Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, at 465 Huntington Avenue in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest art museums in the United States, with a collection of roughly half a million works spanning ancient Egypt to contemporary art. Highlights include one of the largest collections of Monet paintings outside Paris, American works by John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer, Egyptian mummies and funerary art, Japanese art that is among the most significant outside Japan, Greek and Roman sculpture, and the Art of the Americas wing. The Shapiro Family Courtyard, a glass-covered atrium, offers a light-filled place to rest and has a cafe. Admission is about $30 per adult and $14 for ages 7 to 17, with children under 7 free, and the museum typically opens 10am to 5pm with a late opening one evening a week. A visit usually takes two to four hours, though the building is large enough to fill a full day. Good vantage points include the Impressionist galleries on the second level, the Art of the Americas courtyard and the Huntington Avenue entrance. The museum is on the Green Line E branch at Museum of Fine Arts station and also near the Longwood Medical Area. Crowds peak on weekends, school holidays and free-admission evenings, when popular galleries can feel packed. Weekday afternoons are the quietest, and the late Friday opening draws locals and a livelier atmosphere. Visitors should check the website for current opening days, as the museum closes on one weekday, and for special exhibitions, which often carry a separate or timed ticket. Plan the visit by choosing two or three wings rather than trying to see everything.