International Spy Museum — Attraction in Washington

April 2024 I came here by myself on a weekday morning. I was surprised at how busy it was. I highly recommend buying tickets online ahead of time. You can buy tickets in person too, but the earliest time slot was always at least 1 hour later. Note you do not need a ticket to visit the gift shop.

The time slot thing is important. The staff are adamant that you enter during your designated time slot so they can control the amount of traffic in the exhibit. That said, once you enter the exhibit and have your Mission Undercover badge, you are allowed to go in and out of the museum for the rest of the day. This is helpful if you get hungry during your visit. No food or drink in the exhibit except for bottled water. They have water fountains by the bathrooms on each floor.

On the topic of food, the museum is right next to L'Enfant Plaza, which has many food options. From the museum's main entrance, turn left to go around and behind the building. There's a glass enclosure that's a skylight for part of the plaza. There are stairs inside leading down to the plaza.

If you get there by metro and get off at the L'Enfant Plaza metro stop, you can go straight from the metro, through the plaza, and up those same steps to get to the museum. No need to step out onto the street. There are signs inside the plaza pointing towards the museum.

There's a bag check by the entrance, but I think they limit themselves to larger bags since they didn't check my small backpack but did check someone else's large purse.

There's a cloak room with coat hangers and lockers located to the left of the front desk. The lockers are self serve and free to use. Anything larger than 43" x 30" x 25" is not allowed in the exhibit and must be stored in the cloak room, including strollers.

The entrance to the exhibit are elevators behind the front desk, manned by a staff member who sends people up in groups of about 15. Upon reaching the 5th floor, a staff member directs you to pick a Mission Undercover badge from a table. You will need this badge if you want to exit and reenter the museum that same day.

You then have the option of participating in the Mission Undercover activity! 🥸 You are given a fake name, city of origin, and occupation to memorize. You are given a mission to travel to another country to help a fellow operative. All the MU activities are done with consoles, using your badge. There are multiple stations throughout the museum that let you practice different aspects of being a spy: remembering your cover identity, making an appropriate gadget, avoiding the suspicion of the local officials, and (my favorite) locating a message somewhere in the second half of the exhibit. It's a very fun and informative activity that gives you a glimpse into the life of a spy. At the end, you receive feedback on how well you performed at the different aspects.

After the briefing, we are herded into a theater, where we watch an intro video. Once the video is done, the doors at the opposite end open and we're allowed into the start of the exhibit.

The permanent exhibit starts on the 5th floor and continues on the 4th floor. They have a lot of artifacts, videos, and hands-on activities that are good for both kids and adults. The staff welcome you to take pictures and videos (no flash). There are a lot of staff members stationed around the exhibit that you can ask questions of. They are all very friendly.

The website says people usually spend 2-3 hours in there. But with all the information and working around other groups, I spent over 4 hours and had to skim or skip about a third of the content.

The end of the exhibit leads out to open stairs that go down to the gift shop on the ground floor. The stairs also go to the entrance to the special exhibit on the 3rd floor. Note that you cannot use these stairs to enter or reenter the exhibit. A security member is by the stairs in the gift shop and will redirect you if you try to go up the stairs.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable and educational experience. I definitely wouldn't mind...

We spent 4 hours here and could have spent even more time if we had gone through each exhibit area more thoroughly. I brought 3 girls - 9, 10, and 14 years in age and they all had a great time! Only thing is that I noticed was the 9 and 10 year old needed a little assistance to fully understand their undercover mission, and understand the info they need to try to remember about their identity and mission. Without assistance, it could be a little frustrating for younger kids since the undercover mission info on the screen passes by pretty quickly. We had an issue with one of the spy identity cards not working with one undercover screen and when we asked a staff for help, they couldn’t help solve the issue, which was honestly a little disappointing. One of my daughters had to skip one of the undercover missions due to that. I wish there was someone available to help troubleshoot any tech difficulty we have and provide a solution to make the experience better. (The staff member didn’t offer to provide a new identity card or find a supervisor to help troubleshoot for my daughter, which may have resolved the issue.)

One more thing is that while my girls were waiting for their turn for the “red team” interactive activity, some little kids (and their parents) cut in front of us and stood right next to the computer screens that were in session, and sat immediately after the seats were open. We had been standing behind the computers the whole time, giving space to the people who were seated in their session before us. We had to stand through another session before we could get our turn. Hope the wait can be more organized, especially when the museum is ultra busy.

Other than that, this museum is so informative and opened up a whole new world to all of us. So many of the real spy stories sound so unreal.

There are many exhibit/rooms that require a lot of reading so the younger kids may not be as interested in those. There are also many fun and interactive activities. There were also rooms with videos of real spies sharing their stories. Those were really interesting and inspiring. Don’t miss out on those!

We recommend buying the tickets online because it is cheaper. We didn’t go to the 3rd floor. 5th and 4th floor had more than enough activities for 4 hours...

🕵️‍♀️ Thrilling, Thought-Provoking, and Totally Worth It 🕵️‍♂️ We had an incredible time at the International Spy Museum—it’s easily one of the most unique and immersive museums we’ve ever visited. Whether you're into history, tech, pop culture, or just love a good mystery, this place delivers.

🎯 Interactive & Immersive From the moment we stepped in, we were assigned undercover identities and invited to complete missions throughout the museum. The interactive exhibits made us feel like part of the story, not just observers. It’s hands-on, high-tech, and surprisingly educational.

🧠 Fascinating Content The museum houses the world’s largest collection of spy artifacts—from lipstick pistols to cipher machines—and dives deep into real-life espionage stories. We especially appreciated how it balanced entertainment with serious topics like surveillance, intelligence failures, and ethical dilemmas.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Great for All Ages It’s perfect for families, couples, or solo travelers. Kids will love the gadgets and games, while adults can appreciate the historical depth and real-world context. We spent about 2–3 hours exploring and could’ve easily stayed longer.

🍽️ Dining Tip There aren’t many sit-down restaurants immediately around the museum, so be prepared to walk a bit if you're looking for a proper meal. The L’Enfant Plaza Food Court is just behind the museum for quick bites, and District Wharf—about an 8-minute walk away—offers a wider range of dining options with waterfront views.

🎟️ Tips for Visitors Book timed tickets online to avoid long waits. Start at the Briefing Center on the top floor and work your way down. Don’t skip the gift shop—it’s full of quirky, spy-themed souvenirs. It’s located near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station, so it’s easy to reach.

Overall, the International Spy Museum is a must-see if you're in D.C. It’s smart, fun, and full of surprises—definitely one of the highlights...