Which Metropolitan Museum of Art ticket is worth buying?

The $59 Met Museum Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Entry is the one most visitors book: an English-speaking expert walks you past the ticket line and through the Temple of Dendur, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Pollock and Warhol in two hours, with the roof garden added in season. It rates 4.6 stars from 261 travelers. If you would rather wander alone, the museum's own $30 door ticket covers the same collection, and New York State residents pay what they wish.

The $52 Met Museum Express Highlights Tour is the shorter guided option, about 90 minutes on a fixed route through the Temple of Dendur, the European painting galleries and the Arms and Armor court. It rates 4.5 stars from 891 travelers and suits anyone who wants the greatest hits explained rather than guessed at, though it skips the American Wing and most of the museum outside that route.

The $175 Private Guided Tour of the Met costs the most here and rates the highest, at 4.9 stars from 39 travelers. An art historian builds the visit around whatever you want to see, which earns its price for families with kids who won't last three hours on their feet or for anyone who wants the collection explained one-on-one. If you'd rather browse the full lineup of New York museum tickets before deciding, the the best museums in New York lists everything from the Met to the smaller Fifth Avenue houses.

The Temple of Dendur is the one photo everyone takes, a full sandstone Egyptian temple standing inside a glass-walled hall with a reflecting pool in front of it. From there the European Paintings galleries hold Vermeer, Rembrandt and Caravaggio alongside a deep run of Impressionists, and the Egyptian Wing spreads out around the temple with sarcophagi and tomb reliefs. The Arms and Armor court, full suits of plate armor lined up under a vaulted ceiling, is the one room that gets kids to stop complaining about their feet.

The American Wing centers on the Charles Engelhard Court, a glass-roofed atrium lined with sculpture and a real cast-iron building facade pulled off a Wall Street block. The Costume Institute runs seasonal exhibitions and isn't always open, and the rooftop garden, in season, gives one of the better views of Central Park from above the treeline. Every Met ticket also covers same-day entry to The Met Cloisters, the museum's medieval branch in Fort Tryon Park uptown, though it's a separate trip on its own subway line.

Not suitable for

• Anyone with under two hours; you'll see one wing and leave frustrated
• Strollers during busy weekend afternoons, when the galleries near Dendur get packed
• A first stop straight off a red-eye flight; the building alone spans several city blocks

What to bring

• Comfortable shoes; the building covers roughly two million square feet
• A water bottle, since the galleries run warm in summer
• A student or NY, NJ or CT ID if you qualify for pay-what-you-wish
• A charged phone for the free Met app, which has its own gallery maps

Not allowed

• Large bags and backpacks in the galleries; they must be checked
• Flash photography and tripods near the artwork
• Food and drink outside the designated cafeteria and cafe areas

A few things that make the visit easier once you're through the door.

• Go on a weekday morning; Friday and Saturday evenings draw the biggest crowds since the museum stays open until 21:00
• Every ticket covers same-day entry to The Met Cloisters uptown, so pair the two if you have a full day free
• New York State residents can pay what they wish at the door instead of buying ahead
• The rooftop garden, when open, closes earlier than the rest of the museum, so check it before the galleries
• Coat check near the Fifth Avenue entrance is free and worth using if you're carrying bags
• Three hours is the honest minimum; most people underestimate the scale and see only two or three wings
• Do not plan a Wednesday visit: it is the one day the Met is closed