Tourist are planning their visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
Plan Your Visit

Plan Your Visit to 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Everything you need to know before you go, from opening hours and the quietest times to arrive to how you get there and what security lets you carry in. The Museum runs on timed entry and closes on Tuesdays, so a little planning saves you queueing at the Greenwich Street entrance. Use the practical guidance below to shape your day around both the memorial plaza and the galleries.

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Plan Your Visit to 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Tickets

Museum admission is timed-entry, so book a slot online in advance. The outdoor Memorial plaza is free and needs no ticket — check the official website for current pricing.

Before you go

Security is airport-style and large bags are not allowed inside. Travel light and review what to bring before you set off.

Best timing

Weekday mornings at opening are quietest; weekend afternoons are busiest. Allow two to three hours — see how long to spend.

On arrival

The entrance sits on the plaza between the two reflecting pools. This is a burial site, so keep voices low and avoid touching the bronze parapet names.

Planning Your 9/11 Memorial & Museum Visit

Hours, timing, trip length and directions for planning your visit.

9/11 Memorial & Museum hours: opening times, days & holiday schedule

9/11 Memorial & Museum hours: opening times, days & holiday schedule

Detailed hours for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, including daily opening and closing times, last entry, weekly closures, and holiday schedule changes.

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Best time to visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Best time to visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

The 9/11 Memorial plaza is least crowded before 10am; the museum’s quietest hours are weekday late afternoons, when timed-entry slots open up.

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How long should you spend at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum?

How long should you spend at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum?

Around 2 hours covers the memorial pools and museum; allow 3 if you take the guided tour or read exhibit panels closely.

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How to get to the 9/11 Memorial

How to get to the 9/11 Memorial

Directions from Fulton Street and World Trade Center subway stations to the Memorial plaza entrance at Greenwich and Liberty Streets, plus PATH train and bus options.

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Deciding to Visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Whether it’s worth going, common questions and the official website.

9/11 Memorial & Museum official website: what you can find & do online

9/11 Memorial & Museum official website: what you can find & do online

The official site’s map of visitor-facing tools: timed-entry ticket booking, exhibition and memorial pool details, hours, free-admission times, and name-locating in the memorial.

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FAQs about the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

FAQs about the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Answers to common questions about visiting the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, including ticket prices, timed entry, security screening, photography rules, and how long to allow.

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Is the 9/11 Memorial worth visiting?

Is the 9/11 Memorial worth visiting?

The 9/11 Memorial pools are free and open daily; the adjoining museum charges admission and needs 2–3 hours for the historical exhibitions.

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Visiting the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Respectfully

Etiquette, photography rules and preparing children for a solemn site.

How to visit the 9/11 Memorial respectfully: rules & etiquette

How to visit the 9/11 Memorial respectfully: rules & etiquette

Visitors must observe quiet, avoid touching the memorial pool names, and refrain from photography inside museum exhibition spaces. Covers dress, behavior around families, and bag rules.

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Photography at the 9/11 Memorial: what's allowed

Photography at the 9/11 Memorial: what’s allowed

Cameras and phones are allowed at the memorial pools and inside most museum galleries; tripods, selfie sticks, and flash are prohibited, and some exhibition areas ban photography entirely.

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Visiting the 9/11 Memorial with children: age guidance & how to prepare them

Visiting the 9/11 Memorial with children: age guidance & how to prepare them

Practical guidance on whether the memorial and museum are appropriate for your child’s age, plus how to talk with them beforehand about what they’ll see.

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Practical Details for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Accessibility provisions and what to pack or leave behind.

Accessibility guide to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Accessibility guide to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Guided tours of the memorial plaza and museum for visitors with mobility, hearing, or vision needs, plus wheelchair loans, entrances, and quiet spaces.

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What to bring (and what not to) to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

What to bring (and what not to) to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Practical notes on the security screening and bag policy: no large bags or luggage allowed, plus what to leave behind before you arrive.

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Practical Information

Quick-read guidance for scheduling, pacing, and general comfort during your visit.

Tickets & Admission

The outdoor Memorial plaza and the Museum are two separate experiences with two very different ticketing rules.

  • Walking the Memorial plaza — the reflecting pools, the bronze name parapets and the Survivor Tree — is free and needs no ticket at any time.
  • Museum admission is timed-entry: book an arrival slot on the official website rather than queuing at the Greenwich Street entrance.
  • Free Monday-evening slots are limited and go quickly. 9/11 families, recovery workers and active-duty military qualify for free or reduced entry — check the eligibility details before you pay.

Getting There & Timing Your Visit

The Memorial sits on top of one of the densest transit hubs in New York, so arriving is easy — arriving at the right hour takes a little planning.

  • WTC Cortlandt, Fulton Street, World Trade Center and Chambers Street are all a 3–7 minute walk to the plaza; full route options including PATH and ferry are here.
  • Budget roughly 30–45 minutes for the plaza and 2–3 hours for the Museum — plan the time rather than squeezing it between other stops.
  • The Museum closes one weekday each week, and on September 11 for the family commemoration; confirm current opening times before locking in a date.

Etiquette, Photography & Visiting With Children

This is a memorial and an active burial site for unidentified remains, and the expected behaviour is closer to a cemetery than a museum.

  • Don’t sit or lean on the bronze name parapets and never throw anything into the reflecting pools. A white rose in a panel marks that person’s birthday — please leave it in place.
  • Photography is fine on the plaza and in Foundation Hall but prohibited in the Historical Exhibition and the In Memoriam gallery; the camera rules cover tripods, selfie sticks and drones.
  • The Historical Exhibition includes emergency-call audio and graphic imagery. The Museum suggests age 10 and up, and preparing children beforehand makes a real difference.

Security, Bags & Accessibility

Everyone entering the Museum passes through airport-style screening, which is the single biggest thing that determines how long you wait outside.

  • Large luggage, suitcases and oversized backpacks are not permitted and there is no bag storage on site — leave them at your hotel and see the full bring-and-leave list.
  • No food, drink other than sealed water, weapons or tripods; the plaza has no food service, so eat before or after in the Oculus or Brookfield Place.
  • The plaza and all Museum levels are step-free, and manual wheelchairs are free to borrow at the entrance — access details also cover assistive listening and sensory guidance.

Things to Know Before You Book

Key reminders for a hassle-free visit.

🎫 Plaza is free, museum isn’t — The outdoor memorial plaza with the twin reflecting pools is free and needs no ticket, but the underground museum requires a timed-entry ticket. Book a slot online in advance, since walk-up availability at the 180 Greenwich Street entrance is unreliable in peak season.
⏳ Allow three hours minimum — Most visitors need about 15–20 minutes at the pools and at least two hours inside, and the historical exhibition alone can absorb 90 minutes. Rushing it is the most common regret, so budget your time before you book a ticket slot.
🔎 Find a name before arriving — The 2,983 names on the bronze parapets are arranged by “meaningful adjacency” — colleagues and friends grouped together — not alphabetically. Look up the panel number on the memorial’s name-finder or at a plaza guide kiosk so you’re not searching in circles.
🎒 Pack light for security — Museum entry involves airport-style screening, and large bags, luggage and oversized backpacks are turned away with no on-site storage. Checking what you can bring saves a long walk back to your hotel.
📷 Photography stops at certain galleries — Photos are welcome on the plaza and in the main museum hall, but cameras and phones must stay away in the historical exhibition and the In Memoriam room honouring the victims. Staff enforce this consistently, so don’t plan on discreet shots.
🤍 This is an active gravesite — Unidentified remains rest at the site and victims’ families visit daily, so keep voices low, don’t sit on or lean over the parapets, and skip selfies at the pools. Families with kids should read up on preparing children, as the exhibition’s audio and imagery unsettle many under 10.

Continue Exploring 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Discover what to see inside and find the right ticket for your visit.

Tickets & Tours

Tickets & Tours

Compare ticket prices, guided tours, and combination packages.

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What to See

What to See

Discover the Memorial pools, Museum exhibits, and must-see highlights.

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Ready to book your 9/11 Memorial & Museum tickets?

Browse guided tours, book tickets, and learn what to expect when you visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions visitors ask when planning their trip.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is generally open Wednesday through Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and closed on Tuesdays, with last entry about 90 minutes before closing. The outdoor 9/11 Memorial plaza keeps longer daily hours and is free to enter.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, with the museum entrance on Greenwich Street between Liberty and Fulton. It is reached by the E train to World Trade Center, the 1 to WTC Cortlandt, the R/W to Cortlandt Street, the A/C/2/3/4/5/J/Z to Fulton Street, or PATH trains from New Jersey to the World Trade Center station under the Oculus.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum uses timed-entry tickets, so booking online in advance is strongly recommended and often necessary. Same-day tickets at the door are limited and popular time slots — mornings, weekends, and school holidays — regularly sell out.
9/11 Memorial & Museum admission runs roughly $36 for adults, with reduced rates for seniors, students, youth, and veterans, and free entry for children under 7. Admission is always free for 9/11 victims’ family members and for 9/11 rescue and recovery workers, and the museum also offers a free-admission window on Monday afternoons for which tickets are released online in advance.
The 9/11 Memorial plaza is free and open to the public every day with no ticket required. The plaza holds the twin reflecting pools set in the footprints of the Twin Towers, ringed by bronze parapets inscribed with the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Most visitors spend about two to three hours inside the 9/11 Memorial Museum, plus 30 minutes on the Memorial plaza. The Historical Exhibition, which covers the day of the attacks hour by hour, accounts for the largest share of that time.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is fully wheelchair accessible, with step-free access throughout, elevators to all exhibition levels, and accessible restrooms. Manual wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge at the coat check, and the museum provides assistive listening devices, ASL and other accessibility programs on request, and sensory resources for neurodivergent visitors.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum requires all visitors to pass through airport-style security screening, so arriving 15 to 30 minutes before your ticketed entry time is wise. Large luggage, suitcases, and oversized items are not permitted; small bags and backpacks are allowed after screening, and coats and smaller bags can be left at the coat check for a fee.
Photography for personal use is permitted in most public areas of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, including the plaza and the main Foundation Hall. Photography, video, and phone use are prohibited in the Historical Exhibition and the In Memoriam memorial exhibition out of respect for the victims and their families.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum recommends its Historical Exhibition for visitors aged 10 and older, as it contains graphic images, emergency calls, and other emotionally intense material. Younger children can visit the Memorial plaza and the museum’s less graphic spaces, and the museum publishes family guides to help parents prepare them beforehand.
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