MyWorldReviews.com

U.S. Capitol Building

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

The U.S. Capitol Building

The crypt area in the US Capitol Building

The U.S. Capitol building is probably one of the most well known American symbols. Tours of the U.S. Capitol are available, but you must register ahead. Even if you don't have a tour, you can still enter the new visitors complex from the east side of the capitol building. To get there from the capitol building, walk east, then go down the steps to the entrance. You and your belongings will be screened before entering the visitors building.

The visitors building itself is quite nice. It is a large open hall with a number of statues representing people from various states. When it is time for your tour to depart, your group (consisting of a few hundred people) will enter one of the two theaters off the main hall to watch a short video about the United States and the Capitol building.

From there, the group will split up into 5 smaller groups (that are still very large). Each smaller group will then visit the Rotunda, the statue room, and "the crypt" (where George Washington was supposed to be buried, at some point). In each room, the tour guide provided some narration about the room. In the rotunda, we learned about some of the artwork in the ceiling, and some stories about what the room was used for. The narration was mildly interesting, but our tour guide sounded very rehearsed, as if he repeated the same story many times a day.

After the tour, there is a tunnel connecting the Capitol Building to the Library of Congress.

Estimated Visiting Time

The tour itself lasts approximately 45 minutes. The tours often start late, but you should probably be a few minutes early anyway, as there may be a short line for security.