The NIH Visitor Center is not providing tours at this time due to COVID-19. In an attempt to protect the safety of our staff and patients all tours are suspended until further notice.

NIH Visitor Center, Nobel Laureate Exhibit Hall, and Tours

About

The National Institutes of Health is the nation’s medical research agency. NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Learn more about the NIH and the research we conduct.

The NIH Visitor Center and Nobel Laureate Exhibit Hall on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, welcomes visitors from across the United States and around the world. NIH tour programs are designed for young adults, individuals, and small groups who are interested in learning more about how the NIH improves human health and prevents disease. The NIH Nobel Laureate exhibit honors NIH-supported intramural and extramural scientists who have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, physiology, or medicine.

NIH Visitor Center and Nobel Laureate Exhibit Hall

NIH Clinical Center

Inside the NIH Clinical Center

The Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world’s largest hospital entirely devoted to clinical research. It is a national resource that makes it possible to speed the translation of laboratory discoveries into new approaches for diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. The 870,000-square-foot research center has 200 inpatient beds and more than 1,600 laboratories conducting basic and clinical research. Learn more facts about the Clinical Center.

Location and Hours of Operation

9000 Rockville Pike
Building 45 (The Natcher Building) Lobby, Room 1AS-13
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-496-1776
Hours of operation: 8:00a.m. – 4:00p.m. Monday through Friday (Closed on weekends and Federal holidays)

NIH Visitor Information

Information for visitors to the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, can be found on the Visitor Information Page.

Directions to the Building 45 NIH Visitor Center from the Gateway Center

Walking — Exit the Gateway Center via stairs or elevator at the 2nd floor and follow the paved walkway to Building 45 known as the Natcher Building. You will be approaching the back of the building, but the doors are open. As you enter the Natcher Conference Center, continue to the main lobby, at the front of the building. From this point, the NIH Visitor Center is to your right and our entrance is left of the large framed wall poster that reads, “NIH, The Nation’s Medical Research Agency.”

Shuttle — The NIH Campus Shuttle is available from the Gateway Center and other locations. Exit at the Building 45, the Natcher Building, stop. The stop is on a circular drive, and our exterior office sign, “NIH Visitor Center Nobel Laureate Exhibit Hall,” is visible from the front of the building. Enter the main lobby, and the NIH Visitor Center is to your left. Our entrance is left of the wall poster that reads, “NIH, The Nation’s Medical Research Agency.”

NIH Virtual Tour

Virtually explore the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Bethesda campus, learn about scientific research, and get to know NIH community members who are turning discovery into health.

Take the tour

On-Site Tours

The Visitor Information Center provides tours for visitors who fall within four basic categories:

  • Individuals working in areas of biomedical research or scientific programs
  • Graduate, undergraduate, or high school students who are studying biomedical research or who are interested in S.T.E.M. careers
  • NIH employees, interns, or postdoctoral fellows, and/or visiting fellows
  • NIH patients or patient visitors

Requesting an On-Site Tour

Please review the following guidelines before submitting your request via the request form at the bottom of this page.

  1. NIH tours are conducted Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. through 1:00 p.m. ET with no new tours starting after 12:00 pm.
  2. NIH does not have the resources to support group tours larger than 30 visitors per visit.
  3. For a group of 15 or more people, a tour request must be submitted no less than 1 month in advance of the desired tour date.
  4. For individual or small groups, a tour request must be submitted 7 business in advance of the desired tour date. Requests received in less than 7 business days cannot be accommodated.
  5. School groups with children under the age of 17 are not permitted to receive a Clinical Center tour. We do offer an NIH overview presentation for such groups.
  6. In preparing for your visit, the NIH requires a valid government photo identification prior to entry for all individuals ages 18 and above. Guests under the age of 18 without a photo ID must be signed in by a sponsor or chaperone from the visiting group.
  7. NIH does not accept third-party tour requests. NIH resources may not be offered to commercial entities for profit-making events or activities.

For those visitors who are unable to travel to the NIH Bethesda Campus, the NIH also provides information about the agency and its scientific and health programs, which are available through these websites:

This page last reviewed on June 9, 2023