The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I really hate that I have to write anything less than an exemplary review of the Met, but I'm compelled to put my experience into words because I truly believe the end of our visit was unjust.

On a recent family trip with my wife and inlaws, we had the pleasure of seeing New York at Christmas Time, although unusually mild, the experience was fantastic. On Dec 30th we (like most of New York it seemed) decided to visit the Met, arriving at around 2 pm to a lineup of hundreds of people. After an hour and 10 minutes, we were inside. The museum is truly stunning, the galleries, exhibits, and the architecture of the building itself is exquisite.

After a few hours of wandering around inspired we were on the way to see our last item on our list "George Washington Crossing the Delaware", it was 4:50 pm and the Met closes at 5:30pm. A quick stop at the restroom and we were preparing to head over there, my mother in-law was DENIED access to the bathroom.

A woman, in her 60s, was denied the use of a bathroom she was told that the restrooms were closed as the museum was closing in 40 minutes. If she needed to use the facilities she could do so on her way out on the 1st floor. We pleaded with Alex - the woman in charge of ensuring no one entered the ladies room, to no avail though. Several other restrooms were already locked on the second floor as the staff was obviously trying to heard the masses down the stairs and out the door.

Never in my life have I, or anyone I know been denied the use of a bathroom. It is appauling and those in charge should be ashamed of denying a fellow human being of a basic right.

Needless to say the lineup on the first floor was a mile long, we couldn't see our last painting, and left feeling as though we were merely an entry fee and nothing more.

Just pick a couple of exhibits you'd like to see and don't fret about the MILES of other wonders you will have to miss. The museum is HUGE and pretty much always mobbed in the middle, but crowds will thin as you move around. Consider a membership if you can visit at least 3-4 times per year (well worth it: free entry to MET 5th Ave plus Met Breuer and Cloisters, discounts at gift stores, restaurants, parking). Encyclopedic museum chock full of the best of everything

This place is huge, and people who love art can easily spend a day here.
The price is very low for the offering: we paid 25$ per person, that includes the service to store your coat so you have more comfort to walk around (This is found at both sides of the entrance at the street side).
There are different sections in the building, and all is presented in a way that the art can be looked at in the best possible manner.
I was asthonished to see so many different and expensive paintings (like Picasso, Monet, Brughel,..) in one building.

My kids LOVED the Met! They each had favorite areas to visit - my eight year old was in awe of the Egyptian art, and my ten year old thought the Abstract Expressionist exhibit was the best. There is a kids map, and several different guides for kids & families that were perfect for my crew.
Tickets are valid for three days, so we went twice, and spent about 4 hours each visit.

Tip to avoid the line out front: We entered via the parking garage entrance and had no wait to get through security. This also brings you right to the coat check area!

I grew up in New York and went to the Met from boyhood until I moved away. I try to go every time I visit NY. I travel worldwide and rank the Uffizi # 1, the Louvre # 2, and the Met a close # 3. NO other art museum in the US is close! It is HUGE and been expanded. You cannot see it all in a day. Center on the art you most love to try to see most of it and expand if there are more hours and you can stand! It spans the history of the Western World (and more) up to c. 1900, featuring painting, sculpture, artifacts, etc. from Egyptian through ancient Greece and Rome (including a restored Egyptian temple)! Then pre-Renaissance, Italian Renaissance, Dutch, and on. There are Impressionists, but more at the Museum of Modern Art. There is a restaurant for a lunch break if you are doing all day. There is one aspect of the Met that really bothers me, zero to do with art. Although many museums worldwide now charge a fee ( most used to be free), admission is zounds more at the Met than in Europe! It was free with donations requested. I always gave what I could. When I was poor it was a dollar or two. As I earned more, I went to $5 , $10 and then $ 20. Last time admission was mandatory, at $ 30+ per person! This is morally outrageous! In the past anyone could see the magnificent collection and enrich themselves culturally. Now ONLY THE RICH can do this, at least on a regular basis. The Met gets tens/hundreds of millions in endowments yearly. Art must be available and affordable for ALL!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a vast building with each display area chock full of fascinating items. We took advantage of the fact the ticket is valid for three days and visited twice, spending 3 - 4 hours each visit, and still saw less than half of the displays. We were glad we were in the short queue to enter at opening time because the numbers of visitors increased greatly after lunch. In fact, I think The Met should consider making the ticket valid for 5 days to give visitors a chance to skim the entire collection. As a non-American I focussed on the American wing which included fascinating indigenous clothing and artefacts, colonial furniture and works by 19th century US artists. There was also an exhibition of exquisite 20th century clothing near the Greek / Roman / Egyptian section and the Modern and Contemporary collection was very impressive. We had a break at the Great Hall Balcony Cafe to keep our strength up. I suggest arriving early, deciding ahead what interests you and dividing the ticket purchase and coat check tasks if you are visiting with others.

We visited the Monday before New Year’s Eve which may have impacted our experience. However, my general experience at New York museums was that there was a lot of chaos. When we arrived at the Met we had crossed the park from the natural history Museum and found that there was a huge line snaking back to the edge of the property. There was no real rhyme or reason to the line formation and no one from the museum directing the crowd. For the most part the line was orderly and moved steadily but it would have been helpful to have someone from the museum providing some direction. We had purchased tickets online but there is not a separate entrance to bypass the crowd outside even if you have tickets. Once we finally got inside after standing in the rain for 30 minutes we found ourselves inside the very crowded lobby where it was more chaos. Because we had ordered tickets online we were directed (after asking at the information desk) to a kiosk where we could print our tickets. The process was quite slow and there were a number of people in other lines and in line in front of us having difficulty with the system. There was no one from the museum to help with the process. In addition, but for our asking at the information desk, there was no direction for where people were to go if they needed to buy tickets or print tickets as we did. Again, I realize we were there on the very busy weekend but when we finally made it into the museum the number of people inside made it quite difficult to really see the exhibits. I gave the museum three stars because obviously it has incredible works of art and the exhibits that we were able to see were impressive but in general the experience was chaotic and crowded. Also, if you are traveling here with children you should be aware that the larger of the cafeterias is not particularly well stocked and when we were there there was only one cashier despite the huge crowd. We were not able to walk around the gift shop because it was so crowded and frankly at some point it just became a miserable experience. I think the museum would have been a better experience for us on a day that was not as busy-although I don’t know if there is ever such a time. It would also help if museum staff were more plentiful and helpful.

The Met has a collection of over 2 million artifacts. It is one of the world's most popular museums. Until very recently, visitors were given a choice of paying a donation. There is now a $25 mandatory entry fee for out-of-towners. It is, however, one of the world's great museums. The art collection has few equals. You could eassily stay a day here and not see everything. The Met is on Museum Mile, on NYC's Upper East Side, adjoing Central Park.

This is a must see experience. You will need a lot of time, it's impossible to rush because of the sheer volume of galleries and the constant crowds. Go. Early. The place exponentially fills up with each passing hour and becomes unnavigable. There's a bag search of course upon entry. They do have a coat check. You can carry a backpack but sometimes they make you carry it on your front vs. your back depending on which gallery though are in. Crowds cause a women's bathroom line but there are a lot of bathrooms throughout. They have food courts and coffee. Awesome gift shop and library of books for purchase, but again, go there first like I did (thankfully) because the line got ridiculous.

The MET is like all of the best museums of the world in one place. Truly amazing in its collection from all across the world, different periods and different cultures. We spent a whole day and felt we could do more and come again. The admission ticket is valid for 3 days and can be used for all the 3 museums in NYC. But with limited time in New York we could not return next day. If we ever go to New York again, I will spend at least 2 days at the MET. Highly recommend the MET.