New Haven Day Trip from NYC — Yale, Pizza & World-Class Art

New Haven is underestimated by nearly everyone who has not visited. Yale University gives the city an architectural and cultural infrastructure completely disproportionate to its population — three world-class art museums, all free; a medieval quadrangle of Gothic collegiate buildings; and the Beinecke Rare Book Library. The pizza generates genuine fanaticism.

Yale University & the Green

The Yale campus wraps around the New Haven Green, a three-part colonial common at the center of the city. The Old Campus dates to the 18th and 19th centuries; the residential colleges modeled on Oxford and Cambridge fill the surrounding blocks. The Sterling Memorial Library, designed to look like a Gothic cathedral, is open to visitors. Free campus tours depart from the Visitors Center at 149 Elm Street.

The Art Museums

Three museums make New Haven a legitimate art destination. The Yale University Art Gallery, the oldest college art museum in America, holds more than 250,000 objects in a Louis Kahn-designed building. The Yale Center for British Art has the largest collection of British paintings outside the UK. The Peabody Museum of Natural History, in a newly renovated facility, holds one of the great natural history collections in the country. All three are free.

The Pizza

Three institutions define New Haven apizza (ah-BEETS): Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana on Wooster Street, opened 1925 — the white clam pizza is the signature and one of the genuinely transformative pizza experiences available anywhere. Sally's Apizza, opened 1938 by Pepe's nephew, is the rival institution directly across the street. Modern Apizza on State Street is frequently cited by locals as the best. All three have significant weekend waits — arrive at opening (typically 11:30 AM) or expect 45 to 90 minutes.

Getting There

By train: Metro-North New Haven Line from Grand Central or Amtrak from Penn Station to New Haven Union Station — approximately 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours. The station is a 15-minute walk from Yale and 20 minutes from Wooster Street. By car: I-95 east to Exit 47, approximately 80 miles, 1.5 to 2 hours.

Where to Stay

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