Visiting The Statue Of Liberty And Ellis Island By Ferry From Manhattan

We couldn’t wait to get up close and personal with Lady Liberty when we moved to New York City. So we quickly booked our Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry tickets and it turned out to be even better than we hoped. Here’s the most important thing you need to know: The only way you can visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Manhattan is by taking a Statue Cruises ferry from Battery Park. No other ferry companies and no other routes can get your feet on the grounds of Liberty or Ellis Island.

In this guide we explain everything you need to know about visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island by ferry from Manhattan, including schedules, tickets and a full walkthrough of our own experience so you know what to expect.

Our Experience

Kristen is a New York native and we spent some time living in NYC together, so you can consider us experts when it comes to the Empire State. We took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum on a cold winter morning in January, using our New York CityPASS tickets rather than paying directly.

There was snow on the ground and a chill in the air, but we had a fantastic time looking around both islands. We had an idea of what to expect at the Statue of Liberty, but we had no idea what Ellis Island Museum would be like. Both were amazing experiences, and we highly recommend you allow time to visit the two very different attractions.

Where To Get The Statue Of Liberty Ferry

Okay, the first thing you need to know is that Castle Clinton National Monument is the only place you can board a ferry to Liberty Island from NYC, and it’s the only place you can get off after leaving Ellis Island. Castle Clinton is located in Battery Park at the very bottom of Manhattan, and it’s also the only place you can buy on the day ferry tickets in person, subject to availability. We’ll talk more about tickets later.

• Here’s the exact location you’ll board the ferry.

Note: There is only one other ferry departure point for accessing the Statue of Liberty but it’s in Liberty State Park, New Jersey. In this guide we focus only on the Battery Park ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

Getting To Castle Clinton

If you can’t walk to Battery Park from your hotel and you don’t want to take a taxi or ride share, you can easily access Castle Clinton via any of the following subway options:

• Green line (4 + 5) – From Union Square, Grand Central or Brooklyn to Bowling Green
• Red line (1) – From SoHo, West Village, Chelsea and Times Square to South Ferry
• Yellow line (R + W) – From Brooklyn, Flatiron and Times Square to Rector Street
• Brown line (J) – From Williamsburg to Broad Street

Each of Bowling Green, South Ferry, Rector Street and Broad Street subway stations are within 10 minutes walk to Battery Park and Castle Clinton. Using the location link above, set your walking directions from whichever subway station you arrive into. You can also download this NYC subway map to use offline.

Once you arrive at the circular fort of Castle Clinton, walk behind it to the southwest and you’ll see a huge white canvas tent. This is where you go through a security check, line up in a fenced area and eventually board the ferry.

Ferry Schedule

There’s only one ferry route available when you visit the Statue of Liberty. It goes from Battery Park to Liberty Island, then on to Ellis Island and finally back to Battery Park in Manhattan. You can get off or stay on the ferry at any stop, so you don’t have to get off at Liberty Island or Ellis Island if you don’t want to. Of course we do encourage you to get off at both stops!

Currently, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry schedule from Manhattan is listed as follows:

1. Battery Park Departures

These are the ferry times you can book to begin your journey from Castle Clinton in Manhattan:

• 9:00am, 9:25am, 9:50am, 10:15am, 10:40am, 11:05am, 11:30am, 11:55am, 12:20pm, 12:45pm, 1:10pm, 1:35pm, 2:00pm, 2:25pm, 2:50pm, 3:15pm, 3:30pm.

2. Liberty Island Departures

Once you’re done at the Statue of Liberty, here are the times you can travel onward to Ellis Island:

• 9:25am, 9:50am, 10:15am, 10:40am, 11:05am, 11:30am, 11:55am, 12:20pm, 12:45pm, 1:10pm, 1:35pm, 2:00pm, 2:25pm, 2:50pm, 3:15pm, 3:40pm, 4:05pm.

3. Ellis Island Departures

Once you’re finished at Ellis Island, here are the times you can travel back to Battery Park in Manhattan:

• 9:45am, 10:10am, 10:35am, 11:00am, 11:25am, 11:50am, 12:15pm, 12:40pm, 1:05pm, 1:30pm, 1:55pm, 2:20pm, 2:45pm, 3:10pm, 3:35pm, 4:00pm.

4. Battery Park Arrivals

Finally, here are the times you can arrive back at Battery Park after leaving Ellis Island:

• 9:55am, 10:20am, 10:45am, 11:10am, 11:35am, 12:00pm, 12:25pm, 12:50pm, 1:15pm, 1:40pm, 2:05pm, 2:30pm, 2:55pm, 3:20pm, 3:45pm, 4:10pm, 4:20pm.

Here’s the full Statue of Liberty ferry schedule in case you need any more information.

Important: The time printed on your ticket is the time you should arrive at the security screening area, NOT the time of your ferry departure. So you should arrive well before the time of your selected ferry. You’ll find this same information whether you book direct or with any NY attractions pass.

Our Ferry Times

We know that’s a lot of times and information to digest, so we’ll show you an example of how to make the ferry times work efficiently based on how we did it:

• 8:30am – We arrived at security.
• 9:00am – Our ferry departed Manhattan.
• 9:15am – We arrived at Liberty Island.
• 11:05am – Our ferry departed for Ellis Island.
• 1:05pm – Our ferry departed back to Manhattan.
• 1:15pm – We arrived back to Castle Clinton.

You might want to spend more or less time at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, so use our times as a reference only. Planning ahead, considering how long you’ll want to spend at each stop and being mindful of your time will help you have a successful visit.

Travel Tip: Check the departure boards when you get off the ferry at each stop. The boards will show updated or revised ferry timetables for that specific day in case of any changes.

Statue Of Liberty And Ellis Island Walkthrough

Next, we’ll walk you through our Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island experience so you know what to expect when you arrive. Our total trip time was a little over 4 hours, which included exploring Liberty Island and Ellis Island, waiting for ferries and time spent on the ferries. Again, use our walkthrough as a guide only because you might want to spend more time at the two attractions. And if you book pedestal access or crown access you’ll have to plan for more time.

After the walkthrough we’ll show you the different ways you can buy tickets. Let’s begin!

1. Security Check And Departure

We love to walk as much as we can when we visit major cities around the world. So we got an early start, grabbed a delicious NYC bagel and coffee, walked to Castle Clinton, passed through security at around 8:40am and boarded the 9:00am ferry. We’d already pre-booked our time slot through the CityPASS website (we’ll talk more about this later).

We wanted to get the first ferry to beat the crowds, be the first let loose on Liberty Island and get photos before it became too busy. It worked well and we’d probably book the first ferry again if we revisited. Just so you know, the security screening is similar to airport security where you pass through a scanner.

2. Liberty Island Ferry

After boarding the ferry we went up to the inside middle deck. It was freezing cold outside so we couldn’t go to the top deck, but definitely go up if it’s warm enough because you’ll have 360 degree views over New York. We sat on the right side of the boat because it had the best views of the Statue of Liberty as we approached Liberty Island.

Mark braved the cold outer deck for a minute to get clear photos of Lady Liberty, but the moving boat and ice cold air combined for an eye watering and finger tip numbing experience. It only took around 15 minutes to reach Liberty Island, and it flew by because we were mesmerized by how much taller the Statue of Liberty was becoming by the minute. The full frontal view lasts for a split second, so make sure you have your camera ready!

3. Liberty Island

Once we arrived onto Liberty Island, the first thing we did was pick up a free audio guide headset in a small kiosk near the dock. The self guided audio tour was included with the price we paid for our ferry tickets and it worked for both Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We started in the Statue of Liberty Museum which contained everything we wanted to know about design, engineering and its interesting background.

After the museum we walked around the island to see different perspectives of Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge. Next, we stood directly underneath the torch and took some fun photos of ourselves. But it was cold and snowy so we didn’t stay for long. We visited during covid lockdowns so the Pedestal and Crown were both closed, but we highly recommend you consider adding both into your plans.

4. Ellis Island Ferry

All together we spent around 1 hour and 40 minutes in the museum and exploring Liberty Island. We quickly stopped at the restrooms and grabbed another coffee before walking back to the dock. There was a bit of a line to get the ferry over to Ellis Island, but we made it onto the first available boat at 11:05am.

At this point we had 2 choices: Get off the ferry at Ellis Island or stay on the ferry and wait for it depart straight back to Manhattan. We had no intentions of missing Ellis Island, but you can stay on if you don’t have any interest. This boat would arrive back to Castle Clinton around 11:35am.

5. Ellis Island National Museum Of Immigration

As soon as we got off the boat we entered Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. We were hungry by this point so we quickly grabbed a few hotdogs in the Ellis Island cafe (when in New York, right?) before firing our audio guides back up and beginning a self guided tour. The cafe we ate in was the same place new immigrants would eat when first arriving into America.

Kristen’s ancestors passed through Ellis Island from Europe and there’s a good chance some of your family members also entered the US through this very same building. It was so interesting to learn about questioning, hospital care, money issues, onward travel, what happened to immigrants upon arrival and how many were sent back due to problems with diseases or other reasons.

6. Ferry Back To Manhattan

After we’d finished the self guided tour of the immigration museum, we walked back to the dock and hopped on the 1:05pm ferry. It only took 10 minutes to get back to Battery Park in Manhattan, so we were finished by 1:15pm and ready to tackle our next attraction. We didn’t have to pass back through the security tent on the way out, instead we disembarked straight into Battery Park.

Statue Of Liberty And Ellis Island Tickets

Okay, let’s talk tickets. There are three very different ways you can buy tickets to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island by ferry.

Here are your options:

1. Buy Tickets In Person

You can simply turn up to Castle Clinton National Monument in person and buy on the day tickets right inside the old fort. It’s the easiest way to get tickets because you don’t have to go online. But you risk missing out because there might not be any tickets available on the day, or the only available tickets might be in 3 hours or 5 hours for example.

Tickets cost:

• Adult – $25.00
• Child (4-12) – $16.00

In late fall, winter and early spring you stand a better chance of turning up last minute and buying same day tickets. But in peak months between April and October, we don’t think it’s worth risking it.

Travel Tip: If you choose to buy your tickets on site, make sure you only buy them directly inside Castle Clinton National Monument. There can be people selling the fake tickets outside Battery Park.

2. Buy Tickets In Advance

Booking your Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry tickets in advance online is the safer option. They cost the same (there might be a small booking fee) but you’ll avoid having to wait in line or miss out altogether. Statue City Cruises is the only ferry service authorized by the National Park Service to sell tickets, but you can also buy tickets on select third party websites and they sometimes run promotional deals, so always compare prices before buying:

• Statue Cruises
• Get Your Guide
• Tiqets (Add “WATM10NOW” for a 10% discount)

When you buy tickets online with Statue Cruises, you’ll choose which type of ticket you want to buy between standard, pedestal reserve or crown reserve. Next, you must select whether you want to catch the ferry in New Jersey or New York.

Guided Tour: If you’d prefer to have a guided tour of both Liberty Island and the Ellis Island Museum, check out this popular Statue of Liberty tour which includes the ferry.

3. Buy A New York Attractions Pass

If you plan to visit several of New York City’s top attractions during your trip, we recommend you consider buying an attractions pass to bundle and save. They give you instant access to the most iconic NYC museums, landmarks and observation decks at a discounted price. We’ve used attraction passes all around the world because they really do save money.

We tried out each of the available passes when we lived in New York and our favorite ended up being the New York Sightseeing Pass. But we used our CityPASS to book the Statue of Liberty because it was the first pass we got and this was one of the first attractions we visited.

We have an exclusive discount you can use for Sightseeing Passes in New York (click the button below to automatically apply 5% off adult tickets and 10% off child tickets). Just note that The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry is only included with the NY Sightseeing DAY Pass, but not the FLEX pass. So you’d need to buy a DAY pass to benefit from our discount and book the ferry.

If you’re not sure which pass to buy, read our detailed New York attractions pass comparison to help you choose the best pass for your itinerary.

Note: The Staten Island ferry (the big orange boats you’ll see out in the bay) does not stop at either Liberty Island or Ellis Island. But you can take the Staten Island ferry for free if you just want to get close to the Statue of Liberty.

Important Information

Here are 7 important things to remember about your Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry tickets:

1. You have to select a reservation date and time when booking in advance. The time you select is NOT the time for your ferry departure, it’s your entry time for the security facility.

2. Every ticket comes with round-trip ferry service, entry to Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Statue of Liberty Museum and grounds, plus self guided audio tours.

3. You can choose on the day whether or not you want to visit only the Statue of Liberty or include Ellis Island in your tour. There is no obligation to visit both landmarks.

4. In order to access the Pedestal or Crown, you have to upgrade your tickets at the time of purchase. This is the same for buying in person, booking online with Statue Cruises or using any New York attraction pass.

5. Crown tickets sell out very quickly, particularly in summer so you should book in advance. Here’s more information on the official NPS website.

6. If you visit NYC between June and September, we recommend booking one of the earliest ferries so you can beat the heaviest crowds and avoid long lines for departures at each stop.

7. Once you have tickets or online passes ready, you can enter the canvas tents behind Castle Clinton where someone will scan your ticket and allow you access to the security checks.

What Else Is In The Area?

Once you disembark the ferry in Battery Park, here’s what else you can do in the immediate Lower Manhattan area:

• Trinity Church
• Wall Street
• New York Stock Exchange
• 9/11 Memorial and Museum
• Oculus
• One World Observatory
• Seaport District
• Elevated Acre
• Helicopter Tour Over NYC
• Staten Island Ferry
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Chinatown

READ: Fun things to do in Lower Manhattan

The Morgan Conclusion

What we liked: Overall we really enjoyed visiting both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. We thought the most basic ferry and entrance ticket costing $25 was reasonably priced for such an iconic NYC attraction. The ferries ran well and the audio guides were great. Doing it in January meant it was quieter than usual and we took the first ferry so it was even quieter.

What we didn’t like: We thought the food on both islands could have been more diverse and better quality because most people are going to want lunch. Luckily we avoided overcrowding issues but we’ve seen what it gets like in peak season. Getting tickets will be hard, especially for the crown. And there’s likely to be long lines just to get back on the ferry.

Is the Statue of Liberty worth visiting? Yes, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are both definitely worth it. You have the chance to stand directly below Lady Liberty and learn about its creation, plus you can learn about what it was like for immigrants to arrive into the US at Ellis Island. It’s affordable, easy, iconic and you’ll even get unique views looking back over Lower Manhattan.

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• Museums you can’t miss in NYC
• NYC observation decks compared

Want more New York City information? Head over to our NYC Travel Guide for help with planning your first visit.

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We hope this guide to visiting the Statue of Liberty helps with planning your trip to the Big Apple!

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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