MET MUSEUM TICKETS · OCTOBER 2026
A Met ticket costs $30 for adults (October 2026), needs no time slot and also opens The Met Cloisters on the same day. The question is whether to add a guide: the most reviewed group tour costs $52 with the ticket included. Visitors who want several museums can compare CityPASS and Go City first.
How to choose
The museum sells its own ticket: $30 for adults, $22 for seniors 65 and over, $17 for students, and free for children 12 and under (October 2026). There is no timed entry, advance tickets are not required, and an online ticket goes straight to any gallery entrance. Viator lists no plain admission ticket in October 2026: its Met products are guided tours, and the most reviewed ones include the entry ticket.
The Metropolitan Museum Guided Group Tour is the most reviewed, at 4.78 from 1,100 reviews and from $52 on Viator in October 2026. Groups stop at 18, and a 3-hour option adds the roof garden, which the tour lists as seasonal. The Highlights Tour with Expert Guide (from $52, 4.82 from 649 reviews) covers the Temple of Dendur, the Egyptian galleries, Van Gogh, Monet and Sargent's Madame X in two hours. With a $30 ticket inside a $52 tour, the guide and the route cost about $22.
The NYC: "The MET" Highlights Tour (from $59, 4.80 from 511 reviews) keeps groups to 15; the guide waits inside the Great Hall with the tickets, so the page asks guests to arrive 30 minutes early for the security line. The Semi-Private tour caps the group at 8 (from $132, 4.98 from 444 reviews), and the Exclusive Guided Tour is private (from $132, 4.96 from 962 reviews), with evening tours on Fridays and Saturdays, when the museum stays open to 9 pm.
19 products carry a skip-the-line label in October 2026. On these pages it means the ticket is already in hand: the Exclusive Guided Tour states that the security line at the door still applies to every guest.
Pay what you wish
Pay what you wish at the Met applies only to New York State residents and to students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with a minimum of $0.01 per ticket (October 2026). Every other visitor pays the full price: $30 for an adult. Visitors with a disability pay $22, sold in person only, and their care partner gets in free.
For a resident, the ticket costs almost nothing, so the price of a tour is mostly the guide. For a visitor from out of state, a $52 tour costs $22 more than the ticket alone and adds a planned route through a museum with more than two million objects.
The Cloisters
A Met ticket covers exhibitions and same-day entry to both The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters, for the date on the ticket (October 2026). The Cloisters is open 10 am to 5 pm every day except Wednesday. The Met Fifth Avenue opens 10 am to 5 pm Sunday to Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 am to 9 pm on Friday and Saturday. Both are closed on Wednesday.
Most tours here stay on Fifth Avenue. The Guided or Self-Guided Tour (from $50, 4.02 from 65 reviews) states that its entry ticket also opens the Cloisters that day, and it offers a 30-minute orientation with the rest of the visit self-guided. One private tour, Skip-the-line Met Cloisters and Fifth Avenue Tour by Car (from $293), drives between the two and had no reviews in October 2026.
Themed tours
Some guides take one thread through the collection. Ghost Stories: A Mysterious, Macabre Tour in the Metropolitan Museum (from $48, 4.88 from 40 reviews) keeps groups to 12 and looks at how different cultures show the fearsome, with an activity on the way; its ticket stays valid after the tour. The Met Museum and Central Park Guided Tour (from $200, 5.0 from 56 reviews) spends 5.5 hours on the museum and the park, with a lunch break, in groups of up to 8. Tours in Spanish, French and Chinese are also on the list.
Outside guides must register their groups with the Met in advance, as must any group of 10 or more (October 2026). For the park alone, see Central Park tours; for modern art, MoMA tickets.
Every one on Viator
Most reviewed first, with prices read on 25 October 2026. The filters narrow the list to private tours, small groups, tours with a skip-the-line ticket, or tours by length.
Private · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 15) · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 8) · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Private · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 8) · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 12) · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 12) · Free cancellation
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Private · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 10) · Free cancellation
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Private · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 6) · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 8) · Free cancellation
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Private · Skip the line
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Private · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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Private · Free cancellation
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Small group (up to 12) · Free cancellation
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Private · Skip the line · Free cancellation
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FAQ
An adult ticket costs $30 in October 2026. Seniors 65 and over pay $22, students $17, and children 12 and under get in free. Guided tours on Viator that include the ticket start from $48 per person.
Only for some visitors: pay what you wish applies to New York State residents and to students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with a minimum of $0.01 (October 2026). Everyone else pays the full price, $30 for an adult.
No. The Met has no timed entry and advance tickets are not required (October 2026). An online ticket goes straight to any gallery entrance; a guided tour books a set start time.
Yes. A ticket gives same-day entry to both The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters for the date on it (October 2026). The Cloisters opens 10 am to 5 pm, every day except Wednesday.
For a first visit with two hours to spare, a guide gives a route through a very large museum: the most reviewed group tour costs $52 on Viator in October 2026, about $22 more than the ticket it includes. It rates 4.78 from 1,100 reviews. See how to choose.
Wednesday. The Met Fifth Avenue opens 10 am to 5 pm Sunday to Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 am to 9 pm on Friday and Saturday (October 2026).
Most last two hours: 25 of the tours on this page run up to 2 hours in October 2026. Some offer a 2.5- or 3-hour version, and the Met and Central Park combination takes 5.5 hours.