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Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Photo: Ragesoss, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsFreeRainy-Day PickHistory Buff

Yale University Art Gallery

1111 Chapel St · New Haven, CT

Why you should go…

Founded in 1832, this is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere, and admission is free. The collection of more than 300,000 objects is strong in early Italian Renaissance painting, African sculpture and modern art, and it includes van Gogh's The Night Café. The galleries run through several connected buildings, including Louis Kahn's modernist wing with its tetrahedral concrete ceiling, and the 2012 expansion added a rooftop sculpture garden.

  • #art museum
  • #free museum
  • #yale university
  • #louis kahn
  • #van gogh

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to Yale University Art Gallery, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Eat & Drink
    Foodie Favorite

    Louis' Lunch

    Free

    Order a hamburger sandwich on toast, cooked in 1898 cast-iron vertical broilers, with no ketchup offered.

    Steps awaySwitch it up: Eat & Drink

  • Eat & Drink
    Foodie Favorite

    Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

    Under $25

    Order a coal-fired white clam pizza or original tomato pie at the 1925 Wooster Street pizzeria that started it all.

    0.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Eat & Drink

  • Museums
    Family Favorite

    Yale Peabody Museum

    Free

    See a mounted Brontosaurus, the 110-foot Age of Reptiles mural and galleries on ancient civilizations at Yale's natural history museum.

    0.9 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    It Adventure Ropes Course

    $25–$50

    Indoor ropes course inside Jordan's Furniture in New Haven, with more than 100 elements, 180-foot zip rails and climbing walls on a five-story frame.

    1.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Museums
    Family Favorite

    Dinosaur State Park

    Under $25

    Walk around a geodesic dome built over early Jurassic dinosaur footprints, then hike the trails through a Mesozoic-style arboretum.

    28 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Connecticut River Museum

    Under $25

    A maritime history museum on the Essex, CT waterfront with a working replica of the first combat submarine.

    28 mi awayMore like this