Top 15 Attractions and Activities in New Haven, CT

Examine a map of New Haven, and you will observe a four-by-four grid at its core, established in 1638, making it the first planned city in America.

Since 1701, the narrative of New Haven has been closely connected with that of Yale University, whose Collegiate Gothic campus is distributed throughout downtown.

As a university town, New Haven possesses a unique vitality in its walkable streets, enriched with culture, dining options, and entertainment venues. It is essential to highlight New Haven-style pizza, offered at establishments that have remained popular since the 1930s.

Crown Street and Temple Street provide a wide variety of cuisines including pho, sushi, and Cuban fare, along with intellectual engagements available at institutions such as the Yale University Art Gallery, the Peabody Museum, and the Yale Center for British Art.

New Haven is situated at the mouth of the harbor on Long Island Sound, featuring a coastline adorned with parks suitable for waterfront strolls and beach activities.

1. Yale University

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The largest employer in New Haven is the nation’s third-oldest institution of higher education.

Established in 1701, Yale University has produced 61 Nobel Laureates, five U.S. Presidents, and 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

As you explore the campus, you will notice that, aside from a few striking examples of modern design, the various schools and libraries reflect a prestigious Collegiate Gothic architectural style.

The exquisite mansions on Hillhouse Avenue and the 216-foot Harkness Tower, part of the Memorial Quadrangle, dominate High Street.

The Yale University Visitor Center, located at 149 Elm Street in John Pierpoint House, the oldest private residence in New Haven, offers arrangements for guided tours led by knowledgeable undergraduates.

2. Yale University Art Gallery

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Situated in a grand Tuscan Romanesque building a few blocks from the Green, it is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere.

Covering four floors, the Yale University Art Gallery encompasses works from all epochs and cultures; however, there is a particular emphasis on French Impressionism, late-19th-century American Realism, African sculpture, early Italian painting, and modern art.

The gallery’s remarkable diversity excites visitors as they encounter everything from Greek Archaic period urns from the 6th century BCE to Vincent van Gogh’s The Night Café.

Exhibits include 17th-century Chinese landscape scrolls, Early Classic Period Mayan carvings, late medieval Italian ecclesiastical paintings, and masterpieces by Flemish artists like Rubens and Frans Hals.

Sharing the third floor with these masters is a significant collection of modern painting, featuring works like Joseph Stella’s Brooklyn Bridge (1919-20) and Kazimir Malevich’s The Knifegrinder (1912-1913).

3. Yale Center for British Art

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This museum, located opposite the Yale University Art Gallery on Chapel Street, possesses the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom.

With over 2,000 paintings and 200 sculptures, the Yale Center for British Art spans from the Elizabethan period of the 16th century, with a focus on the Georgian era from William Hogarth’s birth in 1697 to J.M.W. Turner’s death in 1851.

Notable artists represented include Turner, Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Constable, as well as 20th-century artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Stanley Spencer.

The collections of drawings and prints are extensive, featuring works by Hogarth, Blake, John Ruskin, Paul Nash, and the pre-Raphaelites, alongside every publication from William Morris’s Kelmscott Press among the books, manuscripts, and maps.

Recent illuminating exhibitions have addressed themes such as Georgian and Victorian Prisons, British Castles, 18th-century marine painting, and Romantic art from 1760 to 1860.

During my last visit, the museum was temporarily closed, but it was anticipated to reopen within a year.

4. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

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Among the premier university natural history museums in the world, the Peabody Museum was founded in 1866 and recently benefited from a substantial $160 million donation from philanthropist Ed Bass.

Visitors can experience wildlife dioramas and engaging permanent exhibitions on subjects including ornithology, mineralogy, Connecticut’s Native Americans, and the evolution of humans and animals.

However, the highlight for many is the museum’s impressive vertebrate paleontology collections, which rank among the best in the nation.

The Great Hall of Dinosaurs features a mounted skeleton of a juvenile brontosaurus and proudly displays the remarkable 110-foot Age of Reptiles mural, created over five years culminating in 1947 by Rudolph F. Zallinger.

5. East Rock Park

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At the northern end of the city lies a rugged diabase ridge, formed 200 million years ago, extending 1.4 miles and reaching a maximum elevation of 466 feet.

The sedimentary stone that surrounds East Rock has eroded over time, exposing igneous bluffs with a reddish hue due to their iron content.

Visitors can explore the 427-acre East Rock Park, which is bordered by the Mill River and features wetland areas, birdwatching spots, sports fields, a canoe launch, and a prominent 1887 monument dedicated to Soldiers and Sailors situated at the summit of the bluffs.

It is highly recommended to visit the viewpoint near the monument to enjoy the stunning vistas of Long Island Sound and the harbor.

6. The Green

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All attractions mentioned thus far, except East Rock Park, are located within proximity to this 16-acre square that features lawns, monuments, and ample tree cover along its edges.

The trees in this area are mainly younger elms, resilient against Dutch elm disease, and were planted in the 1980s following the die-off of the previous generation due to the fungus.

The Green is an integral aspect of New Haven’s planned layout from 1638, originally designed by its Puritan founders to accommodate a projected population of 144,000, believed to be spared by the Second Coming of Christ.

Dominating the skyline are the white steeples of three early-19th-century churches, with one being explored later in this article.

Along the southwest side, a variety of dining options are available (like Subway, Five Guys, Shake Shack, Chipotle, and the Halal Guys), and during the summer, various outdoor concerts and festivals frequently take place.

An important event in the calendar is the 15-day International Festival of Arts & Ideas held in June, which is centered here but extends throughout New Haven.

7. Lighthouse Point Park

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Located on the eastern side of the entrance to New Haven Harbor, this 82-acre park features beaches protected by rocky outcrops, offering scenic views back towards the city.

One historic landmark is the Five Mile Point Light, situated precisely five miles from New Haven Green, which guided maritime traffic in and out of the harbor from 1847 until its deactivation in 1877. The 80-foot octagonal tower was restored in the 1980s and, along with its keeper’s house, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Equally cherished is the park’s carousel from 1911, which continues to operate on national holidays and weekends during the summer, being one of fewer than 100 still functioning today.

The ride features intricately carved figures including 69 horses, two chariots, and a rare single camel.

For younger visitors, the park also offers a splash pad, along with a concession stand and pavilions available for rental during the summer months.

8. Sterling Memorial Library

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The main library building of Yale University, dating back to 1931, is an architectural marvel in Gothic Revival style, designed by James Gamble Rogers, complete with an impressive 15-level book stack tower.

As with all of Yale’s libraries, Sterling Memorial is open to the public from Monday to Thursday, 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM, and Friday from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM.

It is a worthwhile visit to experience the atmospheric architecture, particularly within the main nave characterized by its beautifully coffered ceiling and lofty pointed arches.

The details of the decor are reflective of the purpose of each room; for instance, the English study features stained glass depicting scenes from Hamlet, King Lear, and Lady Macbeth. Similarly, the offices for the Babylonian Collection, one of the world’s largest collections of ancient Mesopotamian artifacts, showcase fitting ornamentation.

This collection is available for viewing by prior appointment and mainly includes inscriptions on clay tablets, cones, and prisms in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hittite.

9. PEZ Visitor Center

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The American headquarters for the renowned Austrian candy, PEZ, is located adjacent to the Yale West Campus in Orange. The visitor center within this contemporary facility offers a comprehensive overview of everything PEZ.

Visitors can explore the brand’s history, commencing in 1927, engage in interactive quizzes, play games, and observe the state-of-the-art packaging facility in operation through observation windows.

Display cases are filled with decades of intriguing PEZ memorabilia, all under the gaze of the world’s largest PEZ dispenser.

Also notable is a PEZ-themed motorcycle designed by the company featured on the television program American Chopper. Furthermore, the store contains the largest selection of PEZ products encountered.

10. Shubert Theater

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Inaugurated in 1914 by the Shubert Brothers, prominent figures in the New York theater scene, the 1,600-seat Shubert Theater quickly established itself as a trial venue for new productions prior to their Broadway debuts.

Over the past century, more than 300 world premieres have taken place at New Haven’s Shubert Theater, alongside 50 American premieres and over 600 Broadway tryouts.

Notably, Liza Minnelli made her Broadway debut here in Flora the Red Menace in 1965, joined by the three Barrymores (Ethel, John, and Lionel), and the Marx Brothers during their vaudeville era.

During my recent visit, I had the opportunity to experience Chicago, a cherished classic, within this opulent venue.

Alongside the Broadway season, an array of live music performances, ranging from jazz to classical recitals, are featured, in addition to a summer theater and arts camp for children throughout the month of July.

11. New Haven-style Pizza

It is virtually inconceivable to visit New Haven without indulging in the city’s renowned pizza. In fact, many people travel specifically for pizza crawls, visiting iconic establishments such as Sally’s Apizza, which opened in 1938, and Modern Apizza (1934).

Of all regional pizza styles, New Haven-style pizza holds perhaps the greatest gastronomic reputation.

This pizza is rooted in Neapolitan thin-crust traditions, baked at extremely high temperatures in coal-fired ovens, resulting in a distinctive char. It consists primarily of cold-fermented dough, tomato sauce, oregano, and a sprinkling of pecorino, with mozzarella serving as a topping rather than a base.

12. Center Church on the Green (First Church of Christ)

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The Center Church on the Green dates back to a year after the establishment of New Haven in 1639, with visible evidence of the site’s antiquity situated underground in the crypt.

The fourth and current church structure, built in a Georgian style during the 1810s, rests atop the town’s former burial ground, with all remains and gravestones preserved in place.

The oldest gravestone belongs to Sarah Rutherford Trowbridge (d.1687), while remains of Benedict Arnold’s first wife, Margaret Mansfield (d.1775), and a founding member of Yale, James Pierpoint (d.1714), are also interred here.

13. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

A remarkable modern edifice at Yale University, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is one of the largest buildings globally dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Constructed in the International style during the 1960s, its austere exterior belies the spectacle within.

Inside, sunlight filters through the textured marble panels on the walls, illuminating an awe-inspiring array of stacks laden with invaluable books and manuscripts.

The library is accessible to the public seven days a week, featuring various permanent and temporary displays. Visitors may find it humbling to view an authentic Gutenberg Bible, early printed works, and John James Audubon’s Birds of America.

14. Savin Rock Park

An additional opportunity to enjoy the fragrance of the ocean and gaze across Long Island Sound, Savin Rock Park lies waterfront in West Haven.

From the 1870s until the 1960s, this location was known as Connecticut’s Coney Island, featuring a 1,500-foot pier and an amusement park with five roller coasters built on massive wooden frames.

The 1938 New England hurricane and subsequent residential and industrial development effectively ended the amusement park era.

Today, Savin Rock Park serves as a pleasant locale for a leisurely stroll or sunbathing on the beach.

A boardwalk features benches, backed by a vast grassy foreshore that hints at the dynamic amusement park that once thrived here.

For the adventurous, a walk out to Bradley Rocks at low tide offers a unique experience beyond the park’s western edge.

15. Grove Street Cemetery

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Regarded as the world’s first private non-profit cemetery, Grove Street Cemetery is flanked by Yale University buildings just north of New Haven Green.

Established in 1796, it replaced the burial ground on the Green and was one of the first cemeteries to feature permanent memorials and a structured layout of ornamental gardens, family-owned plots, and paved streets.

Among the notable individuals interred at Grove Street Cemetery are fourteen Yale presidents, including distinguished astronomers, theologians, mathematicians, paleontologists, and chemists such as Lars Onsager (1903-1976), who received the Nobel Prize in 1969.

The most prominent internment is Eli Whitney (1765-1925), acclaimed for inventing the cotton gin, with a monument honoring bandleader Glenn Miller, who famously disappeared in 1944 after forming the 418th Army Air Forces Band at Yale in 1942.

Guided tours are available on Wednesdays and Saturdays from April through November, providing rich insights into this historical site.