The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met
The largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 2 million works spanning 5,000 years. Don't miss the Temple of Dendur, the European paintings, and the American Wing.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The main building sits at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street on the east side of Central Park. It covers 190,000 square meters and holds over 2 million works, so you can only see a fraction in one day. Here is a must-see list. On the first floor, the Egyptian galleries feature the Temple of Dendur, a whole temple moved from Egypt and dating to 15 BCE, housed in a glass-walled hall. Also on this floor are the Greek and Roman sculpture gallery, the Arms and Armor hall, and the American Wing, which holds Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Charles Engelhard Court. The second floor has the European painting galleries, with five Vermeers, Rembrandt, Van Gogh's Self-Portrait and Cypresses in a Wheat Field, Monet's water lilies, and Degas's ballet dancers. The Asian art section includes the Chinese Garden Court, Ming Xuan, modeled on Suzhou's Master of the Nets Garden, along with Japanese and Korean galleries. The newly reopened European painting displays debuted in 2024.
From May to October, the Roof Garden hosts contemporary installations and a bar, with views over Central Park and the Midtown skyline. Admission for adults is $30. Students from New York State and the three neighboring states may pay what they wish. Your ticket also gives you same-day entry to The Cloisters, the medieval art museum at the northern tip of Manhattan.
Arrive right at opening time. Start with the Temple of Dendur and the European paintings, then have lunch at the American Wing café or on the roof. Plan for 3 to 4 hours in total. Getting there: take the 4, 5, or 6 train to 86 St and walk about 10 minutes, or walk from the east side of Central Park.
Note that the museum is closed on Wednesdays. On Fridays and Saturdays it stays open until 9 p.m., when crowds are thinner and live music is often playing. You cannot leave large luggage at the museum, so carry backpacks on your front. Photography without flash is allowed throughout.
Opening hours
Sun–Tue and Thu 10:00–17:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00; closed Wed
Nearby sights
- Central Park
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- American Museum of Natural History
- Fifth Avenue
- Museum of Modern Art
- Roosevelt Island Tramway
- St. Patrick's Cathedral
- Rockefeller Center & Top of the Rock