Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, known to New Yorkers simply as "the Met," is one of the largest and most comprehensive art museums in the world. It sits along the eastern edge of Central Park on Fifth Avenue, part of the stretch known as Museum Mile.

The Met was founded in 1870 by a group of businessmen, artists, and thinkers who wanted to bring art and art education to the American people. The original collection was modest, but the museum grew rapidly. Today, it holds more than 375,000 objects spanning 5,000 years, from ancient Egyptian temples to contemporary American art.

The building itself has expanded many times since its first home on Fifth Avenue opened in 1880. The iconic Beaux-Arts facade was added in 1902. One of the museum's most remarkable features is the Temple of Dendur, an entire Egyptian temple from around 15 BC, gifted by Egypt in 1965 and installed in a glass-walled gallery overlooking Central Park.

New York State residents and students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut benefit from pay-what-you-wish admission, meaning you can technically enter for as little as a penny. For everyone else, general admission is $30 for adults.

The Met's rooftop garden, open in warmer months, offers views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline alongside rotating contemporary art installations.

If you're on a Questo quest along Museum Mile, the Met is a stop where you could spend a lifetime and still discover something new around the next corner.