MuseumClosed Wednesday

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

#10of 10 places to visit in New York CityNew York City, New York State, United States

Also known as Met Fifth Avenue

Quick answer

Opening hours: 10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00, Friday 10:00–21:00; Saturday 10:00–21:00, closed Wednesdays. Entry: $30. Allow 3 hrs. Best time: Opening at 10:00.

Updated 18 September 2026 · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 5 min read

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Photo: Hugo Schneider / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Opening hours: 10:00–21:00; Closed Wednesdays
Entry fee: $30; Ticket from
Time needed: 3 hrs
Best time of day: Opening at 10:00
Best months: Apr – May, Sep – Oct
Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds more than 1.5 million works spanning 5,000 years of human history across a Fifth Avenue building of roughly 200,000 square metres, making it one of the largest art museums in the world by gallery space. The museum's original 1880 Gothic Revival red-brick building, designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, sits fully enclosed within later Beaux-Arts expansions, most visibly the limestone Fifth Avenue facade and grand entrance hall completed in 1902 by Richard Morris Hunt. The Temple of Dendur, a complete Egyptian temple gifted by Egypt to the United States in 1965 after the Aswan High Dam threatened its original site, occupies its own glass-walled gallery wing overlooking Central Park, added in 1978.

Best time of day: Opening at 10:00. On a weekday, ideally Thursday. The museum's scale means even peak-hour crowding rarely feels as dense as smaller single-building museums, but the Egyptian wing and Temple of Dendur fill fastest by late morning.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art timings

Opening hours: 10:00–21:00; Mon–Tue 10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00
Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00
Sunday 10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00; Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday: 10:00-17:00; Friday-Saturday: 10:00-21:00
Closed on: Wednesday

Mon–Tue	10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00
Fri–Sat	10:00–21:00
Sunday	10:00–17:00 and 10:00–21:00

Good to know: Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, January 1, and the first Monday in May.

Opening hours compiled from metmuseum.org and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

The Metropolitan Museum of Art ticket price

Entry fees for The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ticket	Price
Standard ticket	$30
Concession (student / senior)	$22
Children	Free

Adults $30.00, seniors 65+ $22.00, students with ID $17.00, members and children under 12 free, as of 2026. New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students may pay-what-you-wish. Admission is valid the same day for both the Fifth Avenue building and The Met Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park. Verify current pricing at metmuseum.org before visiting.

Prices compiled from metmuseum.org and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Best time to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Quiet
Moderate
Very busy

10:00 - 11:30
Opening WindowBest time to go
Shortest lines at the Great Hall entrance; the Egyptian wing and Temple of Dendur are walkable without crowding for the first 60-90 minutes.
Quiet
11:30 - 15:00
Midday Peak
Heaviest crowds of the day, concentrated in the Egyptian galleries, European Paintings, and the Greek and Roman court; school groups add to density on weekdays.
Very busy
15:00 - 17:00
Afternoon
Crowds ease somewhat as tour groups depart; a reasonable window for the American Wing and Arms and Armor, which draw steadier but lighter traffic.
Moderate
17:00 - 21:00 (Fri-Sat)
Evening Hours
Friday and Saturday's extended hours see markedly thinner crowds than any daytime window, with the Great Hall and headline galleries far easier to move through.
Quiet

History of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A group of American businessmen, financiers, and artists founded the Met in 1870, explicitly modeling it on the great encyclopedic museums of Europe at a time when the United States had no comparable public art institution of national scale. The museum opened its doors that same year in a former dance academy on Fifth Avenue before moving through two temporary locations and finally to its current Central Park site in 1880, in a building deliberately positioned at the park's edge to be accessible to the broadest possible public.

The museum grew through a series of major gifts and acquisitions across the 20th century, including the 1913 J.P. Morgan bequest, which added tens of thousands of objects spanning decorative arts, sculpture, and paintings in a single transfer, and the 1978 Temple of Dendur installation, part of a broader wave of international 'gift temple' diplomacy following UNESCO's Nubian monuments rescue campaign. A landmark reinstallation of the British Galleries and a major Costume Institute wing were among the museum's most significant recent expansions, alongside ongoing renovations to its Modern and contemporary wing, still in progress as of 2026.

Rules & etiquette at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

General admission tickets are valid for the full day of purchase and provide same-day entry to both the Fifth Avenue building and The Met Cloisters, the museum's separate medieval-art branch in Fort Tryon Park - worth knowing before assuming a second ticket is needed. Photography without flash is permitted throughout the permanent collection; some temporary loan exhibitions restrict photography entirely, and gallery entrance signage specifies the rule.

Bags larger than a small daypack must be checked at the free coat check near the Great Hall; tripods, monopods, and selfie sticks are not permitted in the galleries. The museum's scale genuinely disorients first-time visitors - picking two or three wings in advance rather than attempting the whole building in one visit is the standard practical advice given even by museum staff at the information desks.

Tips for visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1
New York State residents and students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut may pay what they wish at the door with valid ID, a policy worth using proof-of-residency for if applicable, since it is not automatically offered. The rooftop garden, open seasonally (roughly April through October, weather permitting), gives one of the best unobstructed views over Central Park's tree canopy and is included with general admission, yet remains one of the least-visited spaces in the building relative to its ground-floor galleries.
2
Friday and Saturday evening hours (until 21:00) draw noticeably thinner crowds than the daytime rush and are the single best-kept scheduling secret for seeing the museum's headline galleries, including European Paintings and the Temple of Dendur, without competing for sightlines. Allow a minimum of three hours for a focused first visit; serious art travellers routinely return across multiple days rather than attempting the collection in one pass.

How to reach The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028Directions in Google Maps

From 86th Street subway station (4, 5, 6)
0.8 km · 10-12 min walk or M1 min/M2 min/M3 min/M4 min bus (5 min)
$2.90 subway or bus (OMNY/MetroCard)
From Grand Central Terminal
3.5 km · 15 min via M4 min bus up Madison Avenue, or 25-30 min walk
$2.90 bus (OMNY/MetroCard)
From LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
14 km · 45-60 min combined
$2.90 total (single OMNY/MetroCard fare covers the transfer)

Nearest airport

From LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

approximately 14 km, 30-45 minutes by road depending on traffic.

Nearest station

From 86th Street (subway line 4, 5, 6)

approximately 0.8 km, or a short bus ride via the M1/M2/M3/M4 up Fifth Avenue/Madison Avenue.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art FAQs

How much does the Met cost?

$30.00 for adults, $22.00 for seniors 65+, $17.00 for students with ID, and free for children under 12, as of 2026. New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students may pay what they wish at the door with valid ID.

What day is the Met closed?

Wednesdays, along with Thanksgiving Day, December 25, January 1, and the first Monday in May, as of 2026. It is open the remaining six days a week, including extended hours until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Does Met admission include The Cloisters?

Yes. A same-day general admission ticket to the Fifth Avenue building also grants entry to The Met Cloisters, the museum's medieval-art branch in Fort Tryon Park, without an additional charge.

How long do you need to visit the Met?

A minimum of three hours for a focused first visit covering two or three wings. The museum's full collection spans roughly 200,000 square metres, and most serious visitors return across multiple trips rather than attempting it all in one pass.

Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated 18 September 2026. How we rank and check places