Visitor Information

Airports: Washington, D.C., is served by three airports: Reagan National (the closest and most convenient of the three), Washington Dulles, and BWI-Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore-Washington International Airport).

Ground Transportation: Each airport provides general information about available ground transportation options. See the appropriate pages for Reagan National, Dulles, and BWI-Marshall airports.

Reagan National: The airport has a Metrorail station, at which both Blue and Yellow line trains stop. The Yellow line trains offer a more direct route to downtown Washington. A map of the Metrorail system can be found here.

Washington Dulles: Dulles is served by Washington’s 5A Metrobus and the Virginia Regional Transit; information about the 5A bus can be found here and information on the VRT can be found here. You can also take a Washington Flyer bus from the airport to the West Falls Church Metro station on the Orange line.

BWI-Marshall: BWI-Marshall is served by Washington’s B30 Metrobus; information about the bus can be found here and here. You can also get to Washington from BWI-Marshall by train; the airport is served by both Amtrak and the MARC commuter line.

The NEH offices are located in downtown Washington at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., in what is known as the Old Post Office Building. You can find a map here. It is conveniently located near stops for all five Metrorail lines: Federal Triangle on the Blue and Orange lines, which is closest to the Old Post Office, Metro Center on the Red line, and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter on the Green and Yellow lines.

The building is on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue, between 11th and 12th Streets.

From Federal Triangle: Cross 12th Street to get to the Old Post Office;
From Metro Center: Walk south three blocks (from any of the G Street exits) or two blocks (from the F Street exit) to Pennsylvania Avenue;
From Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter: Walk four blocks west from 7th Street to 11th Street, and cross to the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are four different entrances to the Old Post Office building, only three of which are available to the public. You will need to go through a metal detector at any of the entrances to which you will have access.

1. The south entrance is in back of the building, or to the right end of the building if you are coming out of the Federal Triangle Metro and crossing 12th Street. At the south entrance you are on the pavilion (food court) level. A ramp inside the door provides access for wheelchairs. There is an elevator that you can take to the mezzanine level, or you can walk up a flight of stairs.

2. The main or north entrance, which doesn’t open until 9 a.m., is on Pennsylvania Avenue. If you enter through the north entrance, you will come into the building on the mezzanine level.

3. The east entrance is on the 11th Street side of the building. If you enter through the east entrance from the small plaza, using either the steps or the ramp leading down to the public entrance, you will come into the building on the pavilion (food court) level and will need to walk up one flight of stairs to get to the mezzanine level of the building. If you need elevator access to the mezzanine level, turn to your left after you enter the building and walk to the far corner of the pavilion level. Signs there will guide you to the elevator, which is near the building’s south entrance.

Once you are on the mezzanine level you must report to either of the guard desks near the elevators to access the NEH office space, which is on the upper floors. There is one guard desk and a bank of elevators on the 11th Street or east side of the building. There is another guard desk and bank of elevators on the 12th Street or west side of the building.

You will need to show your picture ID to the guard and sign the visitors’ log to be allowed onto the elevators that will take you to the NEH offices. If you are here to serve on a panel, the guard will already have your name and should let you go up immediately.

If you are here for some reason other than to serve on a panel, the guard will need to phone the office that you are visiting, to secure permission to let you up to that office.