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Wander the Halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published by Jason Hussong, Writer

Country: United States

The Experience

With over two million works of art, it’s possible to wander the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and see little of what's there in one visit. Hell, it’s possible to go to “the Met” several times and still not cover everything in the two-million-square-foot building.

What makes it such a great museum to visit, is the amazing galleries and collections; so many, that it’s possible to go again and again for a new experience each and every time.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most visited museum in the United States, with nearly five million annual visitors, and the third most visited in the world after the Louvre in Paris, and the British Museum in London. It’s quite obvious why it’s so highly ranked when passing through any one of the galleries. There’s so much fantastic art and history on display that it’s nothing short of a fantasy land for the art lover.

From Picasso to Rembrandt, the European art on display is definitely one of the highlights of a visit to the Met. The colours just dance off the canvas in mesmerizing fashions. The more than 2,500 European paintings on display, from the Classics to the Impressionists, make these halls more than worth the price of admission. And that's before accidentally running into Vincent van Gogh's self portrait in the straw hat.

The Modern Art galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art are second only to those over at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Midtown Manhattan, which makes quite a challenging case to be the best in town with impressive works on display by the likes of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The flow of the art on exhibition, and the design of the rooms, as is the case for all of the Met, definitely makes for a wonderful experience.

All of that great art and history is in addition to the other amazing galleries. These include one of the greatest collections of Egyptian art in the world (with 36,000 items on display) an impressive Asian art collection, and an amazing medieval arms and weapons display—which all certainly helps to offer something different for every enthusiast out there. The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is finishing up renovations, is also quite impressive and not to be missed since it's one of the finest collections around.

The list of attributes at the Met could continually go on. There are so many varying galleries in a collection that spans 5,000 years of world culture, that it's possible to get lost and overwhelmed in the nearly quarter of a mile long (400 meters) building that is now more than twenty times the size of its original Central Park building. And all of it, including the temporary exhibits that pass through, is just begging to be explored.

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When to Go to Metropolitan Museum

The Met is closed Monday, with the exception of some special holiday openings, and has longer hours on Friday and Saturday nights. It's best to plan ahead to see what works for your schedule, and what special exhibition might be showing, but it's always a good idea to go on a clear day when you can enjoy people watching on the front steps, or a stroll through nearby Central Park as part of the experience.

Odds n' Ends

If you plan to be in New York City for a few days of sightseeing, be sure to pick up a City Pass, since, for one fee, it allows you admission into many other great spots. It's also possible, with this Pass, to skip the longer general admission lines in favour of the VIP ones, and thus save a bit of time in the lines. Also note that there's an annex in north Manhattan called The Cloisters Museum and Gardens. It is dedicated to Medieval European art and architecture. So, if you have an interest in those areas, be sure to take the train uptown to check it out as it is included in the price of admission to the main museum by Central Park.

More Experiences Nearby

Climb the Iconic Spiral of the Guggenheim Museum New York
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is a national historic landmark and a cultural icon. The Guggenheim New York is a work of art in its own right, and one that many come to experience for the great pieces of art it contains. At other nearby museums it's all about the art, but here the story is the building as well. Forget the likes of Picasso, Chagall and Kandinsky; the best experiences are about lounging in the shadow of Wright's beautiful building which overlooks Central Park, and walking down the internal spiral ...0 miles away.

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Books and DVDs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
Frommer's NYC Free & Dirt Cheap
Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Elsewhere on the Web

The Metropolitan Museum of Art -MetMuseum.org

Media References

Picasso packs the house at Met museum - CBC.ca (television)

Language Guides

French , Hindi , Indonesian , Italian , Japanese , Lao , Malay , Mandarin , Portugese , Russian , Spanish , Thai , Turkish , Vietnamese are some of the languages spoken in United States. If you know of a freely available phrase book or podcast for one of the missing languages, let us know!

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