The Explorers Club

Looks like an exclusive club from the outside but if you ring the doorbell a super kind woman let you in to visit the first two floors with a online guided your. There are antiques from the greatest expeditions, even from Shackleton's Endurance and the Apollo 11!! It's a great privilege to have been there, I felt again like a kid. Thank you you made my day!!

One of the coolest places you'll likely never get to visit unless you have a member who is a friend!

Great lecture and the social interactions before and after were amazing.

Accessible only for members and guests, I was delighted to attend a lecture at the Explorer's Club that was available to the public. The place did not disappoint. Welcomed in warmly, I was directed to a room laid out with complimentary wine and whisky, with a good cheese table alongside. To my surprise, the docents led a small group of us on a tour prior to the lecture, which was wonderful! The lecture was superb. I'm looking forward to attending another when possible.

An absolute must visit for any explore! And it’s free I was extremely excited to go inside, and didn’t realize that I would get a little emotion. It is truly inspiring to see all of the explorers who have traveled to the ends of this earth and outer space. I took the self-guided tour shortly after it opened and had the whole place to myself. This was probably the most memorable part of my trip to New York.

This place is an incredible clubhouse! 🏠 The Explorers Club 🧭 on the Upper East Side is open for members and guests and include literally treasures from historical expeditions 🥾 to Everest 🏔️, the deep sea 🌊, the moon 🌕, space 🛰️, and more! It's really inspiring to see all the amazing and impressive history on display. Definitely find a reason to go. I wish I came here more often!

Amazing Place. We got a special tour of the whole place by one of their adventurer members, it was the best afternoon we ever spent in New York City and we loved it. All the amazing things they have their and all their amazing adventurers and courageous people that has helped make this world a better place was heart warming. You guys really rock!

Disappointing social visit after the wonderful presentation. The Club used to be such a classy happening where one could speak with peers and fellow world travelers after the presentations. The current feel was like a cramped, loud, sports bar scene. Same extends to the bar tenders. So sad for the downfall of this worthy institution.

So the Explorer's club is pretty epic. This is where Indiana Jones would be hanging out if he were real. They have interesting events and lectures and always on point with the wine and cheese. Club members are fun, live adventurous lives and are not afraid to get muddy. The place is a treasure trove of historical artifacts and all set in a beautiful building. Heard on the lunch line. "Where did you fly in from?" "Just got back from the Galapagos. Heading to Borneo next week." Prepare to feel like an underachiever. But in the space of an hour in the last event I met archeologists, marine biologists, filmmakers, cave divers and heard from a woman who went down to the Titanic in a bathysphere. So like I said, prepare to feel like an underachiever. But good to surround yourself with nice, interesting, smart people.

Well, unless you live in New York City, completely useless for me. Boring magazine and no response when I tried to cancel membership. Unable to cancel membership online.

Outstanding lectures are open to the public! Expand your mind here. It's a terrific value.

Phenomenal historic place that is a must visit. There are tours to share the relics from the best of New York's adventurers. Teddy Roosevelt, Apollo astronauts, Chuck Yeager, and so many others are recognized for their contributions to explorations and knowledge. The building itself is a gem.

Singularly unimpressive building for such an old, esteemed club. When you enter the club, there is a small living room to your left, and a tiny seating area to your right- so underwhelming. We had a tour of the entire club, which was OK but still surprisingly modest for such a historic club. We came for a public lecture. The presenter was excellent and the tour of the club was interesting. Our experience here, however, was marred by the way the club staff chose to organize the event as follows: 1- The front desk staff were brusque and unhelpful; 2- We, like, many other people had come early for the event that started at 6 PM. There was virtually no place to sit or wait so we decided to sit in the small living room with the off-putting sign MEMBERS ONLY. there were many elderly guests who had to stand for 1/2 hour or more! 3- There was only one inefficient staff member to check in the very long crowded line of people waiting to check-in. It took a long time, even though we were in the front of the line and had purchased our tickets in advance on-line. The staff member refused to check-in people until after 6PM 4-The upstairs 2nd floor consisted of a small reception room and a larger room where the lecture was to take place. At first the lecture room was open so we could save seats with coats. Then the staff decided to later bar the door physically until 7 PM so that hundreds of people had to stand crowded for a long time waiting in a very small space. Again, this must have been very hard on the majority of guests who were elderly. 5- the price at $25/person seems quite steep given that lecture fees at other clubs run around $15. 6- One hour was way too long for the reception. It grew boring after a short time. If we come for future lectures, we will come at 6:30 or later.

The reviews here are a little outdated, and so I will briefly share my experience with this "club of adventurous intellectuals." Most of the individuals who comprise the members of the club are simply people who have paid to go on vacations to the Poles or such places and very egotistically believe themselves to be elite "explorers." I paid quite a bit to attend their dinner with my fiancé at the American Museum of Natural History last month, and was left feeling utterly ill and disappointed. I was greeted by a man named Eric who first ignored me for quite some time, then told me I wasn't allowed inside the museum for another 8 minutes, and that I should go stand outside (in my gown) in the frigid weather while my fiancé and all of the other guests checking in with other volunteers were let in immediately. I asked another volunteer to check me in, and upon seeing that I asked another volunteer and was let in, this man Eric began sneering and proceeded to RIDICULE me along with some other volunteers in front of both my fiancé and other guests. Later at the afterparty, an inebriated woman proceeded to THROW an entire glass of white wine on me and yell "oops!" in front of security, and they did absolutely nothing. I will not be joining this "club," nor will I recommend it to anyone else. Save your money and your intellect and join some other organization around the city that will be humble, truly intelligent, and stimulating.

If Indiana Jones or Lara Croft were real, they would live and/or hang out at the Explorers Club. This is probably my new favorite place in all of NYC. I want to be a member, but to do that, you have to actually BE an explorer or some other type of field scientist. They have a huge taxidermied (is that even a word? stuffed sounds too cute) polar bear - gift of Rudolph Valentino - at the top of a gorgeous wooden staircase inside. Of course they have a lovely old beautiful globe, perfect to close your eyes, spin, and point at to choose your next adventure. One day I will be a member. In the meantime, I will continue to check out their awesome lectures and film festival. I recently heard an epidemiologist from the CDC speak about the last Ebola outbreak in Uganda that he spent a few months helping out at and studying. Amazing and heartbreaking yet intriguing stuff.

An amazing private organization with a rich history of supporting important expeditions and conservation field research. The clubhouse was the Singer (sewing machine) family mansion and is quite impressive.

I attended my first public event here on Saturday and I truly enjoyed it. For a whole day of prominent speakers plus breakfast and lunch you really get your $50 worth! The receptionist was also very helpful in answering my first-timer questions. Everything I had read about the club sparked intrigue but also fear that I'd be overwhelmed by the pretentiousness of it all; however, I felt that I was welcomed among a variety of attendees ranging from extremely wealthy academics to "regular Joes" like myself who just have a passion for learning. The interior of the club is every bit as amazing as I expected. For those who mourn the loss of traversing the upper floor, what can I say? It's a club, pay the dues if you want. Otherwise, just be respectful and enjoy the public events.

I have visit the exploreres club multiple times over the years. Mostly by just stopping in randomly and asking if I can walk around for a little, which they always let me do. More recently, I attended a lecture they held that was open to both members and the public. For $20, there was an open bar cocktail hour followed by a fantastic lecture and then a guided tour of the building at the end. Unlike some of the recent reviews posted, my experience was wonderful. No one was snotty or rude to me. Also, I could not find any information or articles online regarding controversies of members "paying" to go on expeditions to be a part of the club. Everyone was very chatty at the cocktail hour and they even had their outdoor terrace open for us to stand outside. The actual lecture itself was amazing - it featured a man named Zoltan Takacs who travels to different countries searching for rare snakes to extract their venom for medial research. It included videos and interesting stories of his travels around the world. He also held a Q&A session at the end in which anyone was allowed to partake in. Once the lecture was finished, I participated in a tour of the building where we walked to the top and then slowly made our way down with the guides explaining to us all the history and artifacts along the way. I'm sorry to hear that not everyone had as great of an experience as I did. If you're interested in learning more about them, I strongly recommend visiting their website and looking up the next speaker series they have (there is usually one monthly). It's a great way to learn about the building and hear interesting facts from an explorer!

Fantastic events and space. Awesome that they honored the hokule'a with an event.

Stepping into the Explorer's Club feels like the beginning of a National Treasure or Indiana Jones type movie. It's exactly what it says - a club for world explorers. I was lucky enough to plan an event here for a client, and it was a really cool experience. There's a stuffed polar bear of the second floor which attracts a lot of attention. The catering staff is great and professional - the passed appetizers were really tasty too. There's a lot of history here with great stories and artifacts.

Unfortunately I did not have the warm welcoming experience that Peter did as someone who was just allowed to walk around. I recently dropped in because I had heard their library is a great place to read and study (I'm a graduate student and world traveler and was intrigued by the concept). The doors were open but no one was at the front desk. Someone came out from the group of people in the living room and I asked if their library was open to the public. She chuckled, said no and practically shoved me out the door, only to securely close the door behind me. It was abhorrent behavior for an innocent question. And if that is the only experience I have with the club, then it was one experience too many. I'd much rather actually travel the world with open minded pleasant individuals.

Incredible history, great events and some open to the public. A storied past and a building that houses artifacts from the moon, to the jungle, to the bottom of the ocean, just awesome and inspiring.

Iconic old building bursting with the history of exploration. Great lecture series and for members, a place to relax and share stories from around the world.