Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from New Jersey, and NYC
The Statue of Liberty visit should be on the must-to-do list if you are in the United States or planning a trip to the States. It’s one of the wonders we have read about in our schoolbooks.
Brief History :
Detail about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island can be found everywhere on the Internet, so I will leave this blog with a manageable amount of information. Still, I sure would like to briefly describe the two.
The Statue of Liberty is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 46 Metres tall Copper Statue located on Liberty Island in New York City, which was gifted by France to the United States in 1886.
An interesting fact about the Statue, which I was unaware till now, is the colour of the Statue, which was Brown initially as it is made up of Copper. With time, it turned green by Oxidation. Refer to Wikipedia for more on the Oxidation process. In short, Oxidation creates a thin layer which covers Copper, and it preserves the metal for centuries.
Ellis Island :
It is another Island adjacent to Liberty Island, and it used to be an Immigration station from 1892 to 1954. Immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were inspected and processed here. Now it is converted into a museum, and visitors visit this place along with the Statue of Liberty.
How to reach :
From New York City :
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are accessible via ferry only, operated by Statue City Cruises. You can get the ferry from Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park, Manhattan. The ferry frequency depends from season to season ranging from 20 to 40 minutes. This information is published online on the Statue city cruises website and at the entrance of the ferry.
The same ferry will take you to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. While returning, make sure to take the respective ferry for New York City.
Various options to reach Battery Park can be found at https://www.thebattery.org/get-directions/
From New Jersey:
You can get the ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Find more information on how to get there from the Liberty state park website. http://www.libertystatepark.com/directio.htm
Also, there is enough parking if you come by your own vehicle.
Make sure you take a ferry for Jersey City while returning, as New York City ferry departs from the same stop.
How to buy tickets:
Tickets are available online as well as offline. It is always advisable to book tickets online to confirm the reservation and to avoid any last minute surprises. Statue City Cruises is the only official ticket provider. Avoid getting tickets from any other sources; otherwise, you’ll pay more or be scammed. Third-party sites also provide a ticket, which is a little costlier but more user-friendly in terms of booking and cancellation. So, make your own due diligence.
Offline Mode: Buy the tickets from Statue City Cruises ticket booths located in Castle Clinton in Battery Park (NYC) or at the ferry departure point in Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
Online Mode: Tickets can be purchased from Statue City Cruises’ official website StatueCityCruises.com/
If you still need to print the online tickets, get them from the Statue City Cruise booth at the ferry departing station.
Also note that Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tickets are bundled together, and you don’t need to buy separate tickets.
Types of tickets :
There are 3 types of tickets available based on the level of access.
- General Admission/Reserve Ticket – This provides access to the Statue of Liberty ground or the base area, plus access to the Ellis Island National Museum.
- Pedestal Reserve — This ticket provides all the access to General Admission plus the Fort Wood section of the Pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
- Crown Reserve – This one is the most exciting and hard to get. You will get all the Pedestal Reserve access plus access to the Crown of Statue. Crown Reserve tickets must be pre-booked, sometimes even 3 months prior, or you should be lucky enough to book the ticket when someone cancels theirs.
Price is almost the same for all ticket types, and there is just a few cents difference between them. As of 2022, Adult General Admission costs around $24. More information on pricing can be found in Statue City Cruises mentioned above.
Apart from this, you can also get the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour, the official Tour guide.
Planning the trip :
From NYC and New Jersey, Ferry starts at 8:30 AM, and the last ferry is at 3:30 PM. So make sure to plan your travel as per the ferry schedule.
Try to get the ferry by 10AM to best utilize your trip. Make sure to arrive at the departure point 30 minutes before the ferry schedule, as there will be a security check that might take up to 30 minutes. If you lose your scheduled departure ferry, you have to wait for the next one, which can be tedious during hot sunny days or winter. Also, dress appropriately as per the weather.
The ferry will take you to Ellis Island first, which will take around 30 min from New Jersey and almost a similar time from NYC. It’s up to you if you want to get down to Ellis Island; otherwise, be there on the ferry and get down at the next stop for the Statue of Liberty.
You can easily spend around 2-3 hours on Ellis Island as there is much to explore. You can visit Great Hall, baggage room, Hearing Room, restored dormitories and much more. A theatre also shows around 35 minutes of presentation on immigrants’ journey and their experiences.
You can also visit the Gift shop and bookstore to get souvenirs for your friends and family. And yes, no need to worry about your hunger as plenty of food options are available within the museum.
Remember that the closing time of Ellis Island is 3:30 PM, and try to get the ferry before that if your next stop is the Statue of Liberty.
From Ellis Island to Liberty Island, the ferry will take around 15-20 minutes, and you’ll get an excellent circular view of the Statue of Liberty from front to back of the Statue. Don’t forget to capture beautiful shots of the Statue and lower Manhattan if you look behind.
Once you enter the island, you can visit as per your ticket access. For Pedestal and Crown access, you need to keep all your belongings in a locker located at the monument’s entrance. The locker has a 25¢ deposit.
Only Mobile phone, Camera, water bottle and necessary medication is allowed for Pedestal and Crown access, and you have to go through the Airport level security procedure.
To visit Pedestal, you can take the elevator or use the stairs, having 215 steps that will not take more than 15-20 minutes. It’s better than waiting in a long line to use the elevator.
From Pedestal, you can see the mesmerizing view of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, lower Manhattan and far away Brooklyn bridge.
Now here comes the most rewarding part of the visit only if you are lucky enough to get the tickets.
The Crown access.
The crown access journey starts from the Pedestal by climbing 162 stairs. There is only a service elevator, which is used by staff, so climbing stairs is the only option.
There is a narrow spiral staircase, and while going up, you can see the inside structure of the Statue, which is good enough to feel excited and privileged. There are in-between platforms where you can take a breath before resuming the upward journey.
A trip up to the Crown includes walking up a double-helix spiral staircase.
With that much excitement, you will feel like you are inside the Crown fulfilling your dreams in no time. Though you won’t get a clear view from the Crown window, having the feel of being inside the Crown is much more worthwhile. There will be 2 guides who are excited enough to tell you about the history and interesting facts about the Statue. If you notice, you’ll find that some of the Crown metal is still brown, which will also turn green with time.
After spending quality time in Crown, you can start a downward journey.
Interesting fact: As per the National Park Service website https://www.nps.gov/, 50 mph winds cause the Statue to sway up to 3 inches and the torch up to 6 inches. You can even feel it inside the Crown if it’s windy outside.
If you still got some time left, you can visit the Statue of Liberty Museum, capture photos with Lady Liberty or grab some snacks at the Statue of Liberty Crown Café.
And remember to collect some souvenirs from the gift shop.
While returning, make sure to take a respective ferry for NYC and New Jersey.
If you are planning your trip, I am sure its going to be memorable !!
