Take a Tour

Yale College students provide a glimpse into the history and architecture of the university. The tours start at the Yale Visitor Center at 149 Elm Street. Hear about Yale’s rich 300-year history and aspects of student life at several of Yale’s fourteen residential colleges. The tour also includes the Gothic Sterling Memorial Library, Yale’s largest, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Constructed with more than one hundred panels of translucent marble, the Beinecke is home to one of the world’s preeminent collections of rare materials, including the Gutenberg Bible.

Tours depart from the Visitor Center and cover the central campus area. Tours last approximately one hour.

Register for a Visitor Center Tour (registration is required)

Please note that the Visitor Center provides campus tours that are geared toward a broad audience of visitors. Undergraduate Admissions provides separate tours. If you are a prospective undergraduate student, you should consider attending an Undergraduate Admissions tour.

Kids’ Architectural Treasure Hunt

Parents taking the campus tour with children ages 6-11 can request a brochure that encourages the children to hunt for architectural details and designs.

Please visit the undergraduate admissions website to reserve your campus tour.

Groups of 10 or more visiting the campus can arrange to have a private tour specifically suited to their time schedule. All private tour company groups, regardless of size, are required to schedule a private tour. For each group of up to 25 people, one student tour guide will be scheduled. There is a fee of $50 per guide. 

Tours may be arranged Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. When requesting a tour, please provide the following information: time and date requested, organizer name, group name, phone number, email and number of guests. Although we will make every attempt to accommodate your request, a tour is not guaranteed until you receive official confirmation from our office.

Due to a high volume of group tour requests, please email visitorcenter@yale.edu or call 203-432-2300 to schedule your group tour.

Can’t make it to campus for an in-person tour? Check out a virtual tour of Yale’s main campus in New Haven, including specialized experiences you can choose from: campus, science, engineering, athletics, and residential colleges. 

Yale’s West Campus is located in Orange, Connecticut, and also offers several virtual tours. Take a virtual tour of West Campus.