How do you get into MoMA without the line?
The Museum of Modern Art sits on West 53rd Street in Midtown, six floors of paintings, sculpture, and photography built around a sculpture garden. This guide breaks down the two ways to get in, what each one actually gets you, and how to spend two or three hours once you're inside.
About This Experience
11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan.
Take the E or M train to Fifth Avenue/53 St, or the B, D, F, or M to 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Center. It's a short walk from Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
Open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays until 7:00 p.m. Closed on Thanksgiving and December 25.
General admission runs $30 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $17 for students; visitors under 16 get in free. MoMA is free every Friday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., which draws a bigger crowd than usual.
Six floors of modern and contemporary art with a sculpture garden at the center of the building.
Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Monet's Water Lilies, Dali's The Persistence of Memory, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
Check Live Availability & Prices
See open time slots for the skip-the-line ticket and lock in your date before the museum's weekend rush fills up.
Which MoMA Ticket to Pick
The $30 skip-the-line ticket costs exactly what you'd pay at the door, but it walks you past the entrance queue, which is a real wait on weekends and holiday weeks. You pick a timed entry slot, show up, and you're inside within minutes rather than standing on West 53rd Street. It covers all six floors and the sculpture garden, and it's the right call for most visitors who just want in without the wait.
The $112 before-hours tour is a genuine splurge, and it earns that price on a busy weekend. You're in the galleries with an art expert before the public is let in, which means the room in front of The Starry Night is actually a room and not a scrum of phones. If your visit is a special occasion, or you simply can't stand crowds pressed against the same three paintings everyone came to see, this is the ticket.
Free Friday evenings from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. will save you the $30, but you're trading that saving for the biggest crowds of the week, so it's not really a shortcut. For a first stop before you decide, the museums in New York guide breaks down how MoMA compares with the Met, the Whitney, and the Frick if you're planning more than one stop on your trip.
MoMA Tickets and Tours
Two ways to see MoMA, from a straightforward skip-the-line entry to a quiet before-hours visit with an expert guide.
from $30Popular MoMA Skip-the-Line Ticket
- Starry Night in person
- Skip the entrance line
- Midtown, near Rockefeller
from $112 MoMA Before-Hours Expert Tour
- Empty galleries
- Art expert guide
- Before public opening
What You'll See
The Starry Night lives on the fifth floor, and most people find it smaller in person than the posters suggest, which doesn't make it any less worth the trip. The same floor holds Monet's sprawling Water Lilies panels and Dali's The Persistence of Memory, close enough together that you can cover all three in under an hour if you're not lingering.
Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans sit on other floors, so plan on covering some ground rather than one packed room. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the center of the building is a good place to sit down between galleries, especially if you're doing the full six floors in one visit.
How a Visit Flows
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Arrival
Enter on West 53rd Street
Show your timed ticket and head to the fifth floor first if you want the crowd-heavy galleries before they fill up.
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First hour
The Starry Night and Water Lilies
Cover the fifth-floor highlights, including Van Gogh, Monet, and Dali, while the museum is still relatively quiet.
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Second hour
Work down through the floors
Move through the other levels for Picasso, Warhol, and the photography and design collections at your own pace.
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Midway
The sculpture garden
Step outside to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden for a break between galleries.
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Final stretch
Ground floor and gift shop
Finish on the ground floor, where the museum store and cafe sit near the main entrance.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Visitors expecting a quick 30-minute stop; six floors take real time
- Anyone hoping to avoid crowds on a free Friday evening
- Strollers during the busiest weekend hours, when galleries get tight
What to bring
- A valid photo ID to match your ticket
- Comfortable shoes for six floors of walking
- A phone or printed confirmation for entry
- A light layer, since gallery air conditioning runs cool
Not allowed
- Large bags and backpacks beyond a small personal size
- Flash photography and tripods in the galleries
- Food and drink outside the designated cafe areas
Insider Tips
A few small habits make the difference between a rushed visit and an easy one.
- Start on the fifth floor for The Starry Night before the mid-morning crowd arrives
- Skip Friday evenings unless the free admission matters more to you than elbow room
- MoMA is open every day of the week, unlike the Whitney and the Frick, which close on Tuesdays
- Book the before-hours tour if a busy weekend is your only option
- Give yourself two to three hours to see the collection without feeling rushed
- MoMA PS1 in Queens is a separate contemporary-art affiliate, not part of this building
Where You're Headed
MoMA Tickets FAQ
How much are MoMA tickets?
General admission is $30 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $17 for students. Visitors under 16 get in free, and the museum is free to everyone on Friday evenings from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
What are MoMA's opening hours?
MoMA is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with extended hours until 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Is MoMA closed on any day of the week?
No. MoMA is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and December 25, unlike the Whitney and the Frick, which close on Tuesdays.
How do you get to MoMA by subway?
Take the E or M train to Fifth Avenue/53 St, or the B, D, F, or M to 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Center. It's a short walk from Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
What can you see at MoMA?
The collection spans six floors and includes Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Monet's Water Lilies, Dali's The Persistence of Memory, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
Do you need to book MoMA tickets ahead of time?
It's worth booking a timed slot in advance, especially on weekends, when the entrance line for walk-up visitors runs long.
Is the before-hours tour worth the extra cost?
If you're visiting on a weekend or want the galleries without a crowd around the major paintings, the $112 before-hours tour with an art expert is worth the difference over the $30 general ticket.
Is MoMA PS1 the same as MoMA?
No. MoMA PS1 in Queens is a separate contemporary-art affiliate and is not part of the West 53rd Street building.
What Visitors Say
We booked the skip-the-line ticket and walked straight past a queue that wrapped the block. Worth it just for that on a Saturday.
The before-hours tour was the best money we spent in New York. Standing in front of Starry Night with almost no one else in the room was something else.
Good collection but six floors is more than we expected. Glad we planned three hours instead of one.