Tips for Visiting the Statue of Liberty: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
I took my daughter to New York City for her 13th birthday, and we almost skipped visiting the Statue of Liberty.
I was traveling with both my newly 13-year-old daughter and my newly 11-year-old son for both of their birthday trips. Our first stop was NYC for my daughter’s portion of the trip, and from there we flew to Billund ,Denmark for my son’s portion of the birthday trip!
We had almost 3 full days in NYC, but there are so many amazing things to pack into the itinerary, and I wasn’t sure if the Statue of Liberty would make the cut.
At the very last minute, though, I decided to squeeze it into our packed itinerary, and I’m SO glad I did! It would not have felt like a true first visit to NYC with my daughter without a visit to Liberty Island.
This guide will cover tickets, transportation, the ferry, Liberty Island, the museum, food, and whether to add Ellis Island, because I was definitely a little confused on some of the details when I was trying to book this portion of our trip.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Statue of Liberty before your trip to New York City!
Read: 3 Days in NYC with Teens and Tweens
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How to Book the Statue of Liberty
If you want to actually visit the Statue of Liberty, rather than simply see it from the water, you'll need to book tickets through Statue City Cruises. This is the official ferry service that takes visitors to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.
There are plenty of sightseeing cruises in NYC that offer views of the Statue of Liberty, and some get pretty close! However, these cruises don't let you get off and explore the island.
You can also see the Statue of Liberty from the free Staten Island Ferry, although you'll be farther away.
For our visit, we wanted to get off on Liberty Island, walk around the Statue of Liberty, and visit the museum, so we booked through Statue City Cruises.
Stutue City Cruises is the only authorized ferry service for visiting Liberty Island and Ellis Island, so that’s where we booked our tickets.
The ferries depart from either Battery Park in Lower Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. We, of course, chose Battery Park since we were staying in Midtown Manhattan.
I would highly recommend booking your cruise online in advance to reserve a spot since they sell out quickly. I personally booked mine about a week in advance in the middle of summer (end of July), and found many time slots still available.
Statue of Liberty Ticket Options
There are 4 ticket options you can choose on the Statue City Cruises website: General Admission, Pedestal Reserve, Crown Reserve, and the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour.
General Admission
This is the basic ticket that gets you access to Liberty and Ellis Islands, and ferry transportation. This is what we booked, and it was the perfect choice for us since we had so much planned for this day of our trip! Included in the General Admission (and every ticket option):
Round-trip ferry transportation from New York or New Jersey
Access to Liberty Island and Ellis Island
Admission to the Statue of Liberty Museum
Admission to the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration
Self-guided audio tours available in 12 languages
Pedestal Reserve
For the Pedestal Reserve ticket you get everything that’s included in the General Admission ticket plus access to the Pedestal Observation Deck.
Crown Reserve
The Crown Reserve ticket gets you everything from the Pedestal Reserve ticket PLUS crown access, which requires you to walk up 377 steps. You’ll get incredible views from inside the statue.
I remember doing this tour when I was a kid and being really nervous on the spiral staircase. It would probably be cool to do now as an adult, but since we were limited on time, we skipped the Crown Reserve this time around.
The Crown Reserve has more limited availability than the General Admission or Pedestal Reserve, so book well in advance to secure your spot at the time you want.
Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour
If you’re interested in the history of Ellis Island, you might enjoy the Hard Hat Tour!
Here’s how the website describes the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour:
Led by an expert guide, the fully guided Hard Hat Tour provides exclusive access to unrestored buildings where visitors can experience a fascinating chapter of America's immigration story that few ever get to see.
This tour give you access to everything included in the General Admission ticket plus the tour on Ellis Island
What We Chose
As I mentioned above, we booked the General Admission because our goal was simply to see the Statue of Liberty up close, and because we were limited on time.
Choosing Your Reservation Time Slot
When you purchase tickets on the Statue City Cruises website, you’ll select your date and how many people are in your party, and then the website will show you which time slots are available. It looks like this:
I was a bit confused when I was booking the ticket about whether this time slot was to go through security, or whether that was the time your ferry was leaving. We wanted to do an earlier time slot, and I was trying to figure out how early we would need to get up and leave our hotel to not miss our ferry.
The time slot you are reserving is your entry time to join the line for your security screening. Once you get through the airport-style security where they scan your bags, you’ll get in line to board the next available ferry.
How Early Should You Arrive for the Statue of Liberty Ferry?
If you are taking the subway to bet to Battery Park, the ticket booth and security screening are located at Clinton Castle which is just a short walk away from the nearby subway stations, so give yourself about a 10-15 minute buffer zone between arriving via subway and your check in time at the security line. You probably won’t even need that long, but it’s nice to not have to rush, especially if you have kids with you.
Taking the Subway from Midtown Manhattan to Battery Park
As I was researching how we would get to Battery Park, my initial thought was just to take an Uber or Lyft since I was just with my two older kids on this trip. I figured it would be fast and easy, and I’m sometimes willing to splurge a little on convenience.
However, the more I looked into it, the more I realized that not only would it be MUCH more expensive than the subway, but it would also NOT be nearly as convenient as I though, since it would still take around 30 minutes to get to Battery Park from Midtown Manhattan due to traffic.
So I started researching what I needed to know to take the subway, and it could not have been easier. NYC now has tap to pay for subway rides, so if you have Apple Pay on your phone or a credit card that has the tap to pay feature, you don’t even need to buy specific tickets. You just tap to pay at the turnstile!
Be sure to use Google Maps (not Apple Maps) to navigate the subway. It will tell you which line to take, how many stops are left, and which stop to get off. When you open Google Maps, you can choose the transit option: driving, walking, or transit. Choose transit and it will give you step-by-step directions and stops.
One note from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) website about tap to pay:
First ever tap? You can’t pass it back (yet)
If this is your first time tapping a card or device on a reader, you can’t use it to pay for other riders on the same trip yet. Your bank must approve the transaction before any other fares are paid. Instead, use a separate payment method for everyone on your first trip.
Approval generally takes only a few minutes. You should be able to tap for up to four people on your next trip.
The Best Place to Stand on the Statue of Liberty Ferry
There is ONE place you need to stand if you want the BEST views of the Statue of Liberty as you arrive at Liberty Island.
As I was preparing for my NYC with Kids trip, I listened to my friend Kelsey Graves’ NYC podcast episode on her Trip Tales podcast.
On this episode, she shared that when boarding in Manhattan, your instinct might be to stand on the side facing the Statue of Liberty. Instead, stand on the city-facing side. The boat turns as it approaches Liberty Island and you end up with a fantastic view of Lady Liberty!
She suggests standing on the top deck, but we ended up being one of the last to board our ferry, so it was quite crowded on top. We chose an outdoor spot on the second deck and still got wonderful views of the Statue of Liberty as we drew near to Liberty Island.
@amomexplores 🗽 Tips for visiting the Statue of Liberty in NYC with Kids We visited during my daughter’s 13th birthday trip to New York, and there were definitely a few things I was glad we knew ahead of time (especially where to stand on the ferry for the BEST Statue of Liberty views!) 🗽 Statue City Cruises is the official ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. ⏰ Your scheduled ticket time is the time you enter the SECURITY line, not necessarily the exact time your ferry leaves. 🚇 If you’re staying in Midtown, take the subway to Battery Park! We used Google Maps to navigate the subway and found it really easy. It took about 30 minutes, and you can tap to pay using Apple Pay or your credit card. 🎟️ A General Admission ticket lets you get off at both Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Pedestal and crown access require different tickets. 🏛️ The Statue of Liberty Museum is included and absolutely worth a stop. ☕ There’s also a cafe on Liberty Island with food, snacks and coffee, plus water bottle filling stations. ⛴️ If you want views of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry, stand on the side facing the CITY when you first board in Battery Park. (When you come up the stairs it’s on your left side). We skipped Ellis Island this time because we had a packed 3-day NYC itinerary, but you could easily spend much longer here if you want to visit both islands. SAVE this for your NYC trip! 🗽 #nyctiktok #nycwithkids #travelwithteens #statueofliberty #nyctravel ♬ original sound - A Mom Explores
What to Do on Liberty Island
Once you arrive on Liberty Island you can take the walking path around the Statue of Liberty, get something to eat or drink at the cafe, visit the Statue of Liberty Museum, and enjoy views of Manhattan.
When we arrived, our first stop was Crown Cafe for a latte and snacks. We had grabbed breakfast on the go in order to arrive early enough for our security check in time, so we wanted a moment to sit and relax so I could sip my coffee and the kids could enjoy a pastry.
You can order freshly prepared hot food, grab-and-go sandwiches and snacks, coffee, soda, and desserts. There is plenty of seating outside!
Once I finished my coffee, we used the restroom in the gift shop, and I noticed that they also have water bottle filling stations outside near the gift shop. It can get really warm in summer, so feel free to bring your reusable water bottle and fill it up on Liberty Island!
Then it was time to walk around and see the Statue of Liberty up close and from different angles. We took tons of photos and just admired the bright blue-green color. From that walking path you can also enjoy views of the Manhattan Skyline, so we took some photos facing that direction, too!
If you have Pedestal or Crown tickets, this would be the time to use them.
Our last stop was the Statue of Liberty Museum, which is free to enter. Inside the museum you can learn about the history of the statue, the construction and design, see the original torch, and participate in some interactive exhibits.
All in all, we spent about 2 hours on Liberty Island. If you’re visiting the Crown or Pedestal, plan around 3 hours or slightly more.
Visiting Ellis Island
A stop at Ellis Island is included with basic ferry admission, but by the time we were done with Liberty Island, the kids were ready to move on to our next activity. With only 3 days in NYC we had a lot we wanted to see and do.
If immigration history is important to your family or you want a more comprehensive visit, budget additional time for Ellis Island. If you wanted the full Statue of Liberty, Crown and Pedestal, Ellis Island experience, you could easily turn this into a full day outing.
How Much Time Should You Plan for the Statue of Liberty?
If you are planning to visit just Liberty Island, plan for about 3 to 4 hours. If you are planning to include Ellis Island, plan for about 4 to 6 hours.
We checked into security at 9:00 a.m. and we were back at Battery Park at 12:15 p.m. That did not include the Crown, Pedestal, or Ellis Island, and took about 3 hours and 15 minutes total. That includes security, boarding the ferry, the ferry ride, having a coffee on Liberty Island, exploring Liberty Island, visiting the Museum, and taking the ferry straight back to Battery Park.
After we returned to Manhattan, we visited the SeaGlass Carousel in Battery Park, went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, walked through Chinatown, and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
If you want to see our full 3-Day NYC Itinerary, you can check that out here!
Tips for Visiting the Statue of Liberty with Kids
I visited the Statue of Liberty with an 11 and 13 year old, but if you’re visiting with younger kids, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Kids ages 4 and under are FREE for General Admission tickets!
Bring refillable water bottles - they have water bottle refill stations on Liberty Island
Coffee, food, and snacks are available at the cafes on both islands, and there are also concessions on board the ferry.
You can bring a stroller, just make sure it folds up easily if you want to go to the 2nd or top deck of the ferry. There is accessible ferry boarding and stroller-friendly paths on the islands.
However, you cannot bring strollers inside the Pedestal or Crown. Stroller parking is provided.
There is a private nursing station inside the Crown Café on Liberty Island for breastfeeding or pumping if you want or need more privacy.
Kids of all ages and heights can climb the Pedestal, but kids must be at least 42 inches to climb up to the Crown
Have your kids earn their Junior Ranger badge! You can pick up a free Junior Ranger booklet and pencil from National Park Service Rangers on either island. They can complete the activities and bring it back to receive their badge.
Decide beforehand whether Ellis Island is realistic for your family's attention span/time.
Expect a lot of walking, and plan to have some downtime afterward. I had teens and tweens with me, so we were ok to pack our itinerary full (we walked 25K steps that day!), but in my experience, little ones might need some park or playground time afterward, or even a quick quiet time/rest time/nap time in the hotel before heading back out. You know your family best!
11 and 13 were great ages for this experience. They were interested in the history, and they were still excited to see this iconic landmark in person. We took tons of pictures, walked a lot that day, and really enjoyed our time together.
Final Thoughts: Is Visiting the Statue of Liberty Worth It?
For a first NYC trip with my kids, it was 100% worth dedicating 3 hours of our day to this activity. In retrospect, I don’t think it would have felt like a true first trip to NYC without including he Statue of Liberty in our itinerary. I’m glad we did it.
Planning a family trip to NYC? Check out my complete 3-day NYC itinerary with teens and tweens, including the Statue of Liberty, a Broadway show, SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Brooklyn Bridge and more.
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Emily Krause is a Florida-based travel blogger who writes about exploring the world with kids. On A Mom Explores you’ll find best family travel destinations, Disney World tips, and how to make travel with babies and toddlers a little easier.
Emily believes that exploring starts in our own backyards, and adventure can happen anywhere with the right mindset.
