The Met Cloisters
A medieval monastery reassembled from genuine European cloisters on a bluff above the Hudson at the top of Manhattan — included on the same ticket as the Met, and about a tenth as crowded.
- What it costs
- Covered by the same-day Met admission, including the pay-what-you-wish rate for New York State residents.
- Best in
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Where
- 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, New York, NY 10040
- Official site
- metmuseum.org
What it actually is
Not a replica. Rockefeller bought architectural elements from five genuine French and Spanish medieval cloisters, had them shipped over in the 1930s, and had them assembled into a single coherent building designed around them.
The result should feel like a theme park and instead feels entirely real — courtyards, chapter houses, a Romanesque chapel, gardens planted from medieval texts.
The Unicorn Tapestries
Seven Netherlandish tapestries from around 1500, among the most famous surviving works of medieval art anywhere, hanging in a dim room you can stand in for as long as you like.
In the Met's main building they'd have a crowd three deep. Here you'll often have them to yourself.
Fort Tryon Park
The museum sits inside Fort Tryon Park, on a bluff with one of the best Hudson River views in the city — straight across to the Palisades, the same protected cliff face you see from Wave Hill in the Bronx.
The Heather Garden is three acres of planting along the ridge and is free and open to anyone. Come for the museum, then spend an hour outside. Bring lunch; the café is limited.
Getting there
The A to 190th Street — take the lift up from the platform, then it's a ten-minute walk through Fort Tryon Park. About 45 minutes from Midtown on an express A.
The M4 bus runs to the door if the walk is a problem.
Get the A express, not the local; it makes a real difference on that run.
Getting around once you're there
**190th Street station is accessible via lift**, which is the only reason this trip works for many people — the station is deep. The museum has step-free access and lifts, though some cloister galleries have shallow thresholds. The park path from the station is paved with a gentle grade.