What to Bring to the Guggenheim: Bags, Clothes and Rules

Bring one small bag, a layer you can take off, comfortable shoes, a phone that holds a charge, and an ID if you are claiming a discount. That is the whole answer for most days. The rules differ by museum, though, and two of them can turn you away at the door. In New York an item larger than 22 x 14 x 9 inches cannot enter and cannot be checked. In Bilbao belongings should be under 35 x 35 cm (about 14 x 14 inches). In Venice large items such as suitcases and backpacks are not allowed, and security can refuse any item. We read each museum's own pages on 3 November 2026; this page labels what is a rule and what is our advice.

Rule or advice? If a line on this page says "rule", a museum publishes it. If it says "our advice", it is our judgment and nobody at the museum has said it.

All three museums run a security check and all three reserve the right to refuse an item. Beyond that, the limits are different enough that a bag that works in one city fails in the next. The table sets them side by side; the paragraphs after it cover the details people trip over.

The New York limit has two edges. Anything above 22 x 14 x 9 inches (about 56 x 36 x 23 cm), wheels and handles counted, is refused outright and the coat check will not take it either. That rules out most cabin suitcases, so leave the bag at your hotel on a travel day. Below that size, backpacks, long umbrellas, musical instruments, scooters, skateboards and parcels must be checked. Ground-floor coat check is free with admission, and you present your ticket first. If you skip the coat check, a backpack goes in your hand or on your front. Electric bikes, scooters and unicycles are not permitted at all, in the galleries or the coat room, except mobility devices covered by the ADA.

We suggest a small crossbody or a tote. It saves a queue at the coat check, and you keep your phone and wallet on you.

Bilbao's visitor tips ask you not to bring large bags, backpacks, parcels or umbrellas into the galleries and say your belongings should be under 35 x 35 cm. The coatroom page states no fee and says the museum may ask to see your ticket. The museum suggests arriving 15 minutes before a guided visit if you want to leave items at the coat room, so build that into a tour slot. Umbrellas are the awkward case: the visitor tips say none in the galleries, while the coatroom page rules out non-folding umbrellas, so a folding one is the safer choice and you should still expect to check it. Items over 60 x 45 cm are refused even at the coatroom. The sky in Bilbao will make you want one: the city has about 124 wet days a year, which our best time to visit page breaks down by month.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection says large items, such as bags, backpacks, suitcases or other large objects that could endanger the works, are not allowed, and security may refuse any item. Lockers in the ticket office are free. The page does not give locker dimensions, so we cannot tell you whether a roller case fits. It does not publish a luggage service either. If you arrive by train, plan to leave a large bag at your accommodation first; that is our advice, not a rule. A small shoulder bag is the safe choice. One more rule specific to Venice: visitors who are shirtless, in swimwear or barefoot are refused entry.

No museum publishes a dress code, apart from Venice's rule about swimwear and bare feet. Everything below is our advice, derived from the 1991-2020 climate normals we use on the best time to visit page. Temperatures are average highs and lows.

Two points from that table matter more than the numbers. First, the museum's own advice for Bilbao is layers in summer because the temperature inside is quite cool. It is the only museum that gives weather-related clothing guidance. Second, New York rain does not follow seasons: every month has about nine to eleven days of measurable precipitation, so a compact rain layer earns its space year-round.

Wear shoes you can stand in. The New York building is a spiral ramp that the museum describes as a quarter mile long, climbing at a three-degree incline. Three degrees is gentle, but it is a long, sloped walk, and the galleries branch off it. Venice is reached on foot from a vaporetto stop, over bridges and paved lanes. Bilbao has stairs, glass lifts and walkways between the three floors of galleries. Our advice is the same for all three: broken-in, flat or low-heeled shoes with a grip that works on a wet floor. In Venice in November, add shoes that can take a puddle; see the section on high water.

Anything that fails the rules above, plus a few items that are only a nuisance. From the rules: wheeled luggage and anything over the size limits, tripods, selfie sticks and camera poles, e-bikes and e-scooters (New York), outside food (New York allows water bottles), sharp objects and markers (Bilbao's tips ban sharp objects, pens and markers in the galleries). Our advice adds: valuables you do not need, a second camera lens, and any big umbrella you can swap for a hood.

We did not find a published luggage-storage service in any of the three museums, apart from the lockers and coat rooms inside. If you are checking out of a hotel the same morning, ask the hotel to hold your bags.

All three allow flash-off photography for personal, non-commercial use unless a sign in the gallery says otherwise. All three ban tripods. New York also bans camera extension poles; Bilbao and Venice ban selfie sticks. We found nothing about video in any of them, so we make no rule about it; ask a guard. In New York, pencils and notebooks are permitted for sketching, while pens, paint and easels are not. Venice says the same.

Noise is a matter of manners rather than a number. New York's rules forbid running, rowdy games and amplified sound; Bilbao lists no running, no touching the works and children supervised at all times. Our advice: put the phone on silent, use headphones with the audio guide, and keep conversations low in the galleries, since a spiral or an atrium carries sound.

Water changes what you pack in two places. Venice: high water is most common from October to January, and the MOSE barrier has cut the number of floods in the historic center since 2020. Our advice is waterproof shoes or boots in November rather than rain trousers, plus a spare pair of socks. We found no high-water policy on the museum's visit pages. Bilbao: the wettest month is November at 171 mm, so waterproof shoes beat a bigger umbrella. Details and numbers are on the best time to visit page.

Yes, whenever the discount depends on who you are. New York asks students and seniors to show ID, Bilbao asks for ID at the desk for students and seniors, and Venice accepts a valid ID for the reduced tickets. Take your passport or a national ID plus, for students, a card that shows enrollment. The age limits and prices change and live on our tickets and discounts page. If you travel with children, note that New York words its free-entry age in two ways ("under 12" on some pages, "12 and under" on others), so confirm at the door for a 12-year-old. More on families and access is in our kids and accessibility guide.

Nothing, because nothing has been published. The museum is scheduled to open on 11 December 2026 and, as of 3 November, no visitor rules are public. The only thing we can state is climate: from May to September average highs reach 103 to 110 °F at Abu Dhabi airport, so we would not plan an outdoor walk then. Rules will appear on our Abu Dhabi page once the museum publishes them.