Get a personalized introduction to New York City's legendary arts showcase with this private tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Housing more than 2 million objects, this renowned institution can be overwhelming to explore, so let a private art historian guide show you the highlights from paintings by Vermeer to pop culture memorabilia. Explore at your own pace and concentrate on the museum sections that interest you most with a private tour.

A customized introduction to New York City's world-renowned Met
Head directly for highlights of the immense collection with a guide
See masterpieces by Vermeer, Picasso, and Van Gogh
Opt for a weekend evening tour to avoid the daytime crowds

What's Included

Skip-the-Line Private Museum Tour. Initial security line still mandatory for all guests and may vary
Professional Tour Guide Exclusively For You
Duration 2.5 Hours
Wheelchair Friendly
All Entrance Fees

Tour price does NOT include hotel pickup or drop-off (we recommend UBER or Taxi)
Tour price does NOT include gratuities (optional)

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028, USA
By the Information Desk in front of the Egyptian Pharaoh statue, in the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible

Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
A maximum of 8 people per booking
Notes: The Met museum may be subjected to occasional closures without previous warning from the museum management. When this occurs, we will provide guests with an appropriate alternative if the museum opening time is delayed more than 1h from the tour starting time. In these cases we are unable to provide refunds or discounts. Appropriate dress is required for entry into some sites on this tour. No large bags or suitcases are allowed inside the museum, only handbags or small thin bag packs are allowed through security. Due to increased security measures at many attractions some lines may form on tours with 'Skip the Line' or 'No Wait' access. Some specific rooms inside the museum are subjected to a very quiet or restricted right to speak inside, in this cases your guide will provide the information about this places before entering the specific rooms where this rule applies. Some collections may vary along the year.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

416 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 416 reviews

Our tour of the Met

Robert_F, Sep 2023

Cherie was wonderful. She knew about the museum and had many interesting recommendations and helped us find many new treasures. I highly recommend her.

Very experienced and...

Christine_W, Sep 2023

Very experienced and knowledgeable guide. Would recommend. Captivated my interest with her concise & highlighted explanations .

Visiting the MET is...

Raymond_L, Sep 2023

Visiting the MET is already a treat for our family and our guide Katherine has made it even better. Since we were on a tight schedule, this skip-the line MET exclusive guided tour is exactly what we needed. The MET is a huge place. Without Katherine, we would have been lost and wasted our time navigating this place. First she asked our family what we wanted to see. Like I mentioned about Andy Warhol and Georgia O'Keeffe. My daughter wanted to see Art Deco. She was able to fit them in the tour. In addition, she also showed us pieces that are unique and special to the MET. She is knowledgeable about a lot of the museum pieces and has answered a lot of our questions. She also supplemented her information by using an iPad. In short, we saw what we wanted to see and saw a lot of nice things because of Katherine and this tour.

Wonderful Experience

Debra_B, Sep 2023

Absolutely worth the money and effort. Mark V. Was our very animated and knowledgeable guide. He knew EVERYTHING! He made the tour so interesting I could have stayed with him another couple of hours. He also recommended a lunch place that was outstanding. Couldn’t have been more pleased with the entire experience. Thank you!

Guided tour was an excellent way to hit the highlights of the Met

Susan_L, Sep 2023

Kevin, out tour guide. did a wonderful job of hitting the highlights. The Egyptian exhibit, statue hall, and of course the European artwork were all facinating. The knowledge of our guide made the tour much more interesting. We were able to ask questions and he used an iPad to show us the cross influence of culture in the art and time period.

Best tour Best Guide

Marilyn_R, Sep 2023

James was an excellent tour guide. Informative, pleasant, current. He gave us a great tour All of us had been to the Met before and we all agreed that our experience with James opened up a whole new world for us.

Excellent! Jonathan is a gem.

Natalie_J, Aug 2023

My dad and I had the pleasure of spending time with Jonathan. His enthusiasm and unbelievable knowledge contributed to an excellent experience at one of the world’s greatest museums. He changed my mind about modern art, taught me about how to view the great artists of the past through a historical and technological lens, and listened and thoughtfully responded to my dad’s sometimes strange questions. Highly recommend. Thank you Jonathan!

To everyone - to everyone - to everyone, we recommend our wonderful tour guide James

Igor_M, Aug 2023

We spent two days with James. We are 5 people: grandparents and three grandchildren. Grandchildren are eight, five and almost three years old. This is a difficult company for any tour guide. On the first day we had a two-hour excursion to the Metropolitan Museum. With James it was very interesting for everyone. And grandparents, and grandchildren. We are getting ready for this tour. And they watched a cartoon about Egypt with their grandchildren. James told us a lot of interesting things about the museum, about Egypt and about the most important treasures of the Metropolitan Museum. The next day again with James we went to the Museum of Natural History. This tour was even more interesting! 2.5 hours flew by! Everyone was very, very interesting! Special thanks to James for being sympathetic to the fact that sometimes the tour had to be interrupted. Because small children sometimes wanted to go to the toilet, sometimes they wanted to drink. To everyone - to everyone - to everyone, we recommend our wonderful tour guide James. He is the best of the best! and for family excursions it is just a treasure!

Mark - best guide ever.

Patwallace, Aug 2023

Mark' knowledge of the art pieces was incredible, especially in the small details. Will never look at a painting again without looking for the little things that I have missed all these years. Thanks Mark.

Awesome Experience

Carole_S, Aug 2023

Incredible experience! We loved our guide Cherie. She is extremely knowledgeable on many, many museum pieces. We appreciated her sense of humor and she made the tour so much fun. Everything we saw she was able to provide interesting facts and background information on. It would be impossible for us to visit the museum on our own and have anywhere close to the incredible experience we did with Cherie. Hands down this was our favorite experience in New York.

Thorough and entertaining

Holly_D, Aug 2023

Charlie, our guide, was informative and entertaining. He was very thorough in his explanations and answered all our questions. Would recommend him as a guide.

Charming, knowledgeable tour guide

LindaMarie_S, Aug 2023

Our guide was entertaining and turned what many people call the ‘boring part of a museum’ to life with great stories. He also provided a lot of background on the museum donors. If you don’t like to stand, this might not be for you but benches were close by.

Our tour guide Mark V. was OUTSTANDING!!!!

Nicole_C, Jul 2023

Our tour guide Mark V. was beyond fantastic! Mark was incredibly kind, friendly, knowledgeable and talented as he himself is an amazing and accomplished artist. He was so wonderful to our group and especially to my three children. We all agreed that meeting Mark made it the most fun learning experience of our trip that we otherwise would not have had without him. The Met is a must see and if you’re lucky enough to get Mark V. as your tour guide you’ll be forever grateful and thankful that there’s people as amazing as him.

Great Tour!!!

Jennifer_W, Jul 2023

I knew I couldn’t mange The Met on my own. This is a great option to touch the surface of most galleries. I learned some museum history, art history, and exhibit history. When the tour was over I knew where I wanted to go back and focus on!

An awesome day at the museum with Charlie

DanaeFarkas, Jul 2023

Our tour guide was spectacular! Charlie was knowledgeable, dynamic, smart and energetic. We covered the museum in 2.5 hours and felt we got a wonderful overview of what the museum had to offer as well as a deep dive into important works there. Through Charlie’s expert eyes, we jumped into the world of art with an inquisitive spirit and a sense of play. He was engaging and enthusiastic about our experiences of the pieces of art, which he guided us on how to see its elements. We can’t thank him enough for a great day filled with meaningful photos and good laughs!

Exceptional Experience at the Met

Vivian_P, Jul 2023

Our guide, Katherine, was wonderful and very knowledgeable. She helped us spend more time on the parts of the museum which interested us the most. She also showed us a few unexpected delights such as the musical instruments including the very first piano and the collections room where Madame X by Sargent was awaiting export to Paris. We left the museum delighted with our experience!

Whirlwind tour of notable art through the centuries

Nancy_H, Jul 2023

We were treated to an insider’s tour of many Museum highlights. Our guide, Charlie, knew his way around the numerous galleries, stopping to share stories about selected works of art. Our presenter engaged us with his humor and wit, making for an informative and entertaining tour. We moved about the museum for the full 2.5 hours-not wasting any opportunities to enjoy the magnificent art. Highly recommended, especially for those new to touring such a massive museum space.

A morning at the Met

Ricardo_B, Jul 2023

Charlie, our guide, was really good and knowledgeable. Eventhough we went along pretty fast (6 out of 8 were senior citizens), we covered some amazing pieces and Charlie explained them well.

Amazing!

Patrick_W, Jul 2023

Jonathan was an amazing guide. He was so knowledgeable and answered any questions we had. His love of art and the Met were very apparent. This was an experience that we will never forget.

Your at the MET

Heidi_b, Jul 2023

Catherine was a delight. She allowed us to move at our own pace and had interesting tidbits of information that you would otherwise have missed if you went on your own.

...