The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tickets, Highlights & Visitor Guide to The Met on Fifth Avenue
⏱ 3-5 hours👤 All ages$$
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art — universally called "the Met" — opened in 1872 and is one of the largest art museums in the world. Its collection of over 2 million objects spans 5,000 years of human creativity, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to contemporary American art. The Fifth Avenue main building covers more than 2 million square feet across 17 curatorial departments.
For first-time visitors, the orienting principle: pick three to four areas you actually care about and skip the rest. Highly-rated focus areas include the Egyptian wing (which contains the entire Temple of Dendur, an actual transported Egyptian temple), the European Paintings galleries (Vermeer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Velázquez, the Impressionists), the American Wing (the Tiffany window installation alone justifies the trip), the Greek and Roman galleries, the Arms and Armor collection, and the Asian Art galleries (one of the best collections of Asian art outside Asia).
The Met Roof Garden (open seasonally, roughly May through October) has free admission with museum entry, sweeping views of Central Park, and a bar that's one of the city's best summer hangouts. The annual Costume Institute exhibit (the Met Gala collection) is typically the year's most-visited single show.
The Cloisters — the Met's uptown branch focused on medieval European art, housed in a constructed medieval-style monastery in Fort Tryon Park — is a completely separate experience and worth a half-day on its own.
What to Expect
Format
Self-paced. Pick a focus or two from the museum map. Audio guides available.
Best Time
Weekday mornings, ideally Tuesday or Wednesday. Friday and Saturday evenings (open until 9 PM) are surprisingly quiet.
Duration
3-5 hours minimum. Some visitors spend the whole day.
Tips
Don't try to see it all. Pick 3-4 areas you care about. The Met membership pays for itself if you'll visit more than twice in a year. The Roof Garden (May-October) is a great mid-visit break with skyline views.
⚡ Quick Picks
Best For
Anyone who likes art or history — which is a wide net.
Families
Older kids do well; the Egyptian wing (Temple of Dendur) and Arms and Armor are particular kid hits. Younger kids tire quickly.
Couples
A whole-day Met visit followed by a Central Park walk is one of the city's classic dates.
Pair With
Central Park is across the street. Pair with the Guggenheim or Whitney for a Museum Mile walking day.
Time Needed
Half-day minimum. Full day for serious art lovers.
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Get Tickets →Frequently Asked Questions
How long should I spend at the Met?
Half-day minimum, more if you care about a specific area. Don't try to see everything in one visit.
Is pay-what-you-wish still available?
Only for New York State residents and students from NY, NJ, CT. Out-of-state visitors pay the standard admission fee.
What's the Met Cloisters?
A separate branch of the Met dedicated to medieval European art, in Fort Tryon Park (upper Manhattan). Same-day admission to both is included with one ticket. Plan separate visits — they're 90 minutes apart by transit.
When is the Roof Garden open?
Roughly May through October, included with museum admission. Views are spectacular; the bar is one of the city's underrated summer hangouts.
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Museum of Modern Art
The world's most important modern art museum — Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Warhol, the canonical 20th-century collection plus a serious contemporary program.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral building on Fifth Avenue — a museum where the architecture is the experience as much as the art, with rotating contemporary exhibitions and a strong permanent modern collection.
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Renzo Piano-designed museum at the foot of the High Line in the Meatpacking District — focused on 20th- and 21st-century American art, with a sculpture garden and outdoor decks at every floor.
Brooklyn Museum
One of the oldest and largest art museums in the country — founded 1897, anchoring Prospect Park's edge with strong Egyptian, feminist art, and African collections plus a long history of bold contemporary programming.