Top 10 Tourist Attractions in New Haven, Connecticut

The Yale University Art Gallery began in 1832 when John Trumbull donated more than one hundred of his paintings to the college. The art gallery’s collection has grown immensely since then and now has more than 200,000 pieces of art. Some of the permanent collections inside the gallery include African Art, Indo-Pacific Art, Contemporary Art, Ancient Art, American Sculpture, and Coins and Medals. The Yale University Art Gallery also has multiple temporary exhibits that are rotated throughout the year.

Yale University was founded in 1701 and has continued to be one of the top choices in the country for many college bound students. The university offers guided tours of the campus and people are also able to walk around on their own as they explore the Marsh Botanical Garden, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Yale Farm. Throughout the year, there are many plays, concerts, and other activities on campus for people to enjoy.

The Peabody Museum of Natural History is located on the campus at Yale University. The Peabody is considered to be one of the oldest and largest university history museums in the entire world. Guests are encouraged to walk through the numerous permanent and temporary exhibits during their time inside the museum. On the first floor, people will find themselves in the middle of dinosaurs and humans, while the second floor offers a Discovery Room and the famous Peabody dinosaur. The third floor has minerals and dioramas of places from all over the world.

Most British Art can only be seen in the United Kingdom; however, the Yale Center for British Art has an extensive collection that was given to Yale University by Paul Mellon. All of the artwork is from the Elizabethan period through more recent years. The entire collection includes 2,000 paintings, 250 sculptures, 20,000 drawings and watercolors, 40,000 prints, and 35,000 rare books and manuscripts.

In Downtown New Haven, there is a sixteen-acre park that is called New Haven Green. This area contains the original eight streets that the original founders created. While this park is popular throughout the year, there are always more people there when there is a festival, concert, or other events.

There are 427 acres in East Rock Park and the entire park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. East Rock Park is a fabulous place for people to go hiking and the views of New Haven, Long Island, and Long Island Sound are breathtaking from the top of the cliffs. Besides hiking, people can also snowshoe, cross-country ski, bicycle, and picnic almost everywhere in the park. There is even an area with multiple sports fields and courts as well as a playground for young children.

Lee Shubert and Winthrop Ames leased the site that the theater is on and built two playhouses next to each other. Lee and J.J. Shubert operated the larger playhouse, which they named Sam S. Shubert Memorial Theater after their brother who died in 1905. There have been numerous productions inside the theater since 1913 including Hamlet, Dodsworth, Maytime, Kiss Me Kate, A Chorus Line, and Gypsy.

The Grove Street Cemetery was the first chartered burial ground in the United States. This was the first cemetery to have family plots. Martha Townsend was the first person buried in the cemetery on November 9, 1797. There are many famous people buried at this cemetery too including Eli Whitney, Noah Webster, Lars Onsager, Roger Sherman, Walter Camp, and Dr. Worthington Hooker.

The Knights of Columbus Museum was established in 1982 and they display artwork and related items on a rotating basis. The museum also acts as an archive for numerous documents and artifacts. While they rotate many of their exhibits, there are two that are always on display and those are the Christopher Columbus collection and the papal memorabilia.

The Carousel at Lighthouse Point Park is one of the one hundred carousels in operation today. The carousel was built in 1916 and brought joy to people until the building was boarded up in 1977. In 1983, the Carousel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was restored. The building that housed the Carousel was also renovated and families have once again been able to take a spin on this historical masterpiece.