Best New York Museums Beyond the Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the greatest museums on earth, and if you only have time for one, it's hard to argue against it. (We've even written a guide to seeing the Met's highlights in a morning.) But New York has more than 80 museums, and some of the most memorable visits happen elsewhere: in a spiral designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, beneath a life-size blue whale, or in a cramped Orchard Street apartment where immigrant families once lived.

Here's our pick of the museums that deserve a place on your itinerary, what makes each special and a few tips for visiting. Opening days, hours and ticket policies change, so always check each museum's website before you go.

The outside of the MoMA in New York City — The Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd Street

MoMA: the icons of modern art

Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown holds a collection that reads like a greatest-hits album of the last 150 years. This is where you'll find Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Dalí's melting clocks in The Persistence of Memory, Monet's Water Lilies and Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans.

A major expansion completed in 2019 added gallery space and mixes painting, design, photography and film more freely. Don't miss the sculpture garden, a calm courtyard in the heart of Midtown.

Tip: The Starry Night draws a crowd all day. Head there first thing, then explore at leisure.

The Guggenheim: the building is the masterpiece

Frank Lloyd Wright's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, on Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, looks like nothing else in the city: a white concrete spiral that seems to have landed among the Upper East Side's stately apartment buildings. It opened in 1959, a few months after Wright's death.

Inside, a single ramp winds upward around a skylit atrium, hosting changing exhibitions. The permanent collection is especially strong in early modern art, including works by Kandinsky, Picasso and the Impressionists.

Tip: many visitors take the elevator to the top and stroll down the ramp, letting gravity do the work. Check whether the current exhibition is designed to be seen in a particular direction.

American Museum of Natural History: dinosaurs, whales and the universe

Facing Central Park on the Upper West Side, the American Museum of Natural History is a delight for all ages, not just children. Highlights include:

The fossil halls on the fourth floor, home to a Tyrannosaurus rex and a titanosaur so long its head pokes out of the gallery.
The blue whale, a 94-foot model suspended above the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.
The dioramas of the Hall of North American Mammals and the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, masterpieces of painting and taxidermy.
The Rose Center for Earth and Space, with the Hayden Planetarium's giant sphere, and the Gilder Center, which opened in 2023 with its cave-like atrium, insectarium and butterfly vivarium.

Tip: the museum is enormous. Pick two or three halls and a planetarium show rather than trying to see everything. Admission policies differ for local residents and visitors, so check before you book.

Tenement Museum in NYC — The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side

The Tenement Museum: history at human scale

If the Met shows you the treasures of civilization, the Tenement Museum shows you how ordinary New Yorkers actually lived. At 97 Orchard Street, a tenement built in 1863, restored apartments recreate the homes of real immigrant and migrant families who lived there over the following decades. Thousands of people from more than 20 countries are thought to have called the building home.

Visits are by guided tour only, and each tour focuses on specific families and eras, from Irish and German immigrants to Italian, Jewish and Chinese Americans. Groups are small and tours often sell out, so book ahead.

Afterward, eat your way around the neighborhood with our guide to Chinatown, Little Italy and SoHo.

The Garden Court at The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection: old masters in a Gilded Age mansion

Industrialist Henry Clay Frick built his Fifth Avenue mansion in the 1910s to house his art collection, and it opened as a museum in the 1930s. After a major renovation, it reopened in 2025, with rooms on the upper floor open to visitors for the first time.

The Frick is intimate and unhurried, and the collection is superb: Vermeer, Rembrandt, Holbein, Titian, Goya and Fragonard, displayed in rooms that feel like a private home rather than a gallery. Save time to sit in the skylit Garden Court with its fountain.

Tip: the Frick has historically had age restrictions for young children, and timed tickets are recommended. Check the current policy before you go.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 1916, by Robert Henri — Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, painted by Robert Henri in 1916

The Whitney: American art with a view

Sculptor and heiress Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney founded the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1930 after the Met reportedly declined her collection. Today it occupies a Renzo Piano building in the Meatpacking District, opened in 2015, right at the southern end of the High Line.

The collection covers 20th- and 21st-century American art, with a particularly rich holding of Edward Hopper. The museum is also known for its Biennial, a survey of contemporary American art. Step out onto the outdoor terraces for views over the Hudson River and downtown.

Tip: combine the Whitney with a walk along the High Line. Our story of the High Line's rail history makes a good companion.

The Morgan Library & Museum in Madison Avenue NYC — The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Avenue

The Morgan Library & Museum: a banker's treasure house

Financier J. Pierpont Morgan built a private library on Madison Avenue in the early 1900s, designed by McKim, Mead & White, and it remains one of the most beautiful rooms in New York. The East Room's three tiers of walnut bookcases rise to a painted ceiling, and the collection includes medieval manuscripts, literary and musical manuscripts and Gutenberg Bibles. It's a perfect hour or two between Midtown sights.

The Intrepid Museum: an aircraft carrier on the Hudson

Moored at Pier 86 on the West Side, the Intrepid Museum is set aboard the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that served in World War II. The flight deck is lined with military aircraft, and the museum also displays the Space Shuttle Enterprise, a British Airways Concorde and a submarine you can walk through. It's a big hit with kids and anyone who loves engineering.

More museums worth your time

The Met Cloisters: the Met's medieval branch in Fort Tryon Park, in northern Manhattan, famous for the Unicorn Tapestries and its peaceful gardens.
Neue Galerie: a jewel box of early 20th-century Austrian and German art on Fifth Avenue, home to Gustav Klimt's golden portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
Cooper Hewitt: the Smithsonian's design museum, in Andrew Carnegie's former mansion.
Museum of the City of New York: the story of the city itself, at the northern end of Museum Mile.
Brooklyn Museum: one of the largest art museums in the country, with a celebrated Egyptian collection.

Museum planning at a glance

Best for first-timers: MoMA
Best for kids: Natural History or the Intrepid
Best building: The Guggenheim
Most intimate: The Frick or the Morgan
Book well ahead: Tenement Museum tours

Museum-going tips

Check opening days, since many museums close one or two days a week
Book timed-entry tickets online for popular museums and weekends
Ask about free or pay-what-you-wish times, which vary by museum
Arrive at opening to see the most famous works before the crowds
Limit yourself to one big museum per day to avoid burnout
Pair museums that are close together, like MoMA and the Morgan
Use the coat check so you can explore without bags

Still want to see the Met?

Of course you do. Our Metropolitan Museum of Art Highlights Tour takes you straight to the masterpieces with an expert guide, and The Met in Depth offers a longer, more immersive visit for real art lovers. Heading to the Whitney? Pair it with our Private High Line and Chelsea Walking Tour.

New York Experience is run by ExperienceFirst, a New York tour company founded in 2009.

New York museum FAQs

For most first-time visitors, MoMA is the top pick for its famous modern masterpieces. Families often prefer the American Museum of Natural History, and architecture lovers shouldn't miss the Guggenheim.

Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on West 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Yes, it's a good idea. Visits are by guided tour only, groups are small and popular tours often sell out.

Museum Mile is the stretch of Fifth Avenue along Central Park on the Upper East Side that's lined with museums, including the Met, the Guggenheim, the Neue Galerie, Cooper Hewitt and the Museum of the City of New York.

Some museums offer free or pay-what-you-wish admission at certain times or for local residents. Policies vary and change, so check each museum's website.

New York Museums Beyond the Met: MoMA, the Guggenheim, Natural History and More

MoMA: the icons of modern art

The Guggenheim: the building is the masterpiece

American Museum of Natural History: dinosaurs, whales and the universe

The Tenement Museum: history at human scale

The Frick Collection: old masters in a Gilded Age mansion

The Whitney: American art with a view

The Morgan Library & Museum: a banker's treasure house

The Intrepid Museum: an aircraft carrier on the Hudson

More museums worth your time

Museum planning at a glance

Museum-going tips

Still want to see the Met?

New York museum FAQs

Met Highlights Tour

The Met in Depth: A Guided Experience

Private High Line and Chelsea Walking Tour

SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown Walking Tour

New York Museums Beyond the Met: MoMA, the Guggenheim, Natural History and More

MoMA: the icons of modern art

The Guggenheim: the building is the masterpiece

American Museum of Natural History: dinosaurs, whales and the universe

The Tenement Museum: history at human scale

The Frick Collection: old masters in a Gilded Age mansion

The Whitney: American art with a view

The Morgan Library & Museum: a banker's treasure house

The Intrepid Museum: an aircraft carrier on the Hudson

More museums worth your time

Museum planning at a glance

Museum-going tips

Still want to see the Met?

New York museum FAQs

Art and culture tours

Met Highlights Tour

The Met in Depth: A Guided Experience

Private High Line and Chelsea Walking Tour

SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown Walking Tour

Keep exploring

The Met in a Morning

Walking the High Line: A Mile of Rail History Above Manhattan

Chinatown, Little Italy and SoHo Food Guide