The Cloisters

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This uptown branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is worth the 45-minute subway ride from midtown (plus a pleasant 10-minute walk through Fort Tryon Park.) Perched on the tip of Manhattan, the castle-like Museum is comprised of five Medieval cloisters imported from France and filled with art and artifacts. Perhaps the most celebrated attractions are The Unicorn Tapestries, a group of seven wall hangings that vividly portray the mythological hunt and capture of a unicorn. (The flowers in the tapestries, woven of wool and silk, are depicted in such detail that researchers have identified many of them.) Other gallery objects include religious sculptures, water vessels shaped like animals, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and ivories. Many visitors come for the building itself: One room recreates a 12th-century chapel and the monastery gardens are breathtaking. With its antiquated structure and amazing vistas, the Museum is also featured in numerous films including Coogan's Bluff and Keeping the Faith. — Lauren Aaronson

This outdoor terrace provides magnificent views of the Hudson River unlike those from any other vantage point in Manhattan.

The Treasury
A room devoted to precious objects holds both the beautiful—gold jewelry and illuminated manuscripts—and the odd—a silver reliquary shaped like an arm and a complete deck of hand-drawn fifteenth-century playing cards.

Tours
Daily, 4 p.m. Free with museum admission. A garden tour is offered from May through September, daily at 11 a.m. It is also free with museum admission.

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