One of the great encyclopaedic museums on earth — 5,000 years of art over a Central Park city-block.
🛡️ Independent — no pay-to-rank🔎 Graded for who you are✓ Verified 2026-06-06How we grade →
The verdict
Who it's worth it for
Great for
Travellers on a budget
If you've only got a day
Families with kids
Couples
Solo travellers
History & culture buffs
The genuinely curious
Photographers
Depends
—
Not for
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Worth it for travellers on a budget, if you've only got a day and families with kids.
Why we say this
Insider secrets & local vibes
The collection spans 5,000 years of art across two million square feet, from the full-scale Temple of Dendur to 2,500 European Old Masters — encyclopedic in a way few museums on earth match.
Beyond the headline galleries there's a Rooftop Garden with skyline-and-park views and 29 immersive period rooms — the kind of detours that reward repeat visits.
Spanning 11.5 acres with 4 million visitors a year, it's physically impossible to see in one visit — a one-hour dash leaves you feeling you wasted the $30.
Egyptian mummies, the Temple of Dendur, arms-and-armor and the rooftop give kids concrete anchors in an otherwise overwhelming maze; kids under 12 are free.
On a budget
Same-day ticket covers both the Fifth Ave building and The Met Cloisters uptown, and NY/tri-state residents pay what they wish — stretch one ticket across two museums.
First-timers
Go in with a shortlist; the sheer scale humbles people who arrive planning to see 'everything.' Budget at least a few hours.
What people say
Straight from the reviews
“the greatest collection of Egyptian art and artifacts outside Cairo—among them, the full-scale Temple of Dendur.”