Quick Orientation
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — "The Met" — occupies a 2-million-square-foot complex on the east edge of Central Park between 80th and 84th Streets on 5th Avenue. It opened in 1870 and now holds 1.5 million works spanning 5,000 years. It is the most-visited museum in the United States.
🧮
USA Trip Cost Calculator
Planning your NYC trip? Get a personalised budget with our free calculator — The Met at $30 plus Central Park lunch still leaves the best-value museum day in NYC.
The second location, The Met Cloisters, sits 10 miles uptown in Fort Tryon Park and focuses on medieval European art. One ticket covers both on the same day.
Ticket Prices & Pay-What-You-Wish
This is the most misunderstood ticket policy in New York. Here is the reality as of 2026:
| Visitor | Price | Notes |
|---|
| NY State resident | Pay-what-you-wish | Any amount from $1, ID required |
| NY/NJ/CT student | Pay-what-you-wish | Valid student ID required |
| Adult (out-of-state/international) | $30 | Set price |
| Senior 65+ | $22 | ID required |
| Student with ID | $17 | From anywhere |
| Child under 12 | Free | With adult |
| Met members | Free | Membership $110+/year |
One Met ticket covers The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters on the same calendar day. Hold onto your sticker or digital ticket.
Best Hours to Visit
The Met opens 10am Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday, closed Wednesday, open until 9pm Fridays and Saturdays. Timing is half the visit quality.
- Tuesday 10-11am: quietest hour of the week. School groups arrive after 11.
- Thursday 10am-12pm: near-empty halls, particularly in Ancient Egypt and European Paintings.
- Friday 6-9pm: extended evening hours, light crowds, bar and dining options open in the Great Hall.
- Avoid Saturday 12-4pm: peak crowds, tourist buses, long coat-check line.
- Last admission: 30 minutes before close. Galleries start clearing at closing-minus-15.
Enter on 81st Street (side entrance) rather than the main 82nd Street steps to skip 10-20 minutes of security line on busy days.
Must-See Works
If you only have 3 hours, prioritise these 10 stops. They span different wings, so plan the order carefully.
- Temple of Dendur (Egyptian Wing, 1st floor): 2,000-year-old temple in a sunlit atrium, the Met's most iconic single object.
- Arms and Armor Hall: full knight cavalcade, Henry VIII's armour, samurai wing.
- American Wing — Washington Crossing the Delaware (Emanuel Leutze, 1851): 12 feet wide, shown exactly as 1851 audiences saw it.
- Greek and Roman Galleries: the Roman court is a Pompeian villa recreation, free of crowds most mornings.
- Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (European Paintings, 2nd floor): one of only 34 known Vermeers worldwide.
- Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses and Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat.
- Monet's water lilies and Haystacks series.
- Degas dancers (bronze Little Dancer aged 14 + pastels).
- European Sculpture Court: Canova's Perseus, Bernini bust.
- The Costume Institute (when exhibition open): annual Met Gala show, book timed entry.
Plan Your Route
The Met is shaped like a barbell: Ancient art on one end, European paintings on the other, a huge Great Hall in the middle. Picking a direction beats wandering.
| If you love | Start here | Then |
|---|
| Ancient history | Egyptian Wing + Temple of Dendur | Greek & Roman → Near East |
| Paintings | European Paintings (2nd floor) | American Wing → Modern |
| Design | Arms & Armor | Musical Instruments → Costume Institute |
| Asia | Asian Art Wing (2nd floor) | Arts of Africa/Oceania/Americas |
| Medieval | Medieval Hall (1st floor) | Then head to Cloisters uptown |
The Met uses "donate" language at ticket counters that confuses tourists. Staff will not volunteer that out-of-state visitors must pay $30 — the sign on the desk is the source of truth.
The Met Cloisters Uptown
Often overlooked. The Cloisters is a purpose-built 1938 museum assembled from five actual French and Spanish medieval monasteries, relocated stone by stone to Fort Tryon Park at the northern tip of Manhattan.
- Location: 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, 30-40 minutes by A train from Midtown (stop at 190th St).
- Highlights: the seven Unicorn Tapestries, the Merode Altarpiece, three cloister gardens.
- Time needed: 90 minutes plus 20 minutes in the park.
- Crowds: consistently light even on weekends.
- Combine with: Dyckman Farmhouse (18th-century Dutch colonial home nearby) and New Leaf Restaurant in the park.
- Met audio guide: $7 on-site device, or free via the Bloomberg Connects app (download before visiting — WiFi is patchy).
- Highlights tour (free, 1 hour): meets daily at 11:30am and 1:30pm in the Great Hall.
- GetYourGuide & Viator tours: $60-90 for 2.5-hour expert-led tours, entry ticket included. Worth it for first-timers who want curation.
- Great Hall Balcony Bar: open Friday-Saturday evenings, cocktails $18-22 above the entrance lobby.
- The Dining Room (members only) / Cafeteria (public): the cafeteria is cheap and forgettable; eat before or after at nearby Upper East Side cafés.
The Met does not require timed entry for general admission, but special exhibitions (e.g., the Costume Institute show) sell out 4-8 weeks in advance on busy weekends.
Quick Orientation
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — "The Met" — occupies a 2-million-square-foot complex on the east edge of Central Park between 80th and 84th Streets on 5th Avenue. It opened in 1870 and now holds 1.5 million works spanning 5,000 years. It is the most-visited museum in the United States.
🧮
USA Trip Cost Calculator
Planning your NYC trip? Get a personalised budget with our free calculator — The Met at $30 plus Central Park lunch still leaves the best-value museum day in NYC.
The second location, The Met Cloisters, sits 10 miles uptown in Fort Tryon Park and focuses on medieval European art. One ticket covers both on the same day.
Ticket Prices & Pay-What-You-Wish
This is the most misunderstood ticket policy in New York. Here is the reality as of 2026:
| Visitor | Price | Notes |
|---|
| NY State resident | Pay-what-you-wish | Any amount from $1, ID required |
| NY/NJ/CT student | Pay-what-you-wish | Valid student ID required |
| Adult (out-of-state/international) | $30 | Set price |
| Senior 65+ | $22 | ID required |
| Student with ID | $17 | From anywhere |
| Child under 12 | Free | With adult |
| Met members | Free | Membership $110+/year |
One Met ticket covers The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters on the same calendar day. Hold onto your sticker or digital ticket.
Best Hours to Visit
The Met opens 10am Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday, closed Wednesday, open until 9pm Fridays and Saturdays. Timing is half the visit quality.
- Tuesday 10-11am: quietest hour of the week. School groups arrive after 11.
- Thursday 10am-12pm: near-empty halls, particularly in Ancient Egypt and European Paintings.
- Friday 6-9pm: extended evening hours, light crowds, bar and dining options open in the Great Hall.
- Avoid Saturday 12-4pm: peak crowds, tourist buses, long coat-check line.
- Last admission: 30 minutes before close. Galleries start clearing at closing-minus-15.
Enter on 81st Street (side entrance) rather than the main 82nd Street steps to skip 10-20 minutes of security line on busy days.
Must-See Works
If you only have 3 hours, prioritise these 10 stops. They span different wings, so plan the order carefully.
- Temple of Dendur (Egyptian Wing, 1st floor): 2,000-year-old temple in a sunlit atrium, the Met's most iconic single object.
- Arms and Armor Hall: full knight cavalcade, Henry VIII's armour, samurai wing.
- American Wing — Washington Crossing the Delaware (Emanuel Leutze, 1851): 12 feet wide, shown exactly as 1851 audiences saw it.
- Greek and Roman Galleries: the Roman court is a Pompeian villa recreation, free of crowds most mornings.
- Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (European Paintings, 2nd floor): one of only 34 known Vermeers worldwide.
- Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses and Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat.
- Monet's water lilies and Haystacks series.
- Degas dancers (bronze Little Dancer aged 14 + pastels).
- European Sculpture Court: Canova's Perseus, Bernini bust.
- The Costume Institute (when exhibition open): annual Met Gala show, book timed entry.
Plan Your Route
The Met is shaped like a barbell: Ancient art on one end, European paintings on the other, a huge Great Hall in the middle. Picking a direction beats wandering.
| If you love | Start here | Then |
|---|
| Ancient history | Egyptian Wing + Temple of Dendur | Greek & Roman → Near East |
| Paintings | European Paintings (2nd floor) | American Wing → Modern |
| Design | Arms & Armor | Musical Instruments → Costume Institute |
| Asia | Asian Art Wing (2nd floor) | Arts of Africa/Oceania/Americas |
| Medieval | Medieval Hall (1st floor) | Then head to Cloisters uptown |
The Met uses "donate" language at ticket counters that confuses tourists. Staff will not volunteer that out-of-state visitors must pay $30 — the sign on the desk is the source of truth.
The Met Cloisters Uptown
Often overlooked. The Cloisters is a purpose-built 1938 museum assembled from five actual French and Spanish medieval monasteries, relocated stone by stone to Fort Tryon Park at the northern tip of Manhattan.
- Location: 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, 30-40 minutes by A train from Midtown (stop at 190th St).
- Highlights: the seven Unicorn Tapestries, the Merode Altarpiece, three cloister gardens.
- Time needed: 90 minutes plus 20 minutes in the park.
- Crowds: consistently light even on weekends.
- Combine with: Dyckman Farmhouse (18th-century Dutch colonial home nearby) and New Leaf Restaurant in the park.
- Met audio guide: $7 on-site device, or free via the Bloomberg Connects app (download before visiting — WiFi is patchy).
- Highlights tour (free, 1 hour): meets daily at 11:30am and 1:30pm in the Great Hall.
- GetYourGuide & Viator tours: $60-90 for 2.5-hour expert-led tours, entry ticket included. Worth it for first-timers who want curation.
- Great Hall Balcony Bar: open Friday-Saturday evenings, cocktails $18-22 above the entrance lobby.
- The Dining Room (members only) / Cafeteria (public): the cafeteria is cheap and forgettable; eat before or after at nearby Upper East Side cafés.
The Met does not require timed entry for general admission, but special exhibitions (e.g., the Costume Institute show) sell out 4-8 weeks in advance on busy weekends.