New York Metropolis is the place to go to for a museum vacation within the US. It’s no secret that town is filled with historical past and tradition. And this cultured atmosphere makes it extremely well-suited to museums because of all of the subjects and tales it could cowl. Its vary of museums are a few of the metropolis’s most superior issues to do.
New York has every part from a Jewish Museum to the Tenement Museum and New York Transit Museum. New York Metropolis is iconic, and its museum scene is simply too. So, earlier than you get any additional, our first recommendation is to dedicate as a lot time as attainable to seeing one of the best museums in NYC.
High Museums in NYC
You might need a love for modern artists. It’s possible you’ll need to glimpse New York’s maritime historical past or a time machine-like transportation again to the Center Ages. On this information, we’ll provide the lowdown on the place to go to to get your museum repair. These high 18 museums are one of the best in New York Metropolis.
Planning Your Journey To NYC Proper Now?
Beneath are a few of the high excursions in NYC. Don’t overlook to plan forward when visiting New York Metropolis!
High Museum Tickets And Excursions in NYC:
1. 9/11 Memorial & Museum
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is essentially the most well-known of all of the museums in New York and, arguably, essentially the most somber too. The museum stands subsequent to the place the Twin Towers fell, with two huge swimming pools marking their foundations. Undoubtedly, the 2001 (and earlier 1993) terrorist assault is one in all historical past’s most catastrophic occasions. The complicated story is already acquainted to many. After the hijacking of two planes in a nationwide assault, the Twin Towers of the World Commerce Heart have been focused in a terrorist assault.
Flying the planes immediately via the towers, the 2001 attackers brought on an estimated dying toll of two,977 folks. An enormous group of firefighters, paramedics, and workplace staff misplaced their lives, and mid-way via the rescue proceedings, the towers tragically collapsed, inflicting unprecedented additional lack of life.
The museum is a harrowing however lovely ode to the people who misplaced their lives and survived the ordeal. Some extremely impactful accounts of the tragedy embody Michael Hingson, who was led from the tower and saved by his information canine, Roselle. It additionally covers the opposite assaults orchestrated throughout the US on the identical day. United Flight 93 famously crashed in a area in Pennsylvania after passengers sabotaged the hijacker’s efforts – saving the lives of these within the proposed goal space of Washington, DC.
Stroll amongst the reveals and permit not less than 3 hours to course of and totally discover the museum. There’s such nice consideration to element, so count on a number of little reveals, particular person tales, and a few movies.
2. Metropolitan Museum of Artwork
- Opening instances: Closed Wednesdays, open 10 am till 5 pm Sunday to Thursday, and 10 am till 9 pm Fridays and Saturdays
- Value: $30. Get Your Tickets Right here.
Prepare for a giant assertion; the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork is a giant deal. It’s one of many grandest artwork galleries on this planet – of all of the artwork museums in New York, the Metropolitan Museum is essentially the most revered. To be trustworthy, its mixture of historical fashionable, and modern artwork is astounding. The museum covers over 5,000 years of art work and artwork historical past. You’ll discover every part from outdated grasp work to Egyptian statues. ‘The Met,’ as it’s affectionally referred to as by native New Yorkers, is the biggest artwork museum within the metropolis and the third largest museum.
Alongside its substantial everlasting assortment, the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork has a variety of non permanent reveals. These embody reveals just like the fabulous Van Gogh’s Cypresses and the African Origin of Civilization. The Met is someplace you’ll be able to go to to browse extra typically or look forward and choose non permanent reveals to deal with as particular occasions. This makes the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork extraordinarily thrilling for severe artists. Whereas for individuals who aren’t typical artwork fanatics, it may be useful to cherry-pick what to see.
3. American Museum of Pure Historical past
- Opening instances: 10 am till 5:30 pm
- Value: Prompt $25.
Each main metropolis has a museum devoted to the pure world. And the American Museum of Pure Historical past is a museum positioned in New York Metropolis devoted to doing exactly that. The museum options every part from dinosaurs to area historical past. If you need a full time out, it’s the good resolution.
Simply to stroll the reveals takes round 3 hours. However then the museum has particular reveals and exhibitions, every taking upwards of an hour. And there’s a present store on the finish. It’s greatest to go to with the restriction of a time restrict looming over your head, so go away a day for this museum. The American Museum of Pure Historical past hit the bottom working in 1869 and has continued accumulating reveals and the most recent analysis data since. David Attenborough can be proud; let’s simply put it that approach.
The American Museum of Pure Historical past is a part of the Smithsonian Museums’ establishment. It’s conveniently positioned simply off of Central Park. It is a wonderful museum to mix with an early morning Central Park stroll.
4. Intrepid Sea, Air & House Museum
Intrepid Sea, Air & House Museum is without doubt one of the most fun museums in New York Metropolis. The museum covers three main subjects: sea, air, and area. So naturally, it options well-known reveals from every three, together with an plane service referred to as Intrepid and an area shuttle referred to as Enterprise. It gives an actual ‘present and inform’ strategy to sea, air, and area training. And younger youngsters particularly will discover this thrilling strategy extra partaking.
You possibly can see an actual submarine and study the way it observes ocean life and performs a army position as a missile submarine. And you’ll stand up near the world’s quickest jets.
This museum is fascinating, and that is the one museum prefer it in New York Metropolis. Closely military-focused but in addition only a nice common perception into sea, air, and area historical past, Intrepid Sea, Air & House Museum is a superb go to.
5. Ellis Island Nationwide Museum
- Opening instances: 9:45 am till 4:45 pm
- Value: $25
It’s no secret; Ellis Island Nationwide Museum is one in all New York Metropolis’s most well-known museums and for wonderful cause. Discover the Statue of Liberty and also you received’t be removed from Ellis Island. Ellis Island Nationwide Museum is within the Higher Bay area of the Hudson River. The museum was as soon as the primary port of name for immigrants arriving in New York and was a former processing station. These days, you’ll be able to retread these footsteps. Passenger data and artifacts offer you a transparent perception into the people and their lives earlier than stepping onto New York soil and beginning afresh.
Extremely individual-focused and a very good museum for social historical past, Ellis Island Nationwide Museum is without doubt one of the greatest museums in NYC. We’d additionally suggest visiting as a technique to go by the Statue of Liberty totally free, and it is without doubt one of the greatest points of interest to mix with admiring Girl Liberty herself.
6. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- Opening instances: 11 am till 6 pm Sunday to Monday, 11 am till 8 pm on Saturdays
- Value: $25. Get your Tickets Right here.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a haven for modern artists. The huge assortment can be displayed in one of many metropolis’s most lovely exhibition areas – making Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum among the best museums in NYC for an aesthetic inside. The well-known ramp structure is rife on social media, particularly Instagram. And the brilliant white museum spirals up from the ground to the skylight in a ramp across the exterior wall, leaving a dizzying drop within the center. The structure is classy. And it completely suits the post-impressionist, impressionist, modernist, and modern artwork it showcases.
Visiting Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is non-negotiable if you’re after iconic and various structure in New York Metropolis. As an artwork gallery, it additionally suits an ideal area of interest extra anybody wanting modern and impressionist art work. It undoubtedly ticks a extremely sought-after field, and it appears beautiful whereas doing it.
7. Brooklyn Museum
- Opening instances: 11 am till 6 pm Wednesday to Sunday
- Value: $16 common admission, $25 ticketed exhibition, and free entry on the primary Saturdays of the month between February and August
Brooklyn Museum is undoubtedly one of many greatest issues to do in Brooklyn. The imposing Beaux Artwork landmark is the second-largest museum within the metropolis and is an attraction simply due to its structure. Its reveals are simply as spectacular, although, and Brooklyn Museum comprises a rotating exhibition of round 500,000 objects.
The museum makes a speciality of world cultures and confronting colonial legacies. So, after all, you’ll see art work from all around the world, together with African artwork and Egyptian treasures. There’s a large vary in art work durations, too, with reveals from the period of Egyptian pharaohs but additionally fashionable artwork items on subjects like environmental justice.
Brooklyn Museum is without doubt one of the hottest museums in New York. The combination of a considerable everlasting assortment and the fixed refreshing of non permanent exhibitions make Brooklyn Museum an thrilling spot to go to. And if you wish to see a museum that challenges you and your worldview, that is the artwork gallery to take action.
8. New York Transit Museum
- Opening instances: 10 am till 4 pm Thursday to Sunday
- Value: $10
New York Transit Museum is suitably positioned in a 1936 subway station, so that you enter by heading down steps from road degree. The museum options many immersive reveals, together with classic subway vehicles you’ll be able to sit on. Transit historical past is (admittedly) fairly a distinct segment topic of curiosity. However you don’t want a large curiosity in New York’s transit historical past to get pleasure from this museum, because of its immersive design and structure. NYC historical past has by no means been extra aesthetic, and the recreated classic transit scenes are a profitable contact.
The New York Transit Museum is right for a half-day exercise. It solely actually requires two hours or so, so it’s straightforward to squeeze into what is going to undoubtedly be a busy New York itinerary. The subway system is essentially the most prized and influential achievement in New York’s engineering historical past. This makes it one of the vital vital issues to study and have fun when visiting – particularly as you’ll possible be catching a number of subways to get round.
9. Rubin Museum of Artwork
- Opening instances: 11 am till 5 pm from Thursday to Sunday, with 11 am till 10 pm on Fridays.
- Value: $20
Rubin Museum of Artwork is far more area of interest than the opposite giant artwork galleries in New York Metropolis. The museum has an intensive assortment of art work from Himalayan Asia, together with reveals from Tibet and Bhutan. The exhibition area comprises every part from work to statues – famend for its various strategy to showcasing artwork. Rubin Museum of Artwork is an exquisite ode to Himalayan Asia’s creative historical past.
It’s price looking ahead to the packages and occasions that the Rubin Museum of Artwork additionally runs. Previously, this has included mindfulness and meditation lessons. And there are many Buddhist-angled exhibitions to study extra in regards to the practices driving Himalayan art work. Preserve a two-hour block in your schedule for this museum.
10. Tenement Museum
- Opening instances: 10 am till 6 pm
- Value: $30
Tenement Museum is an exquisite idea of a museum on the Decrease East Facet. The museum captures the tales of working-class historical past via a sequence of Nineteenth-century to Twentieth-century recreated tenement residences. Tenement Museum is people-focused, uncooked, and genuine.
The 1863-built constructing is stuffed with character and, when you like social historical past, is well one of many high museums in New York Metropolis. Stepping from tenement to tenement is outstanding. And the museum has accomplished a superb job of expressing every household’s distinct character and story in every condominium. Every exhibition area has a singular character – reminiscent of Mrs. Wang from China and Natalie from Prussia.
Other than its reveals, Tenement Museum has digital and precise strolling excursions all through the Decrease East Facet. This can be a distinctive contact amongst the museums in New York, and you’ll escape from the confinements of museum partitions and see historical past in the neighborhood.
11. Whitney Museum of American Artwork
Whitney Museum of American Artwork is without doubt one of the hottest New York Metropolis museums. We aren’t exaggerating once we say that New York Metropolis is 90% artwork galleries. Nonetheless, the Whitney Museum actually stands out inside its area of interest. Whitney Museum solely options American art work relatively than historical art work from completely different international locations.
You’ll solely discover artwork from the Twentieth century and the twenty first century. In actual fact, the Whitney Museum is so fashionable that the majority of its artists are nonetheless dwelling. Most artwork museums in New York take a posthumous take a look at artists and their work, a defining marker of individuality.
The museum is in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, an space you’ll possible spend sightseeing in any approach. The combination of everlasting and rotating exhibitions can be good, as there may be all the time one thing contemporary to see and the everlasting reveals. The Whitney Museum appears company and weird from the skin, with an oddly-designed stacking structure. It isn’t removed from the Museum of Illusions (not featured on this information however a notable point out) and Carrie Bradshaw’s Condominium. So visiting is sensible.
12. Jewish Museum
- Opening instances: 11 am till 8 pm on Thursdays, 11 am till 6 pm Friday to Monday
- Value: $18 however free on Saturdays
The Jewish Museum is without doubt one of the greatest museums in New York Metropolis if you would like an expertise fully devoted to Jewish tradition. This area of interest museum maintains an exquisite documentation of Jewish historical past and traditions. You’ll discover reveals on conventional marriage contracts and choose Jewish experiences just like the Holocaust via the eyes of artists – as an example, housing art work on Anne Frank and blended media sculptures.
In contrast to the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Jewish Museum has an actual artwork focus. The historical past, neighborhood, and particular person sentiments are channeled creatively to create a chic assortment of art work that represents lived expertise.
Whereas each the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Jewish Museum are wonderful museums in New York to go to. We really feel just like the Jewish Museum is essentially the most wrongly missed. The artistic lens it makes use of to doc the Jewish expertise all through historical past is far more summary. The Museum of Jewish Heritage is extra fact-based, with over 40,000 artifacts devoted to memorializing the Holocaust.
13. American Folks Artwork Museum
- Opening instances: 11:30 am till 6 pm
- Value: Free
Prepared for a healthful perception into American artwork historical past and past? This can be a museum devoted to self-taught artists and American folks artwork. Overlook your run-of-the-mill fashionable artwork and modern American artwork; these highly effective items could be something from watercolors to tapestries. The American Folks Artwork Museum is deliberately candid and goals to highlight real, uncooked creative processes. This can be a area of interest of an artwork gallery that ticks a specific field. And when you fancy a extra ‘natural’ artwork expertise in New York Metropolis, that is your prime contender.
The American Folks Artwork Museum is free to enter (and ‘all the time will probably be’). It’s a profound, non-stuffy perception into an on a regular basis relationship with artwork. And a wonderful celebration of self-taught and folk-style items.
14. Museum of Broadway
- Opening instances: 9:30 am till 18:30 pm from Sunday to Friday and 9:30 am till 8 pm on Saturdays
- Value: $25. Get Your Tickets right here.
The Museum of Broadway is an experiential darling on the New York museum entrance. The museum covers every part Broadway associated, from previous to current and future. You stroll from room to room, gazing at costumes, listening to throwback music and Broadway backing tracks, and studying written exhibit after exhibit. The exhibited Broadway reveals vary from The Lion King to West Facet Story and every part in between.
For anybody with a ardour for theater, the Museum of Broadway is a dream. It presents a passionate and thorough perception into New York’s most famed performances, and also you’ll completely adore it.
15. Morgan Library & Museum
- Opening instances: 11 am to five pm Wednesday to Sunday
- Value: $22
Bibliophiles alert; welcome to Morgan Library & Museum, among the best museums in NYC. Morgan Library is beautiful, with walnut bookshelves and whole extravagance all through the premises. Wandering its studying rooms and reveals is without doubt one of the most serene methods to spend a number of hours in New York.
It isn’t simply its books that make Morgan Library so particular both. The museum has that ‘outdated cash’ attraction and, fairly frankly, looks like moving into a movie set. Its grandeur is so intense that many individuals liken coming into Morgan Library to a Harry Potter scene. Regardless of its comparatively small dimension, it is without doubt one of the grandest locations within the metropolis and carries some severe oopmh. We predict (in addition to a lot of the metropolis’s inhabitants) that it’s essentially the most lovely library in New York Metropolis – so get it in your itinerary, bibliophile or not.
16. New York Historic Society
- Opening instances: 9am till 5 pm Monday to Friday
- Value: $22
New York Historic Society is without doubt one of the most wonderful museums New York has to supply from a historic perspective. The museum extensively paperwork American historical past. And New York Historic Society boasts a proper museum with reveals, a analysis middle, and a library open to guests.
It was based approach again in 1804 and, momentously, is New York’s very first museum.Once we speak about beginning initially, the New York Historic Society is the definition of it. If you’re even barely traditionally inclined, this museum will probably be up your road. The New York Historic Society is an exquisite place to understand tons of archives – every representing 1000’s upon 1000’s of hours of devoted analysis into American historical past.
The New York Historic Society is positioned in Higher West Manhattan, simply exterior the boundaries of Central Park. The 400 years of historical past is brilliantly mixed with a stroll in Central Park, the place you’ll be able to course of all of the information you’ve simply obtained and loosen up amongst nature and one of the best mountain climbing trails.
17. New Museum
- Opening instances: Closed Mondays, 11 am till 6 pm Friday till Wednesday, and 11 am till 9 pm on Thursdays
- Value: $20
New Museum will not be, in reality, only a new museum. The museum is a shocking modern artwork gallery and additional proof that New York is heaven for the artwork obsessed. The brilliant white constructing is designed like higgledy-piggledy constructing blocks, oddly stacked on one another with overlaps in random locations.
The overall consensus is that one of the best plan of assault is to discover the three ranges of reveals first, head to the cafe after, after which benefit from the roof terrace views. New Museum is suited to artwork fanatics and is a pleasant place to hang around. It has a lowkey vibe that makes it one of the vital relaxed museums in New York to go to.
18. The Skyscraper Museum
- Opening instances: 12 pm till 6 pm Wednesday to Saturday
- Value: Free timed entry
The Skyscraper Museum is without doubt one of the solely of its sort worldwide. The museum is fully centered on the historical past of the skyscraper, particularly concentrating on documenting New York’s journey to changing into the ‘world’s at the beginning vertical metropolis.’ As of 2023, admission is free till the top of the 12 months, though this might change after this level -s o get your go to in ASAP. It’s a good technique to familiarize your self with New York’s well-known skyline and a very good area of interest focus for a museum.
The Skyscraper Museum is within the lovely Battery Park in Decrease Manhattan, the place you’ll be able to take ferries previous the Statue of Liberty. This attraction is most undoubtedly already in your listing. So take into account combining the 2 and benefiting from the free 2023 entry. Whether or not you get pleasure from structure or not, it’s a enjoyable, budget-friendly technique to get a style and perception into the skyscrapers that make New York iconic.
To Conclude
These greatest museums in NYC ought to maintain you ticking over for not less than 4 days or so. New York Metropolis is a metropolis of museums. You most undoubtedly don’t need to skip over exhibitions throughout your keep. And with extra information on New York, you’ll be empowered to attach with town on a deeper degree. By way of its museum scene, you mainly get to know precisely what makes New York tick. And who wouldn’t need to join extra deeply with the one-and-only New York Metropolis?
Whether or not you go to the Smithsonian museums or the Morgan Library, these greatest museums will maintain you entertained and problem and stimulate you mentally. In search of extra adventures on your keep in New York Metropolis? Right here is our final five-day itinerary. Don’t overlook our information on the place to remain, which features a rundown of one of the best neighborhoods relying in your New York itinerary.