Visit the World’s Biggest Library

📍 Washington DC, United States🔄 Repeatable👤 All ages

learningtravel

Explore the Library of Congress in Washington DC, which houses over 170 million items including rare manuscripts, maps, and the largest book collection in the world. Take a free guided tour to see the stunning Jefferson Building's architecture and learn about treasures like the Gutenberg Bible and original manuscripts.

Difficulty

10/100Easy

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Cost

$0 – $25

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Time

half-day

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People

🏠

Setting

indoor

📅

Season

any

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Equipment

None needed

People who tried this

“Walking in there with millions of books around me in a humongous dome-shaped room was extremely cool. Since only people with special passes could go in, we attracted people from a balcony above us. It seemed as if I was famous because of the number of people staring at me and everyone else in the room. [...] It was breathtaking and the most beautiful section of the whole building. Looking around at the huge collection of books, I saw books ranging from the mid-1500s to today.”

positive— Ryan Lin · Mediumsource ↗

“Visited DC last year and went to the Library. Found out they don't actually let people in the library as it's reserved for special research only or something. The experience was very underwhelming. I thought I would get to browse the shelves like I do at my local library.”

negative— reconfit · r/nextfuckinglevelsource ↗