The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Two million objects across 5,000 years, pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students, and fixed-price for everyone else — with the Cloisters included on the same ticket.
- What it costs
- Pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students with ID. Everyone else pays a set admission. The ticket also covers the Met Cloisters on the same day.
- Best in
- Any season
- Where
- 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028
- Official site
- metmuseum.org
What you'll actually pay
New York State residents, and students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, pay what they wish — any amount, including a token one, with ID showing address. This is a legal requirement, not a favour, and staff are used to it.
Everyone else pays a fixed admission, valid for the day and covering both the main building and the Met Cloisters uptown. If you're going to both, do them on the same day.
Buying online skips one queue but not the bag check.
Don't try to see it all
Two million objects. Six hours will not do it and attempting it produces museum fatigue and nothing else.
Pick two or three departments and do them properly. The reliably extraordinary ones:
- Egyptian Art, ending in the Temple of Dendur in its glass hall.
- Arms and Armour, which is far better than it sounds.
- The American Wing and its glass-roofed courtyard.
- European Paintings on the second floor, recently reinstalled.
- The Costume Institute, when there's a show on.
The roof garden is open seasonally and has a Central Park and skyline view worth the lift ride alone.
When to go
Weekday mornings at opening are the only genuinely calm time. Friday and Saturday evenings are late-opening and pleasantly quiet in the far galleries, though the popular rooms stay busy.
Avoid rainy weekend afternoons entirely — the whole city has the same idea.
The museum is closed on some Wednesdays and major holidays; check before travelling.
Getting there
The 4, 5 or 6 to 86th Street, then a five-minute walk west. About 20 minutes from Midtown.
The Q to 86th Street on Second Avenue is a longer walk but a much less crowded train.
The M1, M2, M3 and M4 buses run down Fifth Avenue and stop outside the door, which is the civilized option.
Getting around once you're there
Step-free entrance at 81st Street (not the main Fifth Avenue stairs), lifts to all floors, wheelchairs available free at the coat check. 86th Street on the 4/5/6 is accessible.