Camp and Youth Groups

Non-profit camp and community organizations are eligible for the fees listed below.

Schools and other youth groups, including tourism professionals working with camp and youth groups, pay standard school group fees. See K-12 School Groups for more information.

Membership benefits and other passes are not valid for group admission. 

Organizations with limited resources may qualify for significantly reduced rates or fee waivers. Please ask for details when you request a reservation. 

Guided visits led by Museum educators and volunteers offer extraordinary opportunities for children to make the most of their encounters with great works of art. Interactive tours inspire children to build strong content knowledge across disciplines, and support their confidence, curiosity, and creativity.

Each tour lasts 60 minutes; feel free to continue exploring the galleries with your group after the tour!

How to Book

To request a guided visit at The Met Fifth Avenue or The Met Cloisters, complete the Camp and Community Youth Group Visit Request Form at least three weeks in advance.

Please have ready:

• Preferred date and possible alternatives
• Numbers of children and supervising adult chaperones
• Preferred guided visit topic
• Details of any educational or accessibility needs

Guided Visit Topics

At The Met Fifth Avenue, thematic topics introduce students to a range of art from different cultures. All materials are provided by the Museum.

• Exploring Art Across Cultures
  See the world! Develop visual-analysis and evidence-based reasoning skills during a thematic, cross-cultural exploration of The Met collection.
• Stories and Legends
  It's often said that a picture is worth a thousand words; discover the power of storytelling in art across cultures.

At The Met Cloisters, tours explore the collection of medieval European art and architecture, and gardens.

• A Medieval Bestiary
  Search for animals—both real and imaginary. Popular legends come alive with beasts portrayed in a variety of media and settings.
• Art and Society in the Middle Ages
  Explore works of art and architecture that reveal daily life, beliefs, and cross-cultural exchange in medieval Europe. 

Group Size

For guided tours at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters, groups may have no fewer than ten children and no more than fifty children, with one chaperone required for every ten children. Larger groups will be divided into smaller ones in order to offer more individual attention to children in the galleries.

The Museum reserves the right to limit the number of adult chaperones participating in camp and community youth group guided visits.  

Visit Schedule

Guided visits are conducted at each location as follows:

The Met Fifth Avenue: Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 10 am–3 pm (July-August); Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 3–3:45 pm (September-June). Limited appointments are available on weekends. Closed Wednesdays.

The Met Cloisters: Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am–3 pm, with some availability Friday through Monday, (July-August). Limited appointments are available September-June. Closed Wednesdays.

Resource for Students on the Autism Spectrum

A social narrative (PDF; best viewed in Chrome, Safari, or Firefox) prepares students on the autism spectrum for a guided school visit.

Self-guided visits offer camp and community youth group leaders the opportunity to lead their own groups on independent explorations of the Museum's collection. We encourage group leaders to familiarize themselves with The Met before bringing groups to the Museum.

Lecturing may be prohibited in some special exhibitions. The Museum cannot guarantee access to all galleries at all times.

How to Book

To request a self-guided visit at The Met Fifth Avenue or The Met Cloisters, complete the Camp and Community Youth Group Visit Request Form at least two weeks in advance.

Please have ready:

• Preferred date and possible alternatives, plus time of arrival
• Numbers of children and supervising adult chaperones
• Which collection areas you wish to visit

Group Size

Self-guided groups at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters may have no fewer than ten students and no more than fifty students, with one chaperone required for every ten students. Groups larger than 25 must divide into smaller groups before entering the galleries.

Visit Schedule

Self-guided appointments are available at each location as follows:

The Met Fifth Avenue: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 10 am–3 pm. Limited appointments available on weekends. Closed Wednesdays.

The Met Cloisters: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 12 pm–3 pm. Limited appointments available on weekends. Closed Wednesdays.*

*The Met Cloisters closes at 4:30 pm November-February.

Audio Guides

Audio Guide devices are not currently available. Stream or download the latest Audio Guide content to your personal device. Enhance your visit to The Met Cloisters with the Bloomberg Connects app.

Collection Areas

View pre-visit guides to help prepare for your group visit at The Met Fifth Avenue:

• Art of Africa
• Art of The American Wing
• Art of the Ancient Americas
• Art of the Ancient Near East
• Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia
• Art of China
• Art of Ancient Egypt
• European Paintings
• Art of Ancient Greece and Rome
• Art of Japan
• Art of Medieval Europe
• Modern and Contemporary Art
• Nineteenth-Century European Painting

I'm ready. How do I book a youth group visit?
Appointments are required for all groups visiting the Museum. To request an appointment, please fill out the School Group Visit Request Form for K–12 school groups or the Camp and Community Youth Group Visit Request Form for summer camps and community youth organizations. 

Do you have lunchroom facilities? May we eat in the public cafeteria?
Unfortunately the Museum does not have indoor lunchroom facilities. Bag lunches can be stored while you are in the galleries, but please plan to eat outside or on the bus. We encourage groups to picnic in neighboring Central Park before or after your visit (weather permitting).

My group includes children with special needs. Should I use the online request form?
Yes. The Museum welcomes children of all abilities. When requesting your youth group visit, please let us know what accommodations we can provide in order to meet your needs. You can also reference a social narrative (PDF; best viewed in Chrome, Safari, or Firefox) that prepares children on the autism spectrum for a guided visit.

We have a guided visit scheduled, but we have additional chaperones that want to attend. Is this okay?
Please notify us as soon as possible at schoolvisits@metmuseum.org so that we can assess the feasibility of your request. We typically permit only three chaperones per assigned guide and may not be able to accommodate the additional adults. If this is the case, the additional adults are more than welcome to do a self-guided visit and meet up with the group afterward.

How do I reschedule or cancel a confirmed youth group appointment?
All requests to change or cancel existing appointments must be made via email to schoolvisits@metmuseum.org. Please include your name, phone number, confirmation number, name of organization, and date and time of your visit. If you need to reschedule or cancel a guided visit, we kindly ask for as much advance notice as possible so that we can assign your guides to another group.

Do you have a place for buses or large vans to park at the Museum?
There is no school or charter bus parking in the vicinity of the Museum. We recommend referencing the New York City Department of Transportation website for bus layover locations.

Our parking garage can accommodate smaller vans. The clearance is six feet, six inches (6' 6"). Designated spaces are available in the parking garage for visitors with disabilities. Alternate arrangements can be made in advance for visitors with disabilities traveling in oversized vehicles. Please call 212-650-2010, between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

If we schedule a guided visit for a specific time, may we arrive earlier and look around on our own?
Due to the number of groups scheduled throughout the day, we ask that you arrive at your scheduled time. Your group is more than welcome to explore the rest of the Museum after your scheduled visit.

I have a guided visit scheduled and want to speak with the guides prior to the tour. Is this possible?
Of course. Our guides will contact you seven to ten days prior to your visit to discuss your tour in more detail. They usually write to the email address you provided when you requested your visit, so be sure to check your email a week or so prior to your visit. 

Can New York City schools book group visits during the summer?
Yes, NYC school groups are welcome to visit during the summer. All fees are waived for verified summer school programs. Summer enrichment programs and summer camps that operate out of NYC schools are subject to our Camp and Community Group rates.

How should I prepare for my youth group visit?
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Met before bringing your group to the Museum. There are a range of resources for you, including:

• Lesson Plans
  Search for lesson plans with keywords, or sort them by age, subject area, collection area, and theme.
• Curriculum Resources
  These comprehensive and fully illustrated guides provide useful background information and ideas for engaging children.
• K–12 Educator Workshops
  The Museum offers a variety of programs designed for K–12 educators that explore objects in the Museum's collections, interdisciplinary curriculum integration, and methods for teaching with objects.
• Museum Map
  The Museum's fully interactive map allows you to learn more about the building's layout and the artworks currently on view.
• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History presents The Met collection via a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history.
• Curatorial Departments
  Read about the Museum's seventeen curatorial departments and how they study, exhibit, and care for the objects in the collections.

Please also review Payment, Cancellations, and Group Guidelines before bringing your group to the Museum.

I have another question that's not answered here.
We are happy to help. Contact us at schoolvisits@metmuseum.org.