Many people associate the idea of “spring break” with college kids, beaches, sun and too much to drink. Yet, traveling to New York City, though not nearly as sunny, can be equally as rewarding, much more enriching and, with CityPass, financially gratifying.
A New York CityPass costs only $79 for adults ($59 for children 6-17). Even if you only have a few days in the Big Apple, the discounted entry costs to the Empire State Building, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Museum of Natural History, and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as well as the option to visit either the Guggenheim Museum or Top of the Rock, and The Statue of Liberty or the Circle Line Cruise cannot be beat.
CityPass is the choice among discount travel passes for those interested in museums and the spring is really the perfect season to visit these amazing landmarks. With the CityPass, you have the option of using your tickets for up to 9 days, allowing you to go with the flow in terms of finicky spring weather and choose the best days for the cruise and ESB while spending the remainder of your trip wandering the hallways in some of the best art houses of the world.
This begins with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, known only as The Met to most art enthusiasts and New York locals. Boasting over two million different pieces that span 5,000 years, the Met was founded in 1870 and has remained one of the world’s finest and most famous art museums ever since. Among the Met’s collection you will find such famous pieces as Emanuel Luetze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, paintings by Monet, Cézanne, and Rembrandt, as well as a separate museum, the Cloisters, which was founded by John D. Rockefeller and is dedicated to medieval art.
The American Museum of Natural History is the next option for CityPass holders. Founded in 1869, and holding over 32 million specimens, this museum is one of the world’s largest and most celebrated treasures. Home to meteorites, dinosaur bones, a planetarium and one of the greatest libraries on natural history in the worls, there is literally something for everyone at this place. It is located on a beautiful piece of land just outside of Central Park.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is another New York treasure. The foremost museum dedicated solely to the exhibition of modern and western artists, here you will find Picasso’s Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and many, many other familiar and ground-breaking pieces. MoMA contains over 300,000 artist’s books, books and periodicals, as well as files on over 70,000 artists. MoMA was founded in 1929 and is dedicated to facilitating the enjoyment and appreciation of modern and contemporary art. Showing films, rotating exhibits and really projecting a different type of museum atmosphere, MoMA is a must-see for even the most reluctant of museum-goers.
Finally, one of CityPass’s two option tickets allows travelers admission into the Guggenheim Museum. Worth seeing for its architecture alone, New York’s Guggenheim is part of a network of museums around the globe with additional branches in Venice, Bilbao, Berlin, and Abu Dhabi. Another museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and artists, the Guggenheim hosts daily tours.
For the art-lover, choosing to travel to New York City with the deep discounts of the CityPass can be a great way to experience the best the city has to offer at a reduced rate. By choosing to go to New York in the spring, you are given the added benefit of reduced crowds, a chance at warmer weather, and a guarantee to take away more than just a sunburn.