The 15 Best Museums in New York City

Since its founding in 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has become one of the world’s most famous art museums. Its huge collection of artifacts crisscrosses the globe, touching a diverse range of cultures, periods, and media, from ancient Egyptian sculptures to modern American paintings. With more than 1.5 million objects on display, you could spend your entire vacation here and still not see everything, so you might want to go in with a plan. There are dozens of famous pieces to observe, including Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With a Straw Hat, John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Madame X, and Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware. If the weather is good, head to the Met rooftop for drinks with a view of Central Park.

The American Museum of Natural History is perhaps best known for its impressive collection of dinosaur fossils, including some so large that they span from one room into the next. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg–this family favorite also houses a huge array of exhibits dedicated to human origins, nature, geology, and environmental and planetary science. Kids will have a blast in the museum’s Discovery Room, an interactive area where they can assemble skeleton casts, handle fossils and microscopes, and track earthquakes in real time using the museum’s digital seismographic display.

When the Whitney Museum of American Art was founded in 1930, American artists were often overlooked and underestimated. Almost 100 years later, it boasts more than 4,000 pieces from respected, world-famous names, including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and NYC’s own Jean-Michel Basquiat. You can visit The Whitney for free every Friday evening between 5 and 10 PM, and on the second Sunday of every month. The museum also grants free admission to anyone under 25 years of age.

It’s hard to imagine a more fascinating, diverse, and perhaps taboo topic than human sexuality.  The Museum of Sex dares to go there. The thoughtfully curated exhibitions explore the ways sex intersects with art, science, and culture, touching on unexpected topics like “the psychedelic roots of modern sexuality” or the “sexual history of the carnival.” The museum is open late (until 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends) and there’s an on-site bar, making it a fun date night for couples.

Fans of modern art should head to MoMA, which is home to over 200,000 works, including iconic pieces such as Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. The museum also hosts regular events, including film screenings, drop-in drawing classes, reading groups, art historian-led tours, and family-friendly activities. MoMA PS1, the museum’s uber-cool, contemporary art affiliate in Queens, is also worth a visit.

Don’t overlook the Brooklyn Museum, a 200-year-old art museum held in a historic landmark building on the cusp of Prospect Park. With a collection that spans 6,000 years and every corner of the globe, the museum’s array of artifacts is diverse and impressive. There’s even a feminist art center (if you remember one thing from this museum, it will likely be The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago’s installation of dinner plates adorned with decorative interpretations of the vulva). Don’t miss First Saturdays, a free party on the first Saturday of every month, blending art with live music, dancing, and cocktails.

You have to schlep to the top of Manhattan to reach The Met Cloisters, but it’s worth the long subway journey. This museum features America’s only collection of European Medieval artworks, including stained glass, tapestries, and sculptures, all housed within a Neo-Gothic-style building with an open-air courtyard and cloisters. Take the free museum tour, then go and explore the surrounding Fort Tryon Park, which overlooks the Hudson River.

World War II enthusiasts and kids of all ages will love the Intrepid Museum, an institution dedicated to aviation, naval history, and space exploration. Step aboard the Intrepid, a WWII aircraft carrier and National Historic Landmark, and explore several floors of immense, historic aircraft, including a Concorde (the world’s fastest commercial airliner, for those too young to recall), a supersonic spy plane, a nuclear submarine, and NASA’s Enterprise Space Shuttle.

Film, television, video games, and digital media of all kinds are the focus at the country’s only museum dedicated to the moving image. Its 130,000-strong collection of artefacts is fascinating enough (from optical toys and TV-famous puppets to movie costumes and merchandise), but the museum also hosts screenings, live discussions with filmmakers and industry experts, and hands-on workshops. If you’re fascinated by the way screens shape our culture, the Museum of the Moving Image is a must-visit. 

New York’s Guggenheim Museum stands out for both its building and the contents within. Designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it has a distinctive bowl shape with a ramp that spirals from top to bottom, encouraging a continuous and flowing art-viewing experience. Expect Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary artworks from artists including Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, František Kupka, and Jeff Koons.

Pack your tissues for a visit to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, a moving tribute to the events of 9/11 in the footprint of the fallen Twin Towers. It chronicles the terrorist attack that changed New York City, America, and the world through a blend of architecture, archaeology, and narratives from the people who were there that day. For more cultural and historical context, book a 60-minute tour with one of the museum’s experts.

If you love dogs (who doesn’t?), then you’ll appreciate the American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog. An ode to man’s best friend, the collection features sculptures, ceramics, bronzes, and paintings capturing just about every breed of canine. Check the calendar for special events, including craft workshops, “bark after dark” (an after-hours hang for humans and their pets, held every third Friday of the month), and “breed spotlights” that include a historic and artistic deep dive and meet-and-greet with a pup.

Blink and you’ll miss Mmuseumm, a teeny collection of curiosities inside a disused elevator shaft, on Cortlandt Alley in TriBeCa. Because of its size, the museum houses smaller artifacts than you’d find at the city’s more sprawling institutions, but they’re thoughtfully curated to tell big, important stories. In 2025, for example, its Rubble exhibit displayed chunks of debris from conflicts in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, Lebanon, Iran, and more. Mmuseumm is open Friday through Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm.