The 6 Best Museums in Albany, Ranked
Interior gallery of a museum in Albany
Six museums worth an afternoon, ranked by how much they reward the time you give them.
The essential three
1. New York State Museum. It's free, it's enormous, and the 9/11 gallery with the recovered fire truck is one of the most affecting exhibits in any American museum. Budget two hours minimum. 2. Albany Institute of History and Art. Founded in 1791, it holds the country's best regional collection of Hudson River School paintings alongside two actual Egyptian mummies. Adults pay $10. 3. USS Slater. Not a museum in the traditional sense but a restored World War II Destroyer Escort you walk through, moored on the Hudson from April to November.
The specialist four through six
4. Shaker Heritage Society in Colonie, the site of America's first Shaker settlement from 1776. Small, quiet, self-guided grounds are free. 5. Ten Broeck Mansion in Arbor Hill, a 1798 Federal home with excellent volunteer docents and a shockingly intact wine cellar. 6. Historic Cherry Hill on South Pearl, occupied by five generations of one family until 1963, so the collection is unusually complete. Skipped: the New York State Military Museum is actually in Saratoga, not Albany, and the Irish American Heritage Museum has been through several closures — check before you go.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Arbor Hill, answered with this month’s numbers.
The State Museum wins by a mile — the carousel on the fourth floor is free with admission, and the cast-iron fire truck fascinates every child under ten.
Yes if you’re disciplined. Do the Institute and State Museum on Saturday, then Shaker Heritage, Ten Broeck and Cherry Hill on Sunday. Save the Slater for a separate visit — it deserves the time.
