New York City Travel Forum

I will be traveling with 3 teens who want to see the Statue of Liberty. How much time should I plan on staying at these at sites? Does the Reserve Ticket for the Statue of Liberty really save you from waiting 1 1/2 hours to board the Liberty cruise?

bookmark (for a July visit)

This advice is based on my visit Easter 2007 taking the ferry from Battery Park
1. If you book in advance, you go to the reserved ticket booth, pick up your tickets and then join the queue to get onto the ferry. That queue is not much fun, you have to go through airport style screening which takes an age.
2. If you don't book in advance, you have to queue up for a ticket and then join the queue for ferry
3. Plan to get to Battery Park as early as possible to avoid the largest queues. We arrived there at 9am, having pre-booked and still queued for 1/2 an hour to get on the ferry.
4. When you book, you are given a time slot for a tour of the statue. You will have to book well in advance if you want the earliest slots.
5. The ferries go to Ellis island as well, you might as well make a day of it
6. Liberty island has a few snack bars but the better place to get something to eat for you and your teens will be on Ellis island.
7. On Liberty island you have to go through more security checks before you can enter the tour of the statue
8. Our trip - arrived Battery Park 9am- Ellis island, Liberty island and lots of queuing later- returned to Battery Park 3pm but you can spend much longer there especially at the museum which has performances and films to keep you busy.
9. If you are just wanting to go to Liberty island I would estimate 4 hours
10. Beware the very dodgey dealings at Battery Park when you return

Hi I recommend you take the Circle cruise, or 2 hour half circle cruise, down the Hudson River, stops in front of the Statute Of Liberty for photos, then under the Brooklyn Bridge and up the East River, turs around and comes back. You see much, the commentary is fantastic. Tip on my pages.

Good Luck,
Mike

Hi!
I was wondering if the visit it's really worth the effort...consider that I am not a morning person..and obviously I don't like queuing!!
Some people suggested me to take the free ferry that goes to Staten Island and enjoy the view from there..what do you think?
Also, if you visit the Statue, are you allowed to go up to the head?
Thanks

No you're not allowed to climb to head, not since 9/11.

Is it worth it? It was for me

You can get good views from the circle line as mikebb says, it's a bit closer than the Staten island ferry but the ferry is free after all.

Don't like queuing, I guess you are not traveling by airplane then and what about that announcement today, taking fingerprints when you leave the US. The airlines are apparently furious.

I went there in 2006 and although the wait for queue was horrid but the view of the city was great from the island.

I'm quite fascinated by everything there since there are a few hollywood films has featured the statue in it. (the last show I watched before i went there in 06 was "the day after tommorow" with the frozen statue as the movie dvd cover.)

We were allowed to climb up to the pedestal and only had a few viewing windows there to allow you to see the inside of the statue. The gallery inside the statue is interesting with a lot of stuff related to the statue. Again the scenery is great from the pedestal.

Do visit this website: http://www.nps.gov/stli
I reserved my tickets through www.statuecruises.com

Get the 'tickets with monument pass' early. For the date I chose, the 9am thru' 10am departures were already sold out.

By the way, any suggestions on how to get to Battery Park for the ferry? Any directions from anyone....

i would agree with other posters...Liberty Island isn't that exciting. all of the boats/ferries have great up-close views of the statue. However, i found Ellis Island to be fascinating. The museum there is really interesting. If you do plan to do the Liberty cruise get there EARLY in the morning to avoid long lines. I would book in advance too.

I know it is an option on the Liberty Cruise to not get off on Liberty Island -you will stop there -but you can stay on board, get great pics and then be taken to Ellis Island.