Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met and Cloisters museums are world renowned for their vast collection of medieval art

Entrance and Facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Entrance and Facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art cc licensed photo by mbarrison

Nestled on eastern edge of Central Park, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the most visited sites along New York City's Museum Mile. Known to locals as "The Met", the museum was founded in 1870 by a group of wealthy financiers and artists as an educational institution to cultivate art appreciation. The halls of The Met contain over two million works of art representing cultures spanning the globe from the Stone Age to modern day.

Visitors to The Met could spend weeks exploring the vast collections housed in the museum's 250 rooms. To get the most out of your visit, plan to visit the special exhibitions and more popular collections (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, 19th Century European paintings) early and visit other areas during peak hours. Various tours and lectures in a variety of foreign languages are given free of cost.

Part of the collection of medieval art and architecture is housed at The Met Cloister Museum in Upper Manhattan. Located at 99 Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tryon Park, overlooking the Hudson River, The Cloisters has been constructed from sections of medieval French monasteries and houses approximately 3,000 works of European art dating from the third to ninth century. Be sure to take time to wander the beautiful gardens after a coffee or light lunch at Trie Cloisters or posh New Leaf Cafe.

In the Main Building, there are several eateries ranging from moderate to expensive within the museum. During the summer months, The Met opens its Roof Garden Cafe, offering al fresco dining with panoramic views of the New York City skyline. During extended hours on Friday and Saturday, the Met offers a quintessential New York experience with a string quartet above the Great Hall. Cocktails and appetizers are available by candlelight at the Balcony Bar or enjoy the summer night sky at the rooftop martini bar.

Facts For Your Visit

Fee: Yes. See the official website for details.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Hours:
Opening hours may differ on holidays

  • Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • Wednesday: Closed
  • Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • Friday: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
  • Saturday: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
  • Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Address: 1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028, USA

Phone: (212) 535-7710

Official Website: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art Reviews

Rated 4.8 out of 5 Star Rating

5 Star Rating Crazy expansive and quite the hiking trail if you intend to view every nook and cranny of the museum. We managed a visit to maybe 75% of the rooms and only read the most interesting information plaques. This itself took three hours. Another visit will be necessary. The Met will cater to whatever art interest you have but we particularly loved the period/architecture room displays. Plus it is likely undefeated for statues if you find yourself looking for that.
Keaton Ambridge - a week ago

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5 Star Rating You are able to buy tickets online. There was a long line to purchase tickets when we arrived on a Thursday. It's a pretty easy process to buy tickets online. The museum is huge. You would need a few whole days to take everything in. There is a food court and clean restrooms. My favorite part was arms and armor. Greek and Roman section was also awesome.
Surge - a week ago

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5 Star Rating Great place to visit, now they do sell tickets online for NYC residents; this place is huge and has so many historical concepts. It is much better to learn history from this museum than having any classes in high school. But anyway, do not hesitate to visit this place, you will enjoy it! P.S. They even work on public holidays, which was super cool!
sabrisha - a week ago

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4 Star Rating We went as a group of traveling retired people and the Met is always a lot to see. The building itself is magnificent, its contents worth the challenge of finding your way around. All the docents were helpful and much needed. We were escorted in due to a few mobility issues and were very grateful. We spent three hours and saw the masters, instruments and that took two hours. Finding a bathroom needs a guide but there are some. We grabbed some lunch in their eatery which doesn’t have many gluten free options and was also tricky to find and was pricey.
Laurie Mitchell - in the last week

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5 Star Rating The Met was gorgeous and large. My suggestion is looking on their website. They have an area you can search their galleries and collections to see what you’d want to look at and make a list. I printed a map off at home and marked the galleries I wanted to go to. It helped us weave around to find exactly what we wanted to see. You can spend 1 hour to 3 days here. It just depends on what you wanna see. They have an accessible entrance on 81st street with wheelchairs free of charge (in limited supply) if you need. If you’re a little larger, they do have an extra wide wheelchair and a “regular sized” one. Although in my opinion, the “extra wide” one was more like the regular sized wheelchair and the “regular” one was for super thin people. A very beautiful collection you should see! You could visit it 10 times and still not see everything! Also, if you see the cloisters the same day, you get free admission to this Met collection. Just keep your sticker on from the Cloisters. I think it works the other way too.
Megan Johnson - a week ago

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Directions

Subway and Bus Line Nearest Station Walking Time
4,5,686th Street10 minutes
1 / M8686th Street5 minutes
C / M7981st Street2 minutes
A (To the Cloister Museum and Garden)190th Street10 minutes

How to get to Metropolitan Museum of Art by Subway and Bus

Take the 4, 5, or 6 train to 86th Street and walk three blocks west to 5th Avenue. Alternatively, take the 1 train to 86th Street, then the M86 cross-town bus to 5th Avenue or take the C train to 81st Street, then the M79 bus to 5th Ave.

To get to the Cloisters Museum and Garden, ride the A train to 190th Street and exit via the elevator. Walk north on Margaret Corbin Drive .

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