The Newseum’s closure at the end of the year may leave a journalism-sized hole in Washington’s museum scene, but there are still plenty of ways to learn about the media around town. You just may have to walk (or drive) a bit farther. We’ve put together a roving guide to places around town help you create a DIY news museum experience.

NPR station tour
1111 N. Capitol St. NE 

The home of All Things Considered and Morning Edition, NPR has called D.C. its home for almost 50 years. In 2013, NPR moved its headquarters to a sleek new building in NoMa, where you can partake in free tours around its newsroom and production studios. They’re offered on weekdays at 11 a.m., but you must sign up at least one business day in advance. Attempt a walk-in and you won’t walk anywhere but the lobby, which conveniently also has a detailed, interactive display about the radio station’s history, mission, and affiliate member stations. (DCist is owned by WAMU, an affiliate of NPR.)

The Big Picture at DC History Center
801 K St. NW

See snapshots from 20^th century Washington on big screens in this exhibit produced by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. at its DC History Center, recently opened at the Carnegie Library. Photographers meticulously documented historic moments—think when Amelia Earhart flew in to Bolling Air Force Base with a pack of female aviators from Philadelphia, or the 1924 World Series, featuring the Washington Senators—using Kodak’s panoramic Cirkut camera. It’s a step back in time, and a chance to savor the art of large-scale historic photography.

National Press Building/National Press Club lobby
529 14^th St. NW

You might have strolled right by the National Press Building without giving it a second glance, but the building at the intersection of 14^th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue has a storied news history. This stretch of the District used to be known as Newspaper Row, thanks to the gaggle of newspaper bureaus seeking convenient access to the White House just around the corner. The building itself was constructed in 1926, in an effort to consolidate all the bureaus under one roof. The National Press Club on the top two floors, originally designed as a place for the reporters to relax, is still the city’s major professional and social society for journalists. The walls of its lobby on the 13^th floor are adorned with the front pages of newspapers from major historical events, as you’d expect, but they have an unusual twist: The front pages are printed on sleek leather mats. Members can pop in and see such iconic headlines as “War! Oahu bombed by Japanese Planes,” from the Dec. 7, 1941 edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and “Nixon Resigns” from the April 30, 1974 edition of the Chicago Tribune. Access to the club, however, is limited to members only, though the public is welcome to dine at its restaurant, the Fourth Estate.

National Geographic Museum
1145 17th St NW

The glossy pages of National Geographic’s magazine have been bringing readers tales of science, nature, culture, and discovery since 1888, and you can learn all about it in National Geographic: Exploration Starts Here, a permanent exhibition at the museum located in the National Geographic Society’s headquarters. Delve into the expeditions undertaken by the magazine’s storytellers, photographers, and scientists, and see such artifacts as the camera Arctic explorer Robert Peary used at the North Pole. The exhibit is free, but rotating exhibits at the museum charge admission.

White House Press Briefing Room
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

This is the home of the iconic podium with its blue-and-white White House backdrop that’s visible in almost every White House press conference. The room, which runs about 30 feet wide and 75 feet long, feels crowded with equipment, lighting, and rows of wood and leather theater-style folding seats. The press briefing room is a fairly recent addition to the White House: It was built in 1970 and sits atop the old indoor swimming pool that was constructed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s physical therapy. The pool is still there, underneath the flooring—the deep end is beneath the podium. (There’s no water in it anymore.) However, this room is tucked in the West Wing, meaning that to see in person, you’ll have to have a connection to a White House staffer or score an invitation from the White House. You can’t request tours of this side of the building through a member of Congress like you can for the rest of the White House.

The “Grateful Newsmen” plaque
3302 N Street NW

The winter of President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 was frigid, and a small bronze plaque thanks Georgetown residents Helen Montgomery and her father, Charles Montgomery, for their kindness to journalists on the president-elect’s beat that season. The Montgomerys lived across the street from Kennedy’s N Street home, and took pity on the pack of reporters camped out in the elements, offering them coffee and snacks. And perhaps more importantly, in the era of landlines and no Internet, the Mongtomerys also gave the journalists access to a phone line (and let them set up more phones), according to Atlas Obscura. After the inauguration, the grateful reporters paid for the plaque and Kennedy himself delivered it on their behalf.

The Washington Post’s printing presses
7171 Wimsatt Road, Springfield, Va.

If you’ve ever wanted to watch the whir and buzz of a newspaper’s printing press in action, you’re (sort of) in luck: The Washington Post’s printing facility sits at the very outskirts of the Beltway, in Springfield, Va. The facility, however, is not open to the public for tours. To set one up, you’ve got to be a local Washington-area teacher or student. Tours are available Tuesdays for groups of 10 to 25 people from an organized class or home-school group.