. Passport
• U.S. Passport Card
• Driver's license or identification card issued by a state or outlying possession of the United States, provided it contains a photograph and meets the REAL ID standards
• Identification card issued by federal, state, or local government agencies, provided it contains a photograph
• U.S. Government Personal Identity Verification, Common Access Card
• DOD Affiliated Identification Cards (Retirees, Dependents, and Inactive Reservists)
• Native American Tribal Document
• U.S. Border Crossing Card
• Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (INS Form I-551 or I-551)
• Foreign passport with a temporary (I-551) stamp or temporary (I-551) printed notation on a machine readable immigrant visa
• Foreign passport

NOTE: Visitors 17 years of age and under do not require identification to enter the Pentagon to participate in a Pentagon tour when accompanied by an adult member of the tour.

Confirmation Email

In addition to required identification, all adult members of your tour group must present a copy of their tour confirmation email when they arrive at the Pentagon.

Purses and Bags

All purses and bags carried into the Pentagon are subject to search.

The use of cameras or other visual recording devices on the Pentagon Reservation is prohibited.

Prohibited Items

The following items are prohibited inside the building : Items that may cause bodily harm (mace, knives, box cutters, pepper spray, etc.) and large bags (i.e., knapsacks, camera bags, backpacks and shopping bags, etc.). Anyone with those items will not be allowed on the tour.

Prohibited Along the Tour

Personal electronic devices are not permitted on Pentagon tours : Prohibited electronic devices include but are not limited to cellphones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, audio recording devices, cameras, storage devices/flash drives, scanners, headphones, virtual reality devices, transmitters and GPS devices.

As a convenience, small lockboxes are available for cellphone and smartwatch storage during your tour. However, laptops, cameras or other large electronic devices must not be brought with you to the Pentagon. The Department of Defense is not responsible for the damage or loss of personal property stored in convenience lockboxes during tours.

Tour groups must keep up with the tour pace, remain with the tour group at all times, and follow the tour guide's instructions to allow Pentagon personnel to pass by on either side.

Any violation of these security measures will cause the tour to be terminated.

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