Intrepid Museum Tickets: Prices, Hours and What's Included

An adult ticket to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is $38, and every age band below gets the same carrier, shuttle and submarine access. The prices come from the museum's own pricing chart, and the last column says what each visitor needs to bring.

Free and Discounted Entry

These free tickets are issued only at the Welcome Center box office on Pier 86 when you show the card and a photo ID. None of them can be reserved online.

• Museums for All: up to four people free with an EBT card.
• Library Culture Pass: up to two people free.
• Cool Culture Pass: up to five people free.
• ASTC museum members: up to two adults and four children at the Family level.
• Bank of America: the cardholder alone enters free on the first full weekend of every month.
• CUNY and Columbia students: free with a student ID.
• Personal care assistants of visitors with disabilities: free, no paperwork.

Is the Intrepid Included in a City Pass?

Yes. New York CityPASS bundles the Intrepid with four other big attractions over nine days, and New York C3 lets you pick it as one of three. Pass holders still reserve a date and time before they arrive.

See New York city passes compared to check whether a pass beats single tickets for your plan.

The Intrepid opens at 10 am every day it is open, and closes at 5 pm from October to March and at 6 pm on spring and summer weekends. Last entry is one hour before closing, and the museum closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

When to Go and How Long to Stay

Plan two to three hours for the carrier, the shuttle and the submarine. Take a morning slot and head to Growler first: its line can close early, and the museum sometimes shuts the flight deck or the Exploreum for private events, which it posts on its visitor page.

General admission covers the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the Space Shuttle Pavilion, the submarine Growler and every temporary exhibition, from open to close.

• Four decks of the carrier: hangar deck, flight deck with more than two dozen restored aircraft, gallery deck and third deck
• The island and the navigation and flag bridges
• The Space Shuttle Pavilion with Enterprise
• The Cold War submarine Growler, once the 40-inch height rule is met
• Temporary exhibitions, including the Apollo exhibit

What Costs Extra

Simulators, films and guided tours are add-ons bought on top of admission. The Concorde is the one people miss: you see it from the pier with a general ticket, but the cabin and cockpit open only on the 20-minute Concorde Tour.

The Intrepid Museum Entry Ticket is a single $38 timed ticket sold by the museum itself. It covers general admission to the aircraft carrier and the Space Shuttle Pavilion where Enterprise sits, gets you onto the flight deck among the parked jets and through the hangar deck exhibits, and lets you walk the cramped compartments of the submarine Growler. You can cancel it for a full refund up to 24 hours ahead.

It suits families with school-age kids, anyone who likes aircraft, and visitors who want a museum where they can climb, touch and walk through the exhibits rather than just read labels. Plan two to three hours for the shuttle, the submarine and the flight deck. It is less suited to a quick stop between other sights.

The site is spread across a full carrier and its pier and takes real time to cover.

The simulators and the Concorde cabin tour are extra, so budget for them if the kids want to fly one (see what costs extra). The flight deck is open to the Hudson and gets cold and windy even on a mild day, so bring a jacket in any season. For other museums in New York City worth pairing with the Intrepid, start with the homepage.

The flight deck holds more than two dozen restored aircraft, including the Lockheed A-12, a CIA spy plane from the top-secret Project Oxcart and the fastest military jet on display, and an F-14 Tomcat, parked in the open air with the Hudson and the Manhattan skyline behind them. Below, the hangar deck tells the ship's story: launched in 1943, it survived five kamikaze attacks and a torpedo strike, served through the Cold War and Vietnam and was decommissioned in 1974.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the prototype orbiter that paved the way for the shuttle program, sits in its own pavilion on the flight deck, close enough to see its tiles and payload bay doors. The Cold War submarine Growler is docked alongside, open for a walk through its torpedo room, control room and bunks. A British Airways Concorde is parked on the pier, and its cabin opens only on the paid Concorde Tour.

Not suitable for

• Visitors short on time, since the carrier, shuttle and submarine take two to three hours
• Children under 40 inches, who cannot enter the submarine Growler
• Wheelchair users who want the whole ship: the bridges, the combat information center and Growler need stairs or ladders, while the pier and the Growler exhibition are accessible
• Anyone uneasy in tight spaces, since the submarine is narrow

What to bring

• A jacket, even in summer, because the flight deck is exposed to the wind off the Hudson
• Comfortable shoes for a lot of walking and some steep stairs
• Photo ID or the card for any discount you plan to claim at the box office
• A charged phone, since tickets are digital QR codes that refresh every 30 seconds

Not allowed

• Strollers, large bags, luggage and backpacks inside the submarine or the Concorde, and there is no bag or coat check
• Food and drink inside Growler
• Selfie sticks, tripods and other professional camera gear
• Children under 16 without an adult

A few things make the visit smoother.

• Book a timed slot online ahead of a weekend so you skip the box office line on the pier
• See the submarine Growler first, because its line can close early
• Bring a jacket even on a warm day, the deck is right on the water
• There is no museum parking lot, so come by subway, the M50 bus or NYC Ferry
• Decide on the Concorde Tour early if you want the cabin, it runs as a separate timed tour
• Give yourself two to three hours for the carrier, the shuttle and the submarine