Plan Your Visit

HOURS
Monday, Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, CLOSED
Last entrance time is 1.5 hours before closing (given availability)

SPECIAL HOURS
Tuesday, 12/31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday, 1/1, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, 1/6, CLOSED

LOCATION
925 13th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005
Entrance on K Street

ADMISSION
General admission is free, with a suggested $15 donation to support the museum’s mission-driven programs, exhibits, and educational outreach.

LEXICON LANE
Do you like mysteries, riddles, and puzzles? Reserve a puzzle case and solve the mysteries inside. $40 per case, with a suggestion of 4 people per case.  Learn more

FREE DIGITAL GUIDE
Explore Planet Word anywhere, anytime with our digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.  Learn more

LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
Have books at home that you’re planning to donate? Bring a few with you to Planet Word! We have a Little Free Library, located to the right of our entrance gate.

Reserve your pass

Directions

Silver, blue, and orange lines: Exit at McPherson Square onto 14th and I streets. The museum entrance is directly across the park on 13th and K streets.

Red line: Exit at Metro Center onto 13th Street. Walk north until you reach K Street, then turn right. The entrance will be on your right.

Bus stops at 13th and K, 13th and I, and 15th and I are all within easy walking distance of the museum. Visit the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority website to find the bus route that is most convenient for you.

From the north: Head south on 13th Street, NW. At the traffic circle, take the third exit to stay on 13th Street. In 0.5 miles, the Franklin School building will be on your left.

From the southwest: Take I-66 E, then take the left exit toward E Street. Keep right, following signs for E Street. Continue onto E Street Expressway. Turn left onto 18th Street, NW. Turn right onto H Street NW. Turn left onto 13th Street, NW. In 0.2 miles, the Franklin School building will be on your right.

From the southeast: Take I-695 W and exit on Maine Ave. Keep right at the fork, following signs for 12th Street. Continue straight onto 12th Street, NW. Turn left onto I Street, NW. Turn right onto 13th Street. The Franklin School building will be on your right.

Street parking is limited in this area, but several parking garages are available nearby (entrances at 915 13th Street, NW and 1010 13th Street, NW). Parking spots for persons with disabilities are located on the corner of 12th and K and 13th and I.

Bike racks are available by the entrance on K street and on the Northeast corner of 13th and K Street (in front of PAUL) and half a block down K Street from Planet Word’s main entrance.

Immigrant Food

Immigrant Food, located on our lower level, is the perfect spot to satisfy your hunger at Planet Word.

The restaurant offers casual immigrant-inspired fare during museum hours and transitions to a higher gastronomic experience in the evening, with global cocktails, an eclectic wine list, and a dinner menu created by award-winning chef Enrique Limardo.

Open Monday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tuesday – Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Brunch Menu | Lunch Menu | Dinner Menu

Gift Shop

Present Perfect, the Planet Word gift shop, has something for the wordsmith in everyone.

You can browse books full of wordplay, find word-themed gifts, games, and puzzles, or pick up a last-minute card for a special occasion. Present Perfect offers plenty of curated, one-of-a-kind items to pique the interest of writers, readers, performers, conversationalists, kids, and word nerds.

Refunds are permitted with proof of purchase within 30 days of the purchase date. To receive a refund for a credit card purchase, the card used for the original sale is required. Planet Word is not responsible for loss of, or damage to, any items after purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to frequently asked questions about admission and passes, visiting the museum, media and communications, and the Lexicon Lane add-on experience.

Visitor Code of Conduct

At Planet Word, our goal is to make sure that every visit to the museum is an exceptional experience. To ensure a positive and memorable experience, we expect every person in our museum to treat each other with respect and to help maintain a safe environment. If you need assistance or notice anything unusual, please ask a Planet Word employee (staff wearing blue staff shirts) for help.

By visiting Planet Word, you agree to comply with the following requirements for visitor conduct.

While on Planet Word premises, no visitor shall:

  • Behave in a way or wear attire that is inappropriate (loud, abusive, obscene, or displaying offensive language).
  • Carry firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, or hazardous materials, either openly or concealed. Law enforcement personnel authorized to carry firearms while here on official duty are excepted.
  • Demonstrate or protest (or display and/or carry placards, signs, banners, barriers, balloons, or flags on poles or sticks that do not fit in a bag).
  • Destroy, damage, or remove property.
  • Climb upon any part of the building or exhibit.
  • Loiter, sleep, or participate in unwarranted assemblies.
  • Solicit or advertise for commercial or charitable purposes or distribute advertisements, pamphlets, handbills, and flyers.
  • Take photographs for advertising or any other commercial purpose.

 

Planet Word reserves the right to refuse or revoke admission or Membership of any visitor or group, whose conduct is deemed by the management to be disorderly or does not comply with the Visitor Code of Conduct. Disorderly conduct is not limited to the above guidelines.

  • Did you know?

    Perhaps ironically, the word “sesquipedalophobia” means “the fear of long words.”
  • Did you know?

    “Contronyms” are words that contain multiple meanings that are complete opposites of each other. For example, “oversight” means both “the action of overseeing something” and “a failure to notice something.”
  • Did you know?

    There are over 7,000 languages worldwide, but more than half the world’s population speaks only 23 of these languages.
  • Did you know?

    The first entirely artificial language was the Lingua Ignota, a private mystical cant recorded in the 12th century by St. Hildegard of Bingen.
  • Did you know?

    The 10 most-used letters in English are E, A, R, I, O, T, N, S, L, and C.
  • Did you know?

    Eels, llamas, and aardvarks, ooh my! In English, there are only four letters that appear as double letters at the beginning of a word: A, E, L, and O.
  • Did you know?

    A “deipnosophist” is a person who’s really good at making conversation at the dinner table.
  • How do you get a dog to stop eating your books?

    Take the words right out of its mouth!
  • What's the difference between a cat and a comma?

    A cat has claws at the end of its paws, but a comma’s a pause at the end of a clause.
  • The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar...

    It was tense.
  • Is there a word that uses all the vowels including y?

    Unquestionably.
  • Riddle me this

    What did the intransitive verb say when told it was pretty? (Answer: Nothing. Intransitive verbs can’t take complements.)
  • Riddle me this

    What does an island and the letter T have in common? (Answer: They’re both in the middle of water.)
  • Riddle me this

    What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? (Answer: Short)
  • Riddle me this

    What starts with an E, ends with an E, and contains just one letter? (Answer: An envelope!)
  • Riddle me this

    What begins with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it? (Answer: A teapot!)
  • Riddle me this

    What’s in centuries, hours, and years, but not minutes, days, or seconds? (Answer: The letter R!)
  • Quote them on it

    “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx
  • Quote them on it

    “The past is always tense, the future perfect.” — Zadie Smith
  • Quote them on it

    “If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” — Toni Morrison
  • Quote them on it

    “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...The man who never reads lives only once.” — George R.R. Martin
  • Quote them on it

    “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela