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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500
Visit The White House
The President and Dr. Biden are delighted to welcome members of the public to tour the White House. Public tour requests are scheduled through your Member of Congress and their Congressional Tour Coordinator. Constituents may reach your Member of Congress and Congressional Tour Coordinator through the U.S. House of Representatives Switchboard at 202-225-3121, the U.S. Senate Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or online at www.congress.gov/members .
Consistent with prior practices, public White House tour requests must be submitted a minimum of 21 days in advance and no more than 90 days in advance of the requested tour date(s). Reservations cannot be accepted for tour dates outside this 21 – 90-day window.
Public tours are typically available from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, excluding Federal holidays or unless otherwise noted. If your tour is confirmed, please note that you will be assigned a specific time. All White House tours are free of charge. The White House tour schedule is subject to change, with little notice, based on inclement weather or official use.
If you are a citizen of a foreign country, please contact your embassy in Washington, D.C. for assistance in submitting a tour request.
Identification Requirements
All U.S. citizens ages 18 and older, and foreign nationals of all ages (including children), must present a valid, government-issued photo ID upon arrival for their tour. Acceptable forms of identification are below.
U.S. CITIZENS
- United States Driver’s License
- Valid United States Passport
- United States Military ID
FOREIGN NATIONALS
- Valid Passport
- Alien Registration Card
- Permanent Resident Card
- U.S. State Department Issued Diplomatic ID Card
A U.S. driver’s license is not an acceptable form of identification for foreign nationals. No foreign-issued state IDs, foreign-issued driver’s licenses, expired passports, photocopies, other transmissions of these documents, or other forms of identification will be accepted. Individuals without acceptable identification, or whose identification does not exactly match the information previously registered, may be denied entry.
Prohibited Items
- Bags of any kind (including fanny packs and clutches)
- Cameras with detachable lenses
- Electric stun guns
- E-cigarettes
- Knives of any kind
- Martial arts
- Tobacco Products
- Toy Weapons
- Video cameras
- Weapons/devices
- Any pointed object
- Any other item determined to be a potential safety hazard
Please note that storage facilities are not provided during your visit. Individuals who arrive with bags or prohibited items will not be permitted to enter the White House.
Permitted Items
- Baby carriers worn on the body
- Breast pumps
- Cell phones
- Compact cameras with lenses less than 3 inches
- Umbrellas without metal tips
- All items needed for medical purposes (i.e. wheelchairs, EpiPens, medication, etc.)
Getting Here
Use of public transportation is strongly encouraged, as there is no parking available on the White House complex and street parking is limited. The closest Metrorail stations to the White House are Federal Triangle (blue and orange lines), Metro Center (blue, orange, silver, and red lines), and McPherson Square (blue, orange, and silver lines).
The White House Tour entrance is located in Sherman Park at 15th Street NW and Alexander Hamilton Place NW. If arriving by rideshare, use the White House Visitor Center (WHVC) as the drop-off address. The WHVC is located at 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20230, which is one block from the White House.
Restrooms are located at the White House Visitors Center, located at 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20230. There are no restrooms available once you arrive for your tour.
Accessibility
The White House tour route is wheelchair accessible. Visitors who wish to use a White House wheelchair should notify a U.S. Secret Service officer upon arrival.
Guide animals are permitted in the White House.
Health and Safety Guidance
Guests who receive a confirmed tour reservation will be issued a White House Tour Pass ahead of their tour date containing pertinent health and safety guidance.
Know Before You Go
- Tours are self-guided and last approximately 45 minutes
- Eat a snack and stay hydrated prior to arrival.
- Dress for the weather, knowing you will be outside before your tour.
- Arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled tour time.
- No late arrivals are accepted.
- All guests must be previously registered via the RSVP link provided by the White House.
- Please silence your cell phone and refrain from phone calls during the tour.
- No flash photography or video recording is permitted during your tour.
- Visitors may call the 24-hour Visitors Office information line at 202-456-7041 for latest updates and information relevant to White House tours.
Visit The White House
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Last updated: April 27, 2023
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Contact info, mailing address:.
1849 C Street NW Room 1426 Washington, DC 20240
202 208-1631
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White House Visitor Center
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In July 2012, the National Park Service’s White House Visitor Center began undergoing a $12.6 million revitalization through a public-private partnership with the White House Historical Association. The Association's donation of $12.5 million for the project and operating endowment helped make this extraordinary public resource possible. David M. Rubenstein's gift of $5 million to the Association for the White House Visitor Center ensures center exhibits and technology will continue to be improved and enhanced in the years to come. The Center is operated by the National Park Service in historic Baldrige Hall in the Department of Commerce at 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and has been free and open to the public since reopening in September 2014. The center includes a new flagship retail store for the Association, featuring new and treasured items that support the Association's mission of enhancing the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Executive Mansion.
Location Details
The White House Visitor Center
1450 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20230
202-208-1631
- Hours: Monday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day
Free Admission
The Association's underwriting of the architectural planning, exhibit design and fabrication, and media production have made possible a state-of-the-art visitor experience that includes interactive exhibits, a large-scale model of the White House, numerous tactile elements, a new permanent museum gallery, a temporary exhibit area, retail shop, visitor information facilities, and numerous opportunities for children and families to connect to the history of the White House and President's Park.
Included in the nearly 16,000 sq. ft. remodeled space is a new retail store run by the Association that supports the upkeep of the visitor center and the Association’s mission. The completely transformed visitor center affords an outstanding stand-alone experience, and provides an enhanced experience for those who take a self-guided White House tour. All new exhibits tell the story of the White House as a home, office, stage and ceremonial space, museum, and park.
Before 1995, the National Park Service distributed White House tour tickets and provided visitor information at a location on the Ellipse. The White House Visitor Center first opened in March 1995. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, White House tour tickets became available through Congressional offices and embassies. No longer a center for ticket distribution, the White House Visitor Center evolved to serve visitors' educational and informational needs. As time passed, the static exhibits became outdated and, in the late 2000s, planning began for a new facility that would include engaging, interactive exhibits.
Nearly 100 artifacts from the White House Collection are on view, some for the first time, including items like President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Desk, an Eagle Finial that topped the White House flagpole in the late 19th Century, and the Chief Usher's Desk from 1902 – 1948. Visitors will find artifacts enhanced by hundreds of images of the White House as Office, Home, and Stage. Integrated into the museum gallery are screens highlighting additional imagery and stories from the White House.
A beautiful theater space offers a new film commissioned for the visitor center, "The White House: Reflections from Within," which features personal stories from presidents, first ladies, and other members of first families across the years.
The visitor center was designed with a strong focus on accessibility for all visitors, and the project team worked closely with the National Center for Accessibility to achieve a fully accessible experience.
To learn more about the White House Visitor Center and to plan your visit, please visit the National Park Service website .
Members of the media are encouraged to visit our Press Room .
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Our retail shops.
White House Visitor Center Flagship Store 1450 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. (Adjacent to the White House between 14th and 15th Streets, NW.) Reach Us by Phone: 202-208-7031 Shop hours: Monday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day
African Americans in Lafayette Square, 1795-1965
The phrase "The Half Had Not Been Told Me" is taken from a Biblical reference Frederick Douglass used to describe the beauty of the new Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust building, once located on Lafayette Square. Douglass compared the experience of seeing the building for the first time to the way the Queen of Sheba, an African queen, felt upon
Our Locations
The White House Historical Association Offices740 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006For mailing please use: P.O. Box 27624 Washington, D.C. 20038
The Historic Decatur House
When Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., and his wife, Susan, moved to the new federal city in 1816, they purchased land on the northwest corner of the President’s Park (today's Lafayette Square) with the prize money Decatur was awarded for his naval conquests in the War of 1812. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America’s first professional architect and engineer, to desi
Washington, D.C.'s "Contraband" Camps
On April 16, 1862, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act, ending slavery in the District of Columbia and delivering long-awaited freedom to more than 3,000 men, women, and children.1 America’s capital city became a beacon of liberty for enslaved individuals in bordering slave states like Maryland and Virginia, many of whom ran away and crossed into the District to pursue their own li
Native American Delegations, Diplomacy, and Protests at the White House
Thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the formation of the United States, and construction of the White House, Native peoples such as the Piscataway and Nacostines lived and prospered in the region of what is now Washington, D.C. As more colonists descended upon the area, they seized lands from Native Americans—including the land between the Potomac Ri
Building the President's House with Enslaved Labor
In several ways, James Hoban’s life resembles the classic immigrant success story. Born to a modest family in County Kilkenny, Ireland, Hoban studied at the Dublin Society School of Architectural Drawing before seeking greater opportunities abroad. He arrived in the new United States by 1785 and was settled in Charleston, South Carolina, by 1787, where he and his business partner Pierce Pu
Canadian Visits to the White House
“Geography has made us neighbors,” President John F. Kennedy told the Canadian Parliament in May 1961, “History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.”After Canada became a nation in 1867, ties between it and the United States grew closer. In 1927, the two countries received ambassadors. On December 6, Canadian Governor General Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess
Lafayette Square
The 18th century uses of Lafayette Square included a family graveyard, an apple orchard, a racetrack, and a market. The federal government eventually purchased the land as part of the White House grounds and workers, including numerous enslaved African Americans, camped there during its construction. To create a grand avenue in front of the White House, President Thomas Jefferson ordered
Good Neighbors: FDR, Major Gist, and Blair House
From its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the historic preservation movement in the United States drew its leadership from private citizens, not government officials.1 An archival collection kept at Blair House, The President’s Guest House, records the pioneering alliance of Major Gist Blair, the last family descendant to live there, and President Franklin D. Ro
Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship Award Recipient Announced
The White House Historical Association, in partnership with Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, have awarded Cleo Westin with the Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship in Journalism. Westin will receive a $5,000 stipend to visit Washington, D.C., attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner and be matched with mentors from the White House Press Corps. West
White House Historical Association’s Annual Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship Award Recipient Announced
The White House Historical Association in partnership with Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and the White House Correspondents’ Association, have awarded student Anna Olson with the Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship in Print Journalism. Olson will receive a $5,000 stipend to visit Washington, D.C. and attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, an event held t
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The White House Tour entrance is located in Sherman Park at 15th Street NW and Alexander Hamilton Place NW. If arriving by rideshare, use the White House Visitor Center (WHVC) as the drop-off ...
Public, self-guided tours are 45 minutes and are run between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays unless otherwise noted. For complete details on White House tours, visit the White House tours and events page or call the White House Visitors Office 24-hour information line at (202) 456-7041. The White House is located at 1600 ...
Tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Requests can be submitted up to three months in advance and no less than 21 days in advance. You are encouraged to submit your request as early as possible as a limited number of spaces are available. The White House tour is free of charge. Please note that White House tours may be ...
Pick a date or date range for your visit. Contact your state representative (Congressman or Congresswoman, or state senator) to submit a request for tour tickets. All public tour requests must go through your congressional office. Wait for confirmation of your ticket request for public tours of the White House.
The White House Visitor Center, located at 1450 Pennsylvania Ave. NW ( map ), offers visitors a window into the president's iconic home. Admission is free. The park's operating hours and seasons webpage lists the current hours. Security screening, similiar to TSA-style airport security, is required for entry to the visitor center.
You’ll want to arrive at the White House around 15-30 minutes before your tour is set to start. That will most likely be between the self-guided tour hours of 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. from Tuesday to Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday or Saturday. Luckily, the White House is near the centerpoint of DC public transportation, so ...
Plan Your Visit. Your visit to The White House and President's Park will be a truly unique national park experience. As you stroll along historic Pennsylvania Avenue you may witness our First Amendment freedoms in action through an organized protest. While posing for a photo on the south side of the White House you may be surprised to see the ...
The Association's underwriting of the architectural planning, exhibit design and fabrication, and media production have made possible a state-of-the-art visitor experience that includes interactive exhibits, a large-scale model of the White House, numerous tactile elements, a new permanent museum gallery, a temporary exhibit area, retail shop, visitor information facilities, and numerous ...
The White House Visitor Center is a nearly 1,600 square foot museum-caliber visitor experience featuring interactive exhibits, a large-scale model of the White House, numerous tactile exhibits, museum galleries, a temporary exhibit area, and the White House Historical Association retail shop.