Meet the Met:
5,000 years of art, one guided route
Destination
New York City, USA
Duration
3 hours
Tour size
Max 18
Language
English
Overview
Walk through 5,000 years of human creativity in a single morning, from Egyptian temples to Impressionist canvases. This three-hour Met Museum tour puts an expert art historian beside you to make sense of it all.
- •Step inside the Temple of Dendur, transported stone by stone from the banks of the Nile
- •Trace the arc from Ancient Rome to modern America, from rigid marble to Monet's shimmering water
- •Stand in front of Washington Crossing the Delaware and hear the political drama behind the painting
- •See the masterpieces through the eyes of an art historian and master storyteller
- •Climb to the rooftop garden for views over Central Park and the Manhattan skyline (seasonal)
What's included
- Admission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Expert art historian guide
- Headset
You will visit
- The Temple of Dendur
- 'Washington Crossing the Delaware'
- 'Madame X'
- Sculpture Gallery
- Ancient Pompeiian Room
- Met Rooftop (seasonal)
- Greek and Roman Statuary
- French Impressionist galleries
- Met Rooftop Garden (seasonal)
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What to expect
The Temple of Dendur: an Egyptian sanctuary on Fifth Avenue
Your Met Museum guided tour begins in a glass-walled gallery flooded with natural light, where a 2,000-year-old Egyptian temple sits surrounded by a reflecting pool. The Temple of Dendur was built on the banks of the Nile, gifted to the United States in 1965, and reassembled here stone by stone. Your guide will read the hieroglyphs carved into the gateway and explain the rituals the temple was built to house.
Ancient worlds: from Pompeii to the Greek courts
From Egypt, you'll move into the ancient Mediterranean. You'll enter a bedroom preserved intact from the eruption of Vesuvius, its frescoed walls as vivid as the day the ash fell. In the Greek and Roman galleries, your guide will walk you through the evolution of figurative sculpture, from rigid early forms to the fluid poses that influenced Western art for centuries.
"I always slow groups down in the Greek and Roman galleries. Once you see flowing fabric carved out of marble, you can't unsee it."
Sarah,
WalksDevour guide
"Most people walk right past the Temple of Dendur's gateway. I point out the scratched graffiti. It's centuries old and it says 'I was here.'"
Mindy,
WalksDevour guide
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Frequently asked questions
Our guides love answering your questions. Here are some things they'd like you to know before you arrive.
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