The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Gardens in New York

At The Cloisters, perched at the top of Fort Tryon Park, you'll find the Medieval Art collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with architecture and gardens from medieval Europe.

The museum is in Washington Heights (the neighborhood behind Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In the Heights) in northern Manhattan, in a beautiful building made with original structures from French medieval cloisters.

What to see at The Cloisters

The Cloisters holds a collection of five thousand pieces.

Among them are stained glass, tapestries, beams and medieval columns brought from all over Europe.

On top of that there's the interior garden, planted according to horticultural records from the period.

Walking the grounds is a trip into Europe's past, and it's only a few subway stops from midtown Manhattan.

Views of the Hudson River

Beyond its architecture and its collection, visiting The Cloisters is the perfect excuse to take in the best views of the Hudson River anywhere in New York.

A good plan is to visit the museum in the afternoon and then stay afterward to watch the river's shifting colors from the overlooks in Fort Tryon Park.

Visiting The Cloisters for free

If you've visited the Met on Fifth Avenue, you can get into The Cloisters with the same ticket on the same day. Honestly though, I'm not sure you'll have the time, because the Met is enormous and can easily eat up your whole day.

Also, getting to The Cloisters takes a while, and this uptown branch of the Met deserves its own time thanks to its gorgeous setting and the spectacular Hudson River views you'll get from Fort Tryon Park.

The good news is that admission to The Cloisters is included with the New York Pass and the Sightseeing Pass, so you can visit both museums without rushing.

You can also buy tickets to The Cloisters online, and that ticket includes admission to the Met's main building on Fifth Avenue 🙂

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Address:
99 Margaret Corbin Drive – Fort Tryon Park

Getting there:
Subway line A, 190th Street station
From the Met: M4 bus to the last stop.

Prices:
Adults US$ 25 / 65+ US$ 17
Students US$ 12 / under 12 free

(If you live in New York you can pay what you wish; as tourists we have to pay full price)

Hours:
Thursday to Tuesday 10 am to 5 pm
Closed Wednesdays, Dec 25, Jan 1 and Thanksgiving