The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Five thousand years of art, from an Egyptian temple to Van Gogh, beside Central Park.
Photo: Hugo Schneider · CC BY-SA 2.0
Metropolitan Museum of Art guide: tickets and pay-what-you-wish rules, the Temple of Dendur, the European paintings, arms and armor, the roof garden, the Met Cloisters and how to plan your visit.
What to expect
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, simply called the Met, is the largest art museum in the United States. Its main building on Fifth Avenue holds art from about 5,000 years of history, from ancient Egypt and Greece to Asia, Africa and the Americas, medieval armor and modern painting.
Highlights are spread across a vast floor plan: the Temple of Dendur, a real Egyptian temple from around 15 BC in a glass-walled hall; the European paintings galleries with works by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh; and the arms and armor court with mounted knights. In the warmer months, the roof garden looks out over Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.
The second location, the Met Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan, is built from parts of medieval European monasteries and houses the famous Unicorn Tapestries. A ticket covers both buildings on the same day.
Metropolitan Museum: top things to do
- 1The Temple of Dendur
- 2Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh in the European paintings galleries
- 3The arms and armor collection
- 4The Met Cloisters and the Unicorn Tapestries
Metropolitan Museum: best time to visit
All year; weekday mornings and the late openings on Friday and Saturday evenings are the least crowded.
Insider tips
- Buy tickets online; pay-what-you-wish admission is only for New York State residents and for students in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
- Choose two or three collections before you go: seeing everything in one day is impossible.
- Use the same ticket for the Met Cloisters on the same day.
Fees, passes and parking
| What | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult admission | $30 per person |
- Federal park passes such as America the Beautiful are not valid here.
- Pay-what-you-wish is only for New York State residents and students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; children under 12 enter free. The ticket includes the Met Cloisters on the same day.
Checked Oct 28, 2026. Official prices
Gas and fast charging nearby
848 gas stations within 20 km
- 1.6 km Shell open 24 hours
- 1.7 km Shell open 24 hours
- 2.0 km Mobil open 24 hours
- 2.2 km Mobil
- 3.0 km Mobil open 24 hours
- 3.1 km Citgo
- 1.5 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Supercharger)
- 3.0 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Supercharger)
- 3.4 km Gravity Charging Center Fast chargers (Gravity Mobility)
- 3.9 km EVgo Fast chargers (EVgo)
OpenStreetMap data, Oct 28, 2026.
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