Statue of Liberty:everything you need to know before and during your visit to the Statue of Liverty!

STATUE OF LIBERTY (Everything You Need to Know Before and During Your Visit)

Globally renowned, the Statue of Liberty is widely recognized as one of the most instantly recognizable statues. It’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in New York City. In this discussion, I want to share my experience visiting the Statue of Liberty and offer tips on how to enjoy your visit.

Let’s go through everything you need to know before and during your trip to the Statue of Liberty.

A Symbol of Freedom:The Statue of Liberty is a powerful symbol of both New York and America. Constructed in France from 1875 to 1884, it was later reassembled on Liberty Island in 1886. The statue stands tall at 305 feet (93 meters) on Liberty Island in Upper New York Bay, off the coast of New York City.

Getting There:There’s only one way to reach Liberty Island and visit the Statue of Liberty: by ferry. While some boat tours offer views of the statue from the water, they don’t allow you to disembark on the island.

Planning Your Trip:For a complete experience, consider a combined tour package for both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. These packages typically include a ferry ride, tours of both islands, and may start at $24.50 for adults, $18.00 for seniors, and $12.00 for children (prices may vary).

In this schedule, you’ll receive an audio tour for both islands available in 12 languages. An ASL tour is included with every ticket purchased.

How to Purchase Tickets?

Statue City Cruises is the only authorized company that provides tickets. You can book your ticket online or offline. If you want to purchase your ticket offline, you can buy it from the Statue Cruises ticket office inside Castle Clinton at Battery Park in New York and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Additionally, Statue Cruises is a part of the New York CityPASS.

If you want to buy crown and pedestal tickets, you should go directly through the Statue City Cruises website to purchase them. Travel agencies typically don’t offer crown and pedestal tickets.

For Crown Access: You need to book at least 3-6 months in advance. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get access to visit the crown of the Statue of Liberty because only a limited number of people can visit each day.

For Pedestal Access: Again, you should book your ticket at least 1-3 weeks out. There are some limitations as well.

Liberty Cruise Service

The cruise is a triple-deck ferry boat, but for the best view from the boat, you should sit on the top deck. These cruises provide service from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and Liberty State Park. Ferries open at 8:30 AM, but we suggest getting there as early as possible to avoid any hassle. Ferries depart about every 15 minutes from Battery Park and roughly every 35 minutes from Liberty State Park.

The queue to the ferry can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The Statue of Liberty and museum take approximately 90 minutes, and you get 50 minutes to 1 hour to see Ellis Island. So, the entire journey of visiting Liberty Island and Ellis Island could easily be 5-6 hours.

From Battery Park, cruises go to Liberty Island first, then Ellis Island. From Liberty State Park, cruises go to Ellis Island first, then Liberty Island.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island’s previous name was Immigration Island. The U.S. government used it as a gateway for immigrants. It’s part of the Liberty Island tour. There’s a museum where you can see artifacts from immigrants, read their histories, watch exhibits, etc.

Liberty Island

You can see the beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Museum, a motorcycle from the 1980s made from scrap metal, and views of New York and New Jersey City. After landing on this land, you can experience the beauty of Liberty Island and take some extraordinary pictures with the statue. Then, depending on your ticket, you can visit the Liberty Museum, the inside of the Statue of Liberty (pedestal and crown).

Liberty Museum

After reaching this area, you can see the Liberty Museum. In this museum, you can learn about the entire history of the Statue of Liberty, see many exhibits of the construction site, and explore details of the Statue of Liberty’s structure through small models. The original torch of the Liberty is inside the museum because the torch you see in the hand of the statue now is made of gold.