The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is a famous military, naval and, to a lesser extent, space museum that is one of the best and largest in its category in the world. In good conscience, we can recommend a visit even to those who have no interest in military and technology.

In fact, the museum itself is for the most part located right in the bowels of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, and just visiting this space will be a great experience.

The aircraft carrier as museum: what to see?

The museum is located at Pier 86 in the former Hudson River harbour and is divided into 4 main sections. Engineering, military and aviation enthusiasts will easily spend 5-6 hours in the museum, but even casual travelers will find it interesting enough to set aside at least 2 hours for a visit.

USS Intrepid - aircraft carrier

The most visited part of the museum, which we recommend everyone to visit. Accessible are the 4 main decks of the aircraft carrier that served between 1943 and 1974 in both World War II and the Vietnam War.

You can visit the entire outdoor deck with runway and exhibits of many aircraft (Flight Deck) from all branches of the US military. You will admire 30 different aircraft across the history of the U.S. Air Force. Find out what you can look forward to, for example, in the museum's official flyer.

One deck below is the Gallery Deck with quarters for Marines, a control center and a planning room.

One floor below, but closest to the ship's entrance, you'll visit the popular Hangar Deck, a deck for aircraft or helicopter staging and servicing with lots of interesting information.

The last accessible deck is the Third Deck, where you can get a glimpse into the background of everyday life aboard an aircraft carrier, from the soldiers' quarters to the mess and galleys.

Space Shuttle Pavilion

The newest part of the museum, built in 2011, has quickly gained mass popularity with tourists from all over the world. The main draw is obvious: the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first American space shuttle designed for NASA in 1977. The Soviet Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft is also on display.

The pavilion also features many other smaller exhibits and displays about the U.S. space program.

British Airways Concorde

At the far end of Pier 86, a legend of world transport aviation - the supersonic Concorde aircraft in British Airways colours - stands in the open air. After these aircraft ceased operations, many of them flew their final legs to various museums around the world. A G-BOAD registration machine docked at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Part of the interior is also accessible.

USS Growler - submarine

The Growler submarine is the only guided-missile submarine of its kind open to the public in the United States. You can see almost the entire machine from the crew quarters to the control center to the popular torpedo chamber.

Admission and opening hours

Opening hours vary in winter and summer.

June - September: 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry at 16:00) on weekdays, or 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry at 17:00) on weekends and holidays
October - May: open only on weekends and public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:00)
Current opening hours on the museum's website: intrepidmuseum.org/Plan-Your-Visit

Only oneadmission ticket can be purchased to enter the entire site. Discounted tickets are not available for certain areas only.

36 usd - Adults ages 13 to 64
34 USD - Seniors over 65 and university students with an ISIC card
26 usd - children aged 5 to 12 years
Current ticket prices on the museum's website: intrepidmuseum.org/admission

We recommend buying tickets online via the official website at the exact time to avoid the often up to 2-hour queues.

Official museum website: intrepidmuseum.org

How to get to the Intrepid Museum?

The exhibits can all be found in the former marina at "Pier 86" in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan.

Right at the entrance to the museum you will find the bus stop "12 Av/W 46 St" where the M12 (towards Central Park and the High Line) and M50 (towards Rockefeller Center and the UN building) stop.

Nearest subway station