Rainy Day Activities in New Haven/South Central Connecticut (CT)

Escape the everyday on a rainy day and immerse yourself in British culture at the Yale Center for British Art, the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. Artistic works from the Elizabethan Age through today, many from the Paul Mellon collection, are on display. Stand in front of the great oil paintings by Turner, Constable, Whistler, Stubbs and Reynolds. Admire a Hepworth sculpture. Let your imagination soar examining a watercolor map of the Francis Drake expedition in 1577 or the amazing animals on the pages of the Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary, circa 1500. The museum, itself a work of art by renowned architect Louis I. Kahn, includes 2,000 paintings, 250 sculptures and 35,000 rare books and manuscripts.

You won’t care if the rain goes away when you are climbing and soaring your way through the exciting It Adventure Ropes Course inside Jordan’s Furniture. You’ll be strapped securely in a full-body harness and sling line, keeping you fully connected as you navigate the more than 100 challenges, part of the world’s largest indoor ropes courses. The four-level course features zip rails sitting at heights of up to 56 feet, zig-zag swinging beams, bridges, cargo nets and crisscross angle rope ladders. And there’s a special, Little It course, for children under 48 inches tall. On that course, platforms are less than three feet off the ground, and adult chaperones are nearby to help out if needed.