The center of New Haven, Yale’s intellectual prowess is one of the defining elements of life in New England. With stereotypes including popped collars and pressed chinos, along with the highest per capita income of any state, here’s how to see New Haven the yuppy way.


Sleep Under the Ivy

If you’d like to pretend you’re Ivy League material for the day, The Study at Yale offers unique east coast accommodations right on campus. A place for sophisticated reflection and introspection; a host of “intelligent amenities” are designed to enhance your prestigious lifestyle for the duration of the stay that includes everything from leather-bound books and apples to a “food for thought” dining menu.

"Church on New Haven Green" by Patrick Franzis via Flickr Creative Commons

Hangout on “The Green”

A 16-acre privately owned park and recreation area in the heart of downtown New Haven; the Green is the central square and a designated national historic landmark district. Home to three prominent 19th-century churches, numerous summer festivals and the nation’s first cemetery, it’s a great place to grab a book and relax or snap some photos of classically Puritan 1800s architecture.

"Rare Books" by Simon King via Flickr Creative Commons

Appreciate Rare Books

Inside a stark modern marble building, Yale University's rare books are housed in an architecturally stunning, glass 6-story tower of book stacks featuring a collection of medieval manuscripts and a bible from the year 1454. But the most famous thing on-site is the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, a novel written solely in code and pictures that top scholars still haven’t cracked. Also in New Haven is the Young Men's Institute Library, one of the nation's last remaining private membership libraries. If you’d like to check it out, membership costs $25 for the year. Just ring the buzzer and announce yourself to be granted access.

Photo Credit: Techbint

A Storied Mind

Pretend you’re a brain surgeon for the day by examining the Cushing Brain Collection, a set of diseased minds lovingly assembled by pioneering neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing in a custom-built room two floors below Yale’s medical school library. Peer at 400 or so specimens featuring everything from tumors to aneurysms to intelligently identify their causes or conditions and prove to your mom that hey, you could’ve been a doctor.