Looking back, I don’t know what we would have done without him as the guide. There are many steps to the process, and for a first-time visitor, the experience would have been filled with many headaches along the way without a high-quality guide like Jim.
Private Met Museum Tour with Acclaimed Author and Former Museum Guard
Join a Met insider as he sheds new light on familiar masterpieces and reveals secrets of the museum hidden in plain sight
Patrick Bringley spent a decade working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of At. His memoir, All the Beauty in the World, has been lauded in the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, and elsewhere, and Patrick has been interviewed by ABC, CBS, the New Yorker, BBC Radio, NPR, and many other outlets. Join him for an intimate and revelatory tour through the galleries, where you’ll encounter masterpieces from all over the world and hear firsthand stories about the great museum’s history and operations.
Highlights
Peer into the eyes of an ancient head of Hermes that was stolen from the Met and hidden at Grand Central Terminal
Discuss the Egyptian conception of time before a two-thousand-year-temple (with two-hundred-year-old graffiti)
Hear insights into Old Master paintings that NPR has called “art appreciation at a profound level.”
Explore a 17th century Chinese scholar’s garden that a Met guard is reconstructing in his home in West Africa
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Price
$TK
Meeting time
TK
Meeting point
The Met’s street-level side entrance at 81st Street and Fifth Avenue
Availability
The Met’s street-level side entrance at 81st Street and Fifth Avenue
Duration
2 hours
Group size
Private tour
Included
- Museum admission
Not included
- Patrick Bringley’s book
- Any behind-the-scenes access (though there will be plenty of stories)
What to bring
Comfortable shoes
Tour staff
Every tour is led by author and former museum guard Patrick Bringley, whose complete biography can be found at patrickbringley.com
Participation requirements
- The walking tour covers approximately a half mile of walking within the galleries, so guest should be able to stand of walk for long periods of time.
- This tour is wheelchair accessible.
What You'll Do
What better way to experience a 2.5 million square foot museum than with a longtime employee who literally wrote the book on it? You will start outside the museum, learning about its 150 year history and hearing stories of its behind-the-scenes operations. Entering the galleries, you will travel through at least five of the Met’s curatorial departments, including Greek and Roman Art, Egyptian Art, European Paintings, Medieval Art, Asian Art, and the Robert Lehman Collection. (We can also customize tours if there’s something you’d particularly like to see.) Around every corner, you’ll discover gorgeous treasures from around the world as well as fascinating features of an institution where two thousand people work and seven million people visit every year. Like Patrick’s books, this two hour tour is a beautiful exploration “of one museum, the works collected there and the people who keep it running — all recounted by an especially patient observer” (the New York Times).
Frequently Asked Questions
Tours operate in all weather conditions. Please check the weather and dress appropriately. Statue of Liberty tours operate as long as the ferry runs. The ferry will operate unless the U.S. Coast Guard decides that the conditions are not safe. In the unlikely event that tours are cancelled customers will be given the opportunity to rebook based on availability or receive a full refund.
We ask guests to plan to arrive at the meeting point at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure. Earlier if possible. We recommend this just in case there are any travel difficulties like traffic or train delays. It is especially important to arrive early for the Statue of Liberty tour since this visit requires guests to ride the ferry and we are at the mercy of the ferry schedule, so tours must begin on time. A delayed start of as little as 5 or 10 minutes could set the tour back by 30 minutes or more if a ferry is missed. That’s why this tour meets near Starbucks so you can arrive early and enjoy breakfast, coffee, tea, etc.
Tipping is not mandatory but it is customary. For small group tours if you thought the guide did a great job and would like to tip them they will be very grateful.
The meeting point can be found in the trip details section of the tour page prior to booking and is also included on your confirmation voucher once you have booked your tour. Please feel free to email us at tours@citytalestours.com to confirm meeting locations.
Have more questions? Check out our FAQ page!
Check Out What Our Guests Are Saying
We enjoyed this tour and Jim was a fantastic tour guide. A great touch also with him personally taking the time to take 2 great photo ops with a view of Downtown Manhattan skyline and then in front of the Statue of Liberty
Kevin provided good advice prior to everyone going through security and then assisted with advice on where to get the best shots of the statue.
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