Museums in New York: Site Facts, Sources & AI Summary

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most famous museum in New York and the largest in the United States, holding two million works from Egyptian temples to modern painting on Fifth Avenue. The Museum of Modern Art runs a close second for its unmatched collection of modern masters, and the American Museum of Natural History is the most famous with families.

The best museums in New York, for most visitors, are the Met, MoMA and the American Museum of Natural History for the collections, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for its emotional power, and the Guggenheim for its architecture. See our top 10 for the full ranking and our glance table to compare them side by side.

The best art museums in New York are the Met and MoMA, and nothing else is quite in their league. After them, the Guggenheim for modern art and architecture, the Frick for Old Masters, and the Whitney for American art. If you have time for only two art museums in New York, make them the Met and MoMA.

New York City has somewhere between 80 and 100 museums, depending on how you count the smaller and specialist collections. They range from giants like the Met and the Natural History Museum to single-room museums devoted to skyscrapers, math, sex and ice cream. This guide covers the ones most visitors actually want to see.

The Met is pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents, and the Natural History Museum for tri-state residents. Several open free for a few hours weekly — MoMA on Friday evenings, the Whitney on Friday evenings and second Sundays, the Guggenheim on Saturday evenings. The National Museum of the American Indian is free year-round.

See our free museums section.

Yes — unlike most European cities, the major museums in New York open every day, including Mondays. The Met, MoMA, the Guggenheim and the Natural History Museum all keep daily hours. The exceptions close on Tuesdays instead: the Whitney, the Frick and the 9/11 Museum.

See our hours table for the details.

It depends how fast you move. The New York CityPASS saves up to 40% if you will visit its five attractions, and the New York Pass pays off only if you pack four or more stops into each day. For a relaxed trip to two or three museums, skip the pass and just book the tickets.

See our full pass comparison.

The American Museum of Natural History is the classic family choice, with dinosaurs, the blue whale and a planetarium. The Intrepid — a real aircraft carrier with a space shuttle on deck — is a close second, and the Museum of Ice Cream and the Hall of Science are reliable wins with younger children.

For the timed attractions, yes. The 9/11 Museum, the observation decks like SUMMIT and the Statue of Liberty ferry all sell out their best slots days ahead in summer, and crown access at the statue sells out weeks ahead. The art museums you can usually walk into, though booking the Met or MoMA skip-the-line ticket still saves the entrance queue.

Yes — there are two Smithsonian museums in New York. Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian's design museum, sits in Andrew Carnegie's mansion on Museum Mile, and the National Museum of the American Indian occupies the old Custom House near Battery Park and is free to enter. See our more museums section.