These are the best places to travel this summer

New Haven

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2025

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Shop Book
Yale University - New Haven, Connecticut

LONELY PLANET’S RECOMMENDED eSIM

Stay connected in New Haven

with

Saily is an affordable eSIM service that helps you stay connected and secure, anywhere in the world.

Get your eSIM

Overview

Connecticut's second-largest city radiates out from pretty New Haven Green, laid by Puritan settlers in the 1600s. Around it, Yale University's over-300-year-old accessible campus offers visitors a wealth of world-class attractions, from museums and galleries to a lively concert program and walking-tour tales of secret societies.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • This decorative iron gate is the entrance to the Memorial Quadrangle on the campus of Yale University. The gate beneath Harkness Tower, crafted by Samuel Yellin, is the most ornate of his many works at Yale.

    Yale University

    New Haven

    Each year, thousands of high-school students make pilgrimages to Yale, nursing dreams of attending the country's third-oldest university, which boasts…

  • Yale Center for British Art

    Yale Center for British Art

    New Haven

    Reopened in 2016 after extensive restoration, this fabulous gallery was architect Louis Kahn’s last commission and is the setting for the largest…

  • Exterior, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

    Yale University Art Gallery

    New Haven

    This outstanding museum was architect Louis Kahn's first commission and houses the oldest university art collection in the country; it includes Vincent…

  • Shore Line Trolley Museum

    Shore Line Trolley Museum

    New Haven

    For a unique take on East Haven's shoreline, take a ride on this open-sided antique trolley – the oldest continuously running suburban trolley line in the…

  • A 16 acre park in New Haven, CT, used for many public events and bordered by Yale University.

    New Haven Green

    New Haven

    New Haven's spacious green has been the spiritual center of the city since its Puritan fathers designed it in 1638 as the prospective site for Christ's…

  • Photo of a very old, vintage, antique tombstone (headstone) at the historic Grove Street Cemetery, one of the oldest burial grounds in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. ; Shutterstock ID 2312436465; your: Barbara Di Castro; gl: 65050; netsuite: digital; full: poi
2312436465

    Grove Street Cemetery

    New Haven

    Three blocks north of the green, this cemetery holds the graves of several famous New Havenites behind its grand Egyptian Revival gate, including rubber…

  • Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

    Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

    New Haven

    Built in 1963, this extraordinary piece of architecture is the largest building in the world designed for the preservation of rare manuscripts. The…

  • Tomb

    Tomb

    New Haven

    The Tomb is not open to the public. This is the home of Yale’s most notorious secret society, the Skull & Bones Club, founded in 1832, and its list of…

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in New Haven