9/11 Memorial & Museum Timed-Entry Tickets New York

The National September 11 Memorial Museum

The 9/11 Museum sits at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, partly below ground on the foundations of the Twin Towers. It is a place of remembrance and history, and searching for 9/11 Memorial and Museum tickets is usually the first step of a serious, respectful visit. This timed-entry ticket lets you choose a slot and enter the museum without waiting for a ticket.

To get there, several subway lines stop at the World Trade Center, and the museum entrance is at Greenwich Street. Opening days and hours change during the year, so check the booking panel when you choose your date. Everyone passes through airport-style security.

The historical and memorial exhibitions

The historical exhibition is organised around the day of 11 September, what came before and what followed, and it includes events at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93. Objects, recordings, photographs and video help visitors understand the events from those who lived through them.

The memorial exhibition, In Memoriam, honours the nearly three thousand people who died in 2001 and the six who died in the 1993 bombing. Some content is emotional and may not suit very young children, so parents should decide what is right for their family.

Foundation Hall, the slurry wall and the Last Column

Foundation Hall is a vast space on the bedrock of the site. It holds the slurry wall, the retaining wall that survived the collapse and held back the Hudson River, and the Last Column, the final steel beam removed during recovery, covered with tributes and messages.

The scale of this hall is one of the most memorable parts of a 9/11 Museum visit. Allow time to stand, look and read, and expect the whole museum to take between two and three hours. Many visitors find it helpful to take a quiet moment here before continuing.

The Memorial, the pools and the Survivor Tree

Outside, the Memorial is formed by two reflecting pools set in the footprints of the Twin Towers, with the largest man-made waterfalls in North America. The names of every person who died in 2001 and 1993 are inscribed in bronze panels around the pools. The Memorial plaza is open to the public.

The Survivor Tree, a Callery pear found damaged in the rubble and replanted, stands on the plaza as a symbol of resilience. Nearby you can see One World Trade Center and the Oculus. Choose the best time for a quiet visit: weekday mornings are calmest.