Onsite Tours

The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a free, docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.

Public Tour Topics

Freer Centennial Tours

Starting April 2, selected days; meet at the Freer information desk

When the Freer Gallery of Art opened to the public in 1923, it became the first art museum on the National Mall. Celebrate the next one hundred years of Asian art with docent-led tours that encourage you to view our permanent collections through founder Charles Lang Freer’s eyes. Enjoy themes like “The Freer and Whistler,” “Freer’s Legacy and Beyond,” “Journey of Color,” “Women of the Freer,” and other topics.

Please visit the museum’s event calendar for details.

A Special Exhibition Tour – Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings

Starting April 2, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, at 2:00 p.m.; meet at the Sackler information desk

Join a tour of a special exhibition, Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings, featuring artworks excavated from the capital of the ancient Shang Dynasty (ca. 1250 BCE–ca. 1050 BCE), including jades and bronze vessels. Learn about the advanced technology of bronze casting, explore intricate and sophisticated designs of ritual objects, and discover famous “oracle bones.”

Permanent Collection Highlights Tour

Seven days a week at 1:00 p.m.; meet at the Freer information desk

Celebrate our museum’s centennial with a tour featuring Charles Lang Freer’s collection of Asian and American art. Join our docents on an interactive journey to explore the highlights of the museum’s outstanding collections, including the famous Peacock Room. No reservation needed.

Women of the Freer Tour

March, daily at noon; meet at the Freer information desk

March is Women’s History Month. The National Museum of Asian Art invites you to celebrate the women in our collection—ancient and modern, human and divine. Prepared in conjunction with the museum’s centennial celebration, new docent-led tours will introduce you to influential women and their little-known stories. Join us daily in March.

A Special Exhibition Tour – A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur

Daily at 2:00 p.m.; meet at the Sackler information desk

Immerse yourself in the ambience of an Indian city with a docent-led tour of the special exhibition A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur. The exhibition features paintings commissioned by Udaipur’s royal court between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries. Join the tour of Udaipur’s painted world and experience the moods of its court ceremonies, festivities, hunting grounds, and temples. No reservation needed. Please visit the museum’s event calendar for details.

Sketch & Discover Tour

11 a.m.–12 p.m., first Sunday of every month; meet at the Freer information desk

We read books about the art we love, and we can explore so many materials online. But how much time do we get to spend with objects in person? And how will we see those objects differently when we use a pencil and a sketchbook—not because we are artists but because sketching can help us see and understand art traditions and artworks in a different way?

Join docent Sushmita Mazumdar every first Sunday of the month as she guides you to use pencil and paper to consider the unique ideas and expressions of Asian artists from various traditions spanning the continent across centuries. All materials will be provided. No reservation needed.

Reserved Group Tours

You can schedule a private on-site tour for a group of ten or more visitors by going to the on-site tour request form. Please use the Notes section if you would like to customize your tour to feature specific topics or a special exhibition. We also offer these tours in other languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Spanish, and Cantonese.

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You can review the museum’s COVID-19 policies here.