Statue of Liberty

I have two stars because there was a 5 hour wait in line to get on the boat. I knew it would be long, the kiosk said 1h30 but I knew this was not true, perhaps 3h30, but waiting this long can never be a 5star experience. Plus, a visit to Liberty AND Ellis on a Flexi ticket is just not possible. See below.

First you must go to the Castle Clinton Kiosk. This was a queue of 30mins. If you have prebooked you will need to go past the queue and security will send you to a shorter queue at window 6. Others must wait in the queue that curls around Castle Clinton.

Once you get your tickets, if you have 'flexi' you can join the monster queue. Best leaving the rest of your party in that queue whilst one buys tickets.

Once past the 'flexi' flag marker the line became a crowd and others from behind were told to move up to fill the gaps at the side and in front of you. After moving an inch every 5 minutes it was painful to lose do much ground through disorganisation near the finish line.

Nonetheless, we were all on 45 minutes after that.

We went at 10am and were on the boat and moving at 3pm. Start to go downstairs before the boat docks at Liberty to maximize your time. The museum st Liberty was worth a visit. Avoid the cafe on this island as the queue for hot food is massive - unless you want something else, then you can past the cashier, grab your item, then go straight to the cashier. I had a feeling many in the queue didnt know that and thought it was all leading to the food and cashier.

The last boat to Ellis from Liberty was at 3 30pm so unless you prebook a 9am slot and get in queue for 8.30am you are unlikely to get to see it. You may need to reserve days in advance online but it's the only decent option if you have the time. We didnt.

Consider going via New Jersey if you cant reserve as the flexi queues are much shorter.

Take some coffees nd food for the queue. There is a Starbucks nearby Battery but the queues are around 30mins. Toilets available at Bowling Green Metro (no queue) or an outdoor concrete building near the blue and red queuing flags (no queue for men).

Hotdogs, crepes($5-7) and small hot drinks ($2-3) sold around this part.

Last time we visited, we rode the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty but didn't get off and rode on to Ellis Island. That gave us plenty of great views and were quite satisfied with the experience. This visit, we were fortunate to obtain Crown tickets. This added a whole dimension to the experience and it was well worth it. The views of the Manhattan Skyline from the pedestel were spectacular. Going to the crown was pretty cool. It's quite a claustrophobic space with room for only 5-6 people and the views aren't really that great as you're looking through a small window but worth doing for the experience of going to the very top of the monument seen by only a small fraction of visitors to the Statue. If you want tickets for the Crown , you must buy tickets 5-6 months in advance. Also, we learned the hard way that it is not worth waiting for the elevator to take you to the Pedestel Level unless you are truly handicapped. Even if the line doesn't look too long, the elevator is really small and only holds 7-8 people and frustratingly the staff only makes an elevator run every 5 minutes. We were next in line but couldn't get on as anyone in a wheelchair goes straight to the front of the line(appropriately). We wasted 25 min waiting to get on with only 30 or so people originally in front of us and finally just gave up and headed up the stairs. Not a fun 200 step climb but manageable.

We arrived at Castle Clinton in Battery Park to collect our Crown Tickets which we reserved in August 2019 due to the fact they sell out quickly. We were impressed with how quickly we progressed through the necessary security and waited a short time to board the ferry. They run every half an hour at this time of year and we quickly arrived at Liberty Island. An audio tour is included in the price and the Museum is also well worth a visit. However, the undeniable highlight is of course Liberty herself. We took the elevator up to the top of the pedestal and from there climbed the very narrow, very steep spiral staircase (184 steps i believe). It is worth it though, the view is so rewarding looking out over the bay and the suspension bridge, just take your time especially if you are asthmatic like myself! Just beware, if it is a windy day she sways, i hadn't prepared myself for that!!

For anyone traveling to New York City, the Statue of Liberty is a must-see. A CityPass will only get you a ticket to the Liberty Island Ferry (and a self-guided audio tour), if you actually want to make it to the pedestal or the crown you’ll need to make reservations directly (Crown access is notoriously hard to get, even with a month in advance).
The museum in Liberty Island is great, and highly recommended for all ages. The interactive exhibits, museum pieces, and films depicting how the Statue was built are a wonderful addition to just the sightseeing. A special exhibit, which I particularly loved, leaves you with a great question to reflect upon as you walk the grounds: what does Liberty mean to you?

I am seldom at a loss for words- ask my wife. However, I was rendered speechless to finally see the Statue of Liberty for myself. Lady Liberty has been standing sentinel in New York harbor for more than 125 years and is still the tallest statue in North America. It has survived through two world wars, including a German attack in WWII (look it up) and the events of 9/11. Tight security is in place to protect this American symbol for years to come. Visitors to the island must pass through a TSA type screening and a second inspection before entering the pedestal. The pedestal museum has a detailed history of the staute's construction, and the original torch is on display at a second museum near the ferry dock. The park service also has a visitor center and gift shop on the island. Tickets to the crown are a few dollars more than the basic island access and sell out months in advance but it is worth the price if you can get them to actually gaze out from high atop the statue. The pedestal is a marvel of architecture and engineering in its own right.

From the time we got there at 10:30am we were finish at 3pm.
Line for tickets took about 20 mins. Line to get through (TSA) secutiry check 45-60Mins. Remove jacket, belt, phone, etc.. except shoes, place in bin and walk through metal detector. Which I appreciated this extra security check for our safety. After we walked out to dock and waited for about 20 mins for the ferry. Loading us onto the ferry felt like cattles,,,LOL. On the ferry you can sit below deck or go above for the better view outside. On the ferry there is a small snack bar with pretzels, coffee, hotdogs the ride is about 15mins if you're going straight from Battery park to Statue of liberty. If there is a stop to Ellis landmark for the museums, add on another 10mins or so while they drop passengers off and load more on. FYI make sure you board the correct ferry when going back! There's one going to New jeresy and one going back to battery park NYC. Once on the landmark of statue of Liberty, it was spacious and clean. It has a cafe area to buy lunch. The view of the city & river was beautiful! Statue of liberty was awesome, you're able to take great photos. You can pay Extra to be able to hike up to the top, however you have to leave all your carry ons in a locker. You are not allowed to bring it up.
Down below they have a small gadget you can carry with you to listen to a tour guide in your language. At the end you can drop it off in the bin near the front entrance. after outside you can go inside to the museum. There was 3 large theater screen with educational stories about our Statue Of Liberty, which was VERY touching to watch. after the 3 short story you can walk around and read and view items around the museum. They also had this fun touch where you can take a selfie select your country and send it to the large screen where everyone can see your photo, THe photo gets transferred to build the computerized Statue of Liberty. It was fun to experience. There are also a gift store there located across from the museum. We stayed on the island for about 60mins.
Then we waited for the next ferry for 30mins to go back to battery park.
So from start to finish, for our family's entire experience was about 3.5 - 4 hours. If you spend longer taking photos, paid extra to go up on the Statue of liberty, looking at all the monumental items in the museum and eating lunch there then you will definitely plan to put aside about at least 4hours for the visit.
All in All great experience.

We caught the red line train down to South Ferry at Battery Park and as soon as we exited the underground station we were besieged by touts from various companies.
I had done a little research and it seemed simple to buy tickets on the day so we did not preorder. What an expensive and time consuming mistake!
We ended up walking about a kilometer to a bus where we waited approximately 30 minutes for it to leave to drive to the jetty where the boat was moored.
What they didn’t tell us was that the jetty was in New Jersey which took 25 minutes to get to and the boat was an old fishing tub. Literally, fishing is their main occupation and they do this tourist thing around Lady Liberty in the off season.
We were promised an hour tour but it was only 45 minutes max.
Don’t get me wrong, the staff on the boat were lovely and helpful but pretty much everyone onboard knew we had all been scammed.
Then to add insult to injury the bus to take us on the 25 minute drive back to South Ferry wasn’t there to meet us and a local gentleman told us a bus had just left and wouldn’t be back for another hour.
We ended up catching a taxi back to midtown which cost us another $40.
So my warning is be very aware even if the guys seem official, with badges and blue jacket uniforms etc it’s all a giant con.

If in New York, you have to visit the Statue of Liberty. Ferries run frequently form Battery Park but it does take up a surprisingly significant chunk of your day. If visiting, we would recommend going as early as possible to avoid queues and the whole place being extremely busy (even in December, we were there on Liberty Island by 9am, which was a good call - by the time we left the ferries were full and it was very busy). There is plenty of information on the island about the statue and the history of the island. You get excellent views over to Manhatten and there is a Museum, which is worth visiting too, as you can see how she was designed and crafted as well as her original light.

We had the first ferry over in the morning and it is way less crowded at that time. Gave us lots of time to walk around without too many others in our photos. The ferry takes you right out front so the photos are great going over. You have to book 5-6 months in advance to get inside and we never had that much notice when we were going to go so that was not an option. :(.

On our most recent visit to NYC we were lucky enough to secure Crown entry tickets for the Statue of Liberty. They are limited to 350 tickets per day and sell out fast so book well in advance as you wont find tickets on the day normally. After the Climb which is tough going and honestly not for people of a wide stance as the staircase is Very Narrow in places the Very small tight for space Criwn room comes into view. and then the View. Wow what a way to see back across Liberty island and of course Manhattan. It's the only way to see the writing on her book without the expensive Helicooter ride and well worth every step

You wont regret the climb, You wont forget the experience. Do It.