New Haven

New Haven was founded in April 1638 when five hundred Puritans, led by Reverend John Davenport and merchant Theophilus Eaton, sailed into the harbor from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Its 2020 population was 134,023, making it Connecticut's third-most populous city. At the center of downtown sits the New Haven Green, a 16-acre square and National Historic Landmark. The city's nickname, the Elm City, comes from having the first public tree-planting program in the United States, which produced a canopy of mature trees, some of them large elms.

Yale University is described by Wikipedia as New Haven's biggest taxpayer and employer. Its origin traces to the Collegiate School, which relocated from Old Saybrook to New Haven in 1716; two years later, after a large donation from East India Company merchant and former Governor of Madras Elihu Yale, the school was renamed Yale College.

New Haven has the highest percentage of Italian American residents of any city in the United States, according to Wikipedia, and is noted for its own local style of pizza — apizza. Three pizzerias anchor the city's reputation: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, which states on its own site that Frank Pepe “originated New Haven-style Apizza in 1925” and now lists 17 locations across seven states; Sally's Apizza, founded in New Haven in 1938 by Salvatore “Sally” Consiglio and now operating seven locations; and Modern Apizza, on State Street in New Haven.

The Yale Peabody Museum reopened on March 26, 2024 after a renovation that Yale News reported more than doubled its exhibition spaces; Yale's capital projects office puts the gain at 50 percent. Founded by philanthropist George Peabody in 1866, the museum describes its holdings on its own site as over 14 million specimens and objects in 10 curated collections. The Great Hall of Dinosaurs includes a mounted juvenile Brontosaurus and the 110-foot mural The Age of Reptiles. According to Wikipedia's account, admission is intended to be free “in perpetuity” once construction is complete.

New Haven's apizza reputation rests on three named pizzerias, all confirmed currently operating on their own sites: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (founded 1925, per its own site), Sally's Apizza (founded 1938 by Salvatore Consiglio, per its own site), and Modern Apizza on State Street. Modern Apizza's own site lists its hours as Tuesday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 3 to 10 p.m., and says it is never open on Monday.

9 breweries within 10 miles of New Haven, 3 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

22 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of New Haven in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.

• Basketball Hall of FameMassachusettsabout 55 mi
• SpringfieldMassachusettsabout 60 mi
• Museum of Modern Art — MoMANew Yorkabout 65 mi
• Statue of Liberty National MonumentNew Yorkabout 70 mi
• NewarkNew Jerseyabout 75 mi
• NewportRhode Islandabout 85 mi
• ProvidenceRhode Islandabout 85 mi
• BristolRhode Islandabout 90 mi
• Albany/CooperstownNew Yorkabout 100 mi
• BostonMassachusettsabout 120 mi
• TrentonNew Jerseyabout 120 mi
• PlymouthMassachusettsabout 130 mi
• SalemMassachusettsabout 130 mi
• ManchesterNew Hampshireabout 140 mi
• National Baseball Hall of FameNew Yorkabout 140 mi
• ConcordNew Hampshireabout 150 mi
• Independence HallPennsylvaniaabout 150 mi
• PhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaabout 150 mi
• Provincetown (Cape Cod)Massachusettsabout 150 mi
• Atlantic CityNew Jerseyabout 160 mi
• PortsmouthNew Hampshireabout 170 mi
• WilmingtonDelawareabout 170 mi

• PEZ Visitor CenterQuirky museumOrangeabout 5 miles away

  Cost to see it

  Costs something — we did not find the price published

  When you can see it

  Only while it is open, and we did not find its hours published

  Nearest road

  I-95 / Wilbur Cross Pkwy

  Huge PEZ dispenser collection with factory viewing

  Read on the page we checked

These are things you can go and look at, not a recommendation of any of them. Oddities move, get sold and quietly disappear more than anything else we list, so check anything you are driving a long way for. Where this list says we did not find a price or opening times published, that is exactly what we mean. A blank is not “free” and not “always open”. Some sit on private land and can only be seen from the road — please do not go onto anyone’s property. Every entry links the page we read it off.

The Yale Peabody Museum reopened March 26, 2024. Yale News says the renovation more than doubled the museum's exhibition spaces, while Yale's capital projects page puts the increase at 50 percent more exhibition space. The museum's visit page lists Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. (its footer lists Saturday as 10 to 5), closed Mondays, and says individual visitors need no ticket.

The three named apizza restaurants — Pepe's, Sally's and Modern — are each confirmed currently operating as of this session's site checks, though individual location hours vary and should be checked per location.

The New Haven Green is open-air and free to visit at any hour, as a public square in the center of downtown.

The Yale Visitor Center, at 149 Elm Street across from the New Haven Green, runs registration-required campus tours Monday through Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. We were unable to confirm whether the campus grounds are open for unguided walking; individual museums post their own hours, as the Yale Peabody Museum does.

One public campground within 25 miles of New Haven, and it takes reservations. Public campgrounds run by federal agencies. State-park and private campgrounds are not included.

Yale Peabody Museum

Address

170 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT 06511

Hours

See official site for current days/hours

Price

Free admission intended ‘in perpetuity’ per Wikipedia's account; confirm current policy on official site

Link

peabody.yale.edu

We checked operating status, opening hours, fees and reservations on 2026-09-22. These change without notice — confirm with sallysapizza.com, pepespizzeria.com, modernapizza.com, peabody.yale.edu and visitorcenter.yale.edu the week you travel.

Straight-line distance from New Haven, not drive time.

• Tweed New Haven (HVN) — 4 miles
• Igor I Sikorsky Memorial (BDR) — 14 miles
• Danbury Municipal (DXR) — 29 miles