Advertisement
New York City Tours
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour: All Options
5
BEST SELLER

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour: All Options

By ExperienceFirst
Recommended by 96% of travellers
96% of reviewers gave this product a bubble rating of 4 or higher.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation

Ages 4-99, max of 25 per group
Duration: 3–5 hours
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
More

Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best
2024

  • Roundtrip reserve-line ferry tickets with stunning views of the NYC skyline
  • Guided tour of Liberty Island
  • History of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from an expert New Yorker
  • Visit the Statue of Liberty Museum - learn how this sculpture became such an icon - self-guided
  • Comprehensive Tour only - Guided tour of Ellis Island including the American Immigrant Wall of Honor
  • Comprehensive Tour only - Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, audio guide included
  • Entry/Admission - Statue of Liberty
  • Entry/Admission - Statue of Liberty Museum
  • Entry/Admission - Ellis Island
  • Entry/Admission - Ellis Island Immigration Museum
What's not included
  • Gratuities
  • Lockers for large items on Liberty Island (available for $0.25)
  • Crown and Pedestal (base) access at the Statue of Liberty, entry not included
  • Statue of Liberty Museum & Ellis Island National Museum are not guided as tour guides not permitted


Start:
  • Castle Clinton National Monument, New York, NY 10004, USA
    Meet your guide on the steps outside of Castle Clinton's North Entrance. Castle Clinton is inside Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan. Your guide will have your entry tickets. Just show up and tell the guide your name. They will be wearing an orange hat and/or a blue jacket/shirt.
End:
  • Option 1
    Ellis Island, United States
    4 Hour Comprehensive Tour - This tour will end on Ellis Island. Guests can spend more time there if they wish or they can head back on the first ferry returning to Battery Park - return ticket included. Important: Express Tour does not end on Ellis Island, this tour option ends at Liberty Island.
  • Option 2
    Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004, USA
    Express Tour - This tour will end at Liberty Island. Guests can spend more time there if they wish or they can head back on the first ferry returning to Battery Park - return ticket included.

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Pushchair accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 5250LIBERTYELLIS

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Most travellers can participate
  • Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. The tour departs promptly and if late, you will NOT be able to catch up and will miss the tour. There are no refunds for missing the tour.
  • Please note the earliest time tour will have the least wait. Later tours will encounter longer wait times.
  • The guided portion of the tour is approximately either 0.5, 2 or 4 hours.
  • Food available for purchase on the ferry, at the Statue of Liberty, and on Ellis Island
  • Operates in all weather conditions. Please dress appropriately.
  • Security screening will take place prior to entering the ferry. Visitors to the park are required to undergo airport-style security screening.
  • Photographs are permitted, but tripods and monopods are prohibited.
  • Children 3 and under free with paid adult ticket.
  • Guides are wearing orange hats AND/OR blue shirts or jackets.
  • Pedestal and crown access are not included in your tour. Guided tours are not allowed in the pedestal or crown at the Statue of Liberty
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travellers

  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

The tour operator has provided the following answers to customers’ questions.
Where is the meeting point for the OPEN: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Tour: All Options?
The meeting point for this tour is Castle Clinton National Monument, Battery Park, New York.
Answered Dec 2021
How much walking will we be doing on the OPEN: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Tour: All Options?
We’ll be on our feet for most of the tour. At both Liberty and Ellis islands, your guide will lead you on a walking tour. The ferry also has multiple levels with stairs and there are about 160 steps to reach the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
Answered Dec 2021
What can I bring with me on the OPEN: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Tour: All Options?
Food, backpacks, strollers, and large items must be checked into lockers before entering the Statue of Liberty. The locker fee isn’t included in the tour price. Also, plan for security screenings before entering the ferry and/or pedestal.
Answered Dec 2021
Will the visit to the Statue of Liberty pedestal and the museums on Ellis Island be guided?
The National Park Service doesn't allow any guides inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal, Statue of Liberty Museum, or Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. You will have time to explore these on your own after an introduction from your guide.
Answered Feb 2021

If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 5250LIBERTYELLIS

From
$124.51
per adult
Select date and travellers

Similar experiences

Itinerary
  • New York, NY 10004, USA
    Meet your guide on the steps outside of Castle Clinton's North Entrance. Castle Clinton is inside Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan. Your guide will have your entry tickets. Just show up and tell the guide your name. They will be wearing an orange hat and/or a blue jacket/shirt.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
  • ExperienceFirst
    35,054
    United States
    Joined in May 2009
  • enriquegT5587JS
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great experience
    Excellent tour, I enjoyed all the explanations from Peter Sullivan. He shared really good information from all around.
    Written 22 January 2025
  • 652selenec
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    good
    Jacob was so nice, the tour with him was good experience. And he also give the option to skip the little break because it’s was very cold!
    Written 22 January 2025
  • Global46706597517
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant tour
    Brilliant experience with Tom and Alan. Very interesting facts about the different boroughs of New York with added humour. Every stop was on time as well. Really enjoyed the day thank you! Would definitely recommend.
    Written 22 January 2025
  • A569HHalexm
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    The perfect tour
    Such an amazing tour to get to know the reality of NYC outside Manhattan. Our guide Tom has amazingly explained the history of every neighbor. Always with a great sense of humor. Thanks!
    Written 22 January 2025
  • amaliaa784
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good tour
    The tour was a good experience overall. The guide was knowledgeable and shared interesting facts about the area’s history and architecture.
    Written 22 January 2025
  • Discover36909439895
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Just do it
    Really great tour Our guide Jorge was fantastic….extremely knowledgeable and so nice. If you want to see the real New York just do it
    Written 22 January 2025
  • Quadtastrophy
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    10/10 new york bus tour
    Jorge was exceptional, really knew his history, kept us engaged and took us to amazing spots. Highly reccomend. Thanks Jorge!
    Written 21 January 2025
  • vickeyk2021
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Sisters birthday trip to NYC
    Joseph was a great tour guide and really brought the experience to life. We had a wonderful time despite the bitter cold and learned a lot in the process.
    Written 21 January 2025
  • C2158DHchristiand
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Snowy tour through Soho, little Italy and chinatown
    I had a great trip with small anecdotes and interesting facts. The cold did not stop our guide from giving a entertaining tour.
    Written 21 January 2025
  • robertrV6773ZT
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Hudson Yard Review
    Great Trip to hear a bit of history about the area. Justin our guide was very knowledgable and clearly enjoyed sharing his enthusiasm
    Written 21 January 2025
  • Cruiser00170923638
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Private tour.
    The tour was very informative. Our Guide, Dave, was knowledgeable and accommodating. We were a party of 2 and due to weather, were the only ones on our tour. A great private tour experience.
    Written 20 January 2025
  • 931marvi
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Nice tour with Felipe
    It was a nice tour with Felipe:) With inside tips for food and restaurants in soho, little taly and china town. He also have some interesting facts about the different stations.
    Written 20 January 2025
  • Roving46662007413
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    BEST WAY TO EXPERIENCE NYC IN ONE DAY!
    What a great experience for me and my family! Although it turned out that we were the only family brave enough to book a NYC walking tour in the middle of winter, Jenn, our tour guide met with us on time and ready to go. She ensured to customize our trip for our family. We had a 5-year-old, a 9-year-old, a 17-year-old, and my wife and I. She made sure to get us to all the locations on the tour ensuring we were timely and efficient. She made sure that the little ones were ok and that we maintained a pace that we could all keep up with. It was nice to experience the "tourist" spots of NYC on foot rather than on a bus where we would've just driven by. Walking the city gave us the real NYC experience. We got to see things like St. Patrick's Cathedral, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Wall Street, NYSE, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from a ferry, Stone Street, ride the Metro train, Grand Central Terminal, and ending at the 9/11 Memorial. We added the One World Observatory to the end of our trip and it was totally worth it. Some videos and reviews recommend other viewing platforms but this one was amazing. The weather and air were clear and you could see almost the whole city. It is a 360 viewing floor with no time limits. There are drinks and souvenirs at the top. It was great to go up there and point out all the things we had observed that day. By the time we finished, we had about 20k steps which is similar to a day at Disneyland. Jenn even made sure to reference movies that the kids could relate to such as Marvel or DC. One of the best parts was that the Christmas Tree was still up at Rockefeller Center! Jenn gave us plenty of time to check everything out and take our pictures while ensuring that we weren't out in the cold for excessive amounts of time. Ending the tour at the 9/11 Memorial is probably the best part of the tour. I would recommend asking for Jenn if you can as she is a New Yorker who has a great understanding of how the city and culture of NYC work. Thanks, Jenn for taking care of us in the cold!
    Written 19 January 2025
  • kellibV4675EI
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Soho/Little Italy/China Town
    Jacob was great! Very informative and courteous. Great tour for people new to the city. Gave us time to eat a snack in little Italy and showed us good places to eat in China town.
    Written 19 January 2025
  • 160katerineg
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing tour. Learned a lot.
    Jacob was great! I learned so much and we had time to stop for a snack at little Italy. 10/10 recommend to anyone looking for a tour of these three places.
    Written 19 January 2025
See all 35,054 reviews
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles6,053 reviews
Excellent
5,590
Very good
280
Average
66
Poor
41
Terrible
76

Colin H
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
This tour was obviously more expensive than just the ferry entrance ticket, but I can't recommend it enough. Queue jumping through security was a breeze, and our tour guide Kevin Lawrence kept the group of 25 engaged from start to finish, really informative facts about the statue of liberty and Ellis island, as well as Manhattan and Governors Island plus others. Will definitely be recommending this tour to my UK friends.
Written 3 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Marcus O
Llandudno, UK5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
WOW, my wife and I had a fantastic trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with our Knowledgeable and charming host Nathan Cann, what a guy, he was professional, entertaining and full of interesting facts about the Statue and immigration to New York . I appreciate you can purchase just a ticket on it's own, however, the additional cost of a tour guide is well worth what you get out of it, not only the interesting facts that bring everything to life, but equally the chance to interact with other visitors. Nathan is a true credit to his organisation and my wife and I would highly recommend this trip to all.
Written 28 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RoseMary L
Roseville, CA1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Fun & educational tour. Cody was so knowledgeable and gave so much history about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island that I didn't even know. He was friendly and outgoing, fun day and learned so much. He talked about history, which I love. The next day I went on a buggy ride in Central Park, which I may add, cost way more, and the tour guide talked about actors and the rich, bored out of my mind. I wanted history on the park, etc. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything. Great tour & tour guide, thanks Cody.
Written 13 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael Geore
Lewisville, TX1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Family
The tour was really good. Getting to skip the line to get through security to get on the boat to the Statue of Liberty is the only part of the skip the lines you get to skip. The line at battery park gets very long, so getting there early for the 8:30 tour is recommended. You will get there before the crowds get to the Statue of Liberty which is a huge plus! The tour of Ellis island was not much of a tour. We quickly walked through it and then was lead outside and discussed what we saw. Which was okay but no time really to look around until after the tour was over. As far as the tour goes doing the 8:30 tour was great for the low crowds. Now let’s talk about the tour guide. The guide was very smug and when you open up with your acting credentials instead of information of the tour, lets just say it was not impressive. Then having to over hear your tour guide speaking with another guide about how the company that runs the tours isn’t good to work for and bad mouth the owner of the company and the way it is run was pretty crappy. I think if you want to complain about your boss do it off the clock not in front of your customers. Then when meeting back with the group after our free time on liberty island 5 minutes before we were told to be back by, we were talked to like we were holding up the entire group even though we were back before the scheduled meeting time. I saw other tour guides giving more information to their groups and were much more enthusiast about their tour groups and seems to me a lot more fun to be on. Honestly we were relieved when the tour was over and we could go back and tour Ellis island observes again. I could go on but you get the idea of how it went for four hours with this particular guide. Remember tour is great do it early before it gets busy and for that I would recommend you taking this tour for that reason only. I give it 3 out of five just due to the guide only. If we had a different guide would have been a five for sure.
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Heather B
Billericay, UK1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We loved every minute of this tour. Although we started in such miserable weather, the tour guide Mike, was so warm and welcoming. He was very knowledgeable and he was able and very happy to answer all questions and managed to keep us all on time and in good order. Would highly recommend this tour and the early start was definitely worth getting up for as made the whole experience very comfortable in regards to the amount of people that were around.
Written 13 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pavel A
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
we've started in the morning from Clinton Castle. while we were waiting for the rest of the group to show up, our guide, Blake, kept us busy by answering our questions about New York. He proceed doing that during the whole tour. so we did not only learn about Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but got another knowledge about New York.
after Clinton Castle we went through security to the ferry. Again, Blake explained what can we take with us, and how everything will go there.
Ferry took us to the Statue of Liberty, where blake gave us an ~1 hour tour that included:
walk around statue of liberty
showed us where lockers are
walked us into pedestal and museum (another security check here)
guided us through museum
he was telling us about statue of liberty the whole time. so we received a pretty complete knowledge on how it was designed/constructed/shipped/build and other interesting fact.
after that, we received a 'break' - 45 minutes of free time. we've used it to get to the pedestal top and take some pictures / look at New York from there. this took us ~30 minutes, so when we came out of pedestal, we had little time to get to another museum. what i'm saying, is that if you have additional tickets to the crown, or want more time on liberty island - just ask about it, because time you'll have is limited with next ferry departure time. i think you can shift it.
we took a ferry to the ellis island then.
on ellis island, again, we had a short tour with lots of stories about immigration in the USA. Ellis Island museum does not allow guides to perform full guidance, so it was short, but enough for us.
then it was up to us to take any ferry we want to get back to the Manhattan.
Written 25 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LeenaRanas80
Los Angeles, CA9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2019
Although we did not expect 100's of other people to be at the tour initial meeting place, we still ended up with less than 20 people in our own private tour. I would recommend doing the earliest of the tour option start times, and even though it ends at 1pm, give yourself enough time to actually spend time at the museum at the end. Great tour guide!!
Written 15 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BlondieD
Derbyshire, UK158 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
A brilliant tour to get to know one of NYC’s iconic attractions. This tour included, return ferry to Battery Park, admission to Liberty and Ellis Island and a tour guide who shows you the highlights of both. You can’t believe the beauty of Liberty until you see it for yourself… the history behind it (and Ellis Island) is phenomenal and well worth understanding by doing this tour. We had a relatively small group and it wasn’t too busy when we arrived, though it did get busy as the morning progressed. We left Battery Park at 09:30 and got back around 13:30 so it’s good value for money… people will tell you to “just get a ferry across on your own” but you won’t understand the history of the place alone (in my opinion).
The security checks are, however, VERY annoying but a necessity so I shouldn’t grumble… difficult in Timberland boots lol….
Josh was very knowledgeable and got the best photo of us in NYC !! Right under the Status of Liberty – thank you for the memories !!
I would highly recommend this tour to others (I already have).
Written 5 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dennis T
Biloxi, MS180 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
It was kind of a cold dreary day but our guide Sara brought enough energy and spark to brighten the day. She was very knowledgeable and you could tell she enjoys her city and telling everyone about it. She gave us hints and ideas about how to get through the security lines without any hassles and brought us into the old museum to tell us many stories. I don't think I would have visited the old museum if she had not brought us in there. The stories she told kept us engaged in the excitement. We then continued onto the pedestal and she explained many different fun facts about where we were. When we were leaving we got to meet the caretaker of the Statue. He stopped by and told us about some of the work he does... Climb up onto the torch to clean off the lightning strike burn marks sounded pretty exhausting to me!! Then on to Ellis Island where she took the time to immerse you in the feelings of what it must have felt like to be an immigrant at the time. She made the story come to life before she sent us on our way to explore the museum. This was a great tour and I would surely recommend this!!
Written 3 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Emma H
Leeds, UK23 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022 • Couples
So pleased I booked this tour and delighted with Nicola (male) who was our guide for the 3-4 hours. From circumnavigating queues to top tips for getting ready to disembark through to his personal passion the trip was so much better. Small group and felt as though we were all absorbed in his stories and knowledge of the locations. Ferry was on time and great views and topped off with Nicola offering to take a picture of the 2 of us rather than another selfie with half the image missing! Good value and highly recommend to do it with a guide as you totally get a better understanding of the history of the 2 locations. Thank you Nicola-top 5 stars from Us.
Written 8 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 5,922
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour: All Options provided by ExperienceFirst

All New York City HotelsNew York City Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in New York City
All things to do in New York City
Day Trips in New York City
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday HomesTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire