Whether your interest is in British royalty or in contemporary pop culture, you'll find portraits of your favorite figures from the 1500s on up at the National Portrait Gallery. It's fascinating to both trace the changes in portraiture over time and to view the famous British faces hanging on these walls. Each artist's interpretation and depiction of their subject is unique and at times surprising. Almost 10,000 works hang on the three floors of the gallery.
Begin your trip on the second floor where earlier paintings hang, and end it on the ground floor with contemporary photographs. During your visit you'll encounter portraits of Elizabeth I, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Margaret Thatcher, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin and more.
To enhance your visit, rent a Sound Guide with a recorded history of over 200 famous portraits in the Gallery on CD-Rom, or a highlight tour of 50 portraits. The IT Gallery on the ground floor allows visitors to take a virtual reality tour of the Gallery's collection through the use of touchscreens.
The National Portrait Gallery has a gift shop, a bookshop and an exhibition shop on the premises. The Portrait Café on the basement level serves light meals all day and the Portrait Restaurant on the top floor of the Gallery offers contemporary British cuisine.
From
patriotic themed accommodations to European styled hotels, Washington D.C.
offers a host of lodging options. For instance, the Crowne Plaza is a four-star, deluxe hotel
located in Franklin Square, just a few blocks from the White House. Downtown Washington D.C. offers a wide
range of hotels to choose from. ....more
Located in the downtown area, there are 117 lavish guest rooms available.
Some of the conveniences the modern traveler has come to expect can be found
at the Best Western Historic Area including Internet access .
