Where can you park?

There are parking decks around

I would suggest parking at a metro station nearest you and taking the metro to the Smithsonian station..its just a couple of blocks away from there.

There is parking inside the round about our you can park on the street side. The museum doesn't have a parking lot.

Parking is free on Sunday's but be watchful because some spots are off limits everyday.

Parking lots or parking garages you do have to pay

You can use a private parking lot if you dont mind walking about 3-5 blocks. Just Google "parking near me"

parking is horrible

There's a parking garage below the Ronald Reagan Building across the street (Note: Security searches vehicles prior to entry) From the museum website: "There is no public parking facility at the Smithsonian on the National Mall. On-street meter parking options are available but please be advised to carefully check the days and hours of enforcement posted on the parking meters and curbside signs. We encourage visitors to take public transportation. If you do drive, there are commercial parking lots located throughout the area, download a parking map(pdf) for the National Mall to help you plan your visit. Reserved parking near the Museum can be purchased in advance through Parking Panda."

There are parking lots in the area. There is difficult street parking but meters too.