Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Guide

Short answer: buy your ticket only from Statue City Cruises, the one official ferry operator, book the earliest departure you can, and allow at least half a day for both Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

The only official ferry

Statue City Cruises is the only company authorised by the National Park Service to land on Liberty and Ellis Islands. Around Battery Park you'll meet people in lanyards selling "Statue of Liberty tours". Most are harbour cruises that sail past the statue without stopping. Buy online from the official site, or through the National Park Service website, which links to it. Ferries leave from Battery Park in Manhattan and from Liberty State Park in New Jersey, and one ticket covers both islands.

Which ticket should I buy?

There are three levels. General admission gets you on the ferry and onto both islands, but not inside the statue. Pedestal tickets let you into the base and up to the balcony at the top of the pedestal, with a view across the harbour. Crown tickets add the climb of 162 narrow spiral steps inside the statue itself, with no lift. Pedestal and crown places are limited and sell out, often weeks ahead in summer. Crown visitors can take almost nothing up, so use the lockers. For most people the pedestal is the right choice.

Security and timing

There's airport-style screening before you board. The time on your ticket is when you join the security queue, not when the boat leaves, and in summer or on weekends the wait can pass an hour. Arrive early and travel light. Check current departure times on the official site.

Liberty Island

Walk right round the statue first. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed it and Gustave Eiffel engineered the iron frame inside, and it was dedicated in 1886. The original torch, replaced in the 1980s, is now in the Statue of Liberty Museum near the dock.

Ellis Island

Don't skip the second stop. Between 1892 and 1954 about 12 million immigrants were processed here, and the main building is now the National Museum of Immigration. Climb to the Great Hall on the second floor, where new arrivals queued for inspection. The free audio guide is excellent. Plan at least two hours, and catch a ferry back well before the last one.

The free alternative

Short on time? The Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal is free and passes close to the statue. You won't land, but the view from the right-hand side on the way out is superb. It's on our things to do list, and our three-day itinerary fits the islands into a Lower Manhattan day.