The Statue of Liberty | New York City

The Statue of Liberty
New York City

The Statue of Liberty
New York City

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Statue of Liberty New York: Everything You Need to Know Before You Visit

Updated July 2026

The Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor since 1886, a gift from France sculpted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi around an iron framework engineered by Gustave Eiffel, and she remains the most recognisable symbol of the United States anywhere in the world. The National Park Service charges no entrance fee to visit her, which makes it a great deal: the money you pay is a ferry fare to a single authorised operator, and the crown and pedestal cost only thirty cents more than the boat ride itself. What separates a smooth visit from a wasted morning is knowing which of the three access levels you want, how far ahead each one needs booking, and that crown tickets disappear four to six months in advance.

At a Glance

How Early to Book:

About 3 weeks in advance for a visit to the Pedestal, and 3 months ahead for a visit up to the Crown. Timed-entry tickets are required for both these types of visits, but not for a visit to only the island by itself.

Tickets Released:

Tickets

Released:

At least 4 months in advance.

Best Times to Visit:

Take the first ferry out to Liberty Island for the smallest crowds.

Ticket price:

$26.30 for adults, includes Ferry service from either Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey.

Do You Need to Book Statue of Liberty Tickets in Advance?

Yes, and the further inside the statue you want to go, the earlier you need to act. There is no way to reach Liberty Island other than by ferry, and Statue City Cruises is the only operator authorised by the National Park Service to dock there. Every ticket, whatever tier you buy, is fundamentally a ferry ticket with island access attached.

The three access tiers:

  • Reserve (grounds only): round-trip ferry, the grounds of Liberty Island, the Statue of Liberty Museum, plus Ellis Island and its Immigration Museum. This is what most visitors buy.

  • Pedestal Reserve: everything above, plus entry into the monument and up to the top of the granite pedestal.

  • Crown Reserve: everything above, plus the climb into the crown itself.

Ticket prices:

  • Adults (13+): $26.00

  • Seniors (62+): $23.00

  • Children 4 to 12: $17.00

  • Children under 4: free

  • Pedestal access: add $0.30 to any of the above

  • Crown access: add $0.30 to any of the above

That is not a typo. The National Park Service charges no admission fee for the monument or either museum, so pedestal and crown access carry only a token thirty-cent surcharge. What makes them valuable is scarcity, not the price.

Where to book: Buy directly from Statue City Cruises at statuecitycruises.com. Ranger tours and the audio guide are free and included with every ticket.

How far ahead to book, by tier: Grounds tickets can often be bought a few days out, though popular summer slots do go. Pedestal tickets are worth booking a few weeks ahead, especially for summer dates. Crown tickets should be booked 3 months ahead, even in the off-season.

City passes: The New York CityPASS, the New York Pass, and the Go City Explorer Pass all include the general admission ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. None of them include pedestal or crown access, and there is no way to upgrade a pass at the dock. If you want to go inside the statue, that reservation has to come directly from Statue City Cruises, separately.

America the Beautiful passes do not apply here. National park annual passes and NPS fee-free days cover entrance fees, and this monument has none. The ferry is a transportation fee, so the passes give you nothing.

Beware ticket touts. Aggressive unauthorised sellers work the area around The Battery, and some sell boat trips that sail past the statue without ever docking. The only legitimate on-site ticket office in Manhattan is the Statue City Cruises window inside Castle Clinton, and the only one in New Jersey is inside the historic railroad terminal at Liberty State Park.

One critical detail about your ticket time: the time printed on your ticket is the time you may join the security screening queue on the mainland. It is not a ferry departure time and it is not your pedestal or crown entry time. Screening and boarding together can take an hour or more in summer and at weekends.

Statue of Liberty Opening Hours and Ferry Times

Liberty Island is open daily except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Practical opening hours are set by the ferry schedule rather than by gates, so the boat timetable is what actually governs your day.

Ferry times: The first departure from the mainland is generally around 9am, moving earlier to roughly 8:30am at the height of summer. Boats then run every 20 to 30 minutes through the morning and early afternoon.

Last departures: The final outbound ferry leaves the mainland somewhere between 3:30pm in winter and around 5pm in peak summer, with the closing boat off the islands running later still. Schedules shift several times a year, so confirm your date before travelling.

The 2pm rule: If you board after 2pm you will not have time to see both Liberty Island and Ellis Island properly. Take an earlier boat if you want both. The last outbound departure from Battery Park does not call at Ellis Island at all.

Seasonal closure in New Jersey: Liberty State Park ferry service is typically suspended from early January to early March. Battery Park runs year-round.

Addresses: Statue City Cruises at Castle Clinton, The Battery, New York, NY 10004 (navigate to 17 State Street). In New Jersey, the CRRNJ Terminal, 1 Audrey Zapp Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305.

Image of the Statue of Liberty in front of a blue sky.

What is the Best Way to Get to the Statue of Liberty?

There are two departure points, and choosing the right makes will make a difference.

From Battery Park, Manhattan (most visitors): Take the 1 train to South Ferry, the 4 or 5 to Bowling Green, or the R or W to Whitehall Street. All three leave you within a five-minute walk of Castle Clinton. The M15, M20, and M15-SBS buses stop at South Ferry.

From Liberty State Park, New Jersey: Take the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Liberty State Park station, then walk about ten minutes to the ferry landing. If you are driving, this is by far the better option: there is ample paid parking on site, whereas parking in Lower Manhattan is expensive and scarce.

Which departure point to choose: Liberty State Park usually has noticeably shorter security queues than Battery Park, which is the single biggest argument for using it if you have a car or are staying in New Jersey. The islands themselves are identical either way, but the running order differs. Boats from Battery Park call at Liberty Island first, then Ellis Island. Boats from Liberty State Park call at Ellis Island first. If the statue is your priority and you are leaving from New Jersey, factor that in.

Mixing terminals: You may depart from one side and return to the other, but once you disembark on the mainland you cannot re-board.

One practical tip: Arrive 30 to 45 minutes before the ferry you intend to catch in summer, and 15 to 20 minutes off-season. The mainland screening is airport-style, and the queue at Battery Park in July snakes well outside Castle Clinton by mid-morning.

Can You See the Statue of Liberty for Free?

You can see her for free, though you cannot set foot on Liberty Island without a ferry ticket. For a lot of visitors, the free option is the right call.

The Staten Island Ferry is the classic answer. It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week between Whitehall Terminal at the southern tip of Manhattan and St George Terminal on Staten Island, takes about 25 minutes each way, and costs nothing. It passes within roughly 500 yards of the statue. Stand on the starboard (right) side leaving Manhattan for the best view, and note that the ferry does not stop at Liberty Island, so you cannot visit the museum, walk the grounds, or go inside. Most visitors simply ride across, walk off, and get straight back on the next boat. Because it runs all night, it is also the easiest way to see the statue lit up after dark, when the paid ferries have long stopped.

Nobody should ever pay for the Staten Island Ferry. People near the terminal do sell "Statue of Liberty ferry tickets" to unsuspecting tourists; if you are holding a ticket for this boat, something has gone wrong. You walk on the way you walk into a park.

Free viewpoints on land: The Battery itself gives clear harbour sightlines. Wagner Park in Battery Park City reopened in 2025 after a major flood-protection rebuild, elevated ten feet, with a public rooftop terrace looking straight down the harbour at the statue and Ellis Island. Across the water, the Liberty State Park waterfront walkway in New Jersey offers arguably the best free land view of all, and Brooklyn Bridge Park and Governors Island both give good long-distance angles.

Which is better? The Staten Island Ferry gives you a distant, moving glimpse and a fine harbour ride. The paid ferry puts you at her feet, inside the museum, and on Ellis Island. They are not substitutes for each other, and which is right depends on whether you want to see the statue or to visit it.

The base of the Statue of Liberty, standing in the middle of a green island.

Standing 305 feet tall from base to torch, the statue and its torch actually sway in strong winds. Lady Liberty sways about 3 inches, while the torch can move up to 5 inches.

How Much Time Should I Spend at the Statue of Liberty?

Most people underestimate how long they need. Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close is a half-day commitment at a minimum.

Liberty Island only: 2 to 3 hours door to door, including mainland security, the ferry crossing, the grounds, and the museum.

Liberty Island and Ellis Island: 4 to 6 hours. Ellis Island requires at least 90 minutes on its own, and the inter-island ferry legs add up.

Add for pedestal access: 30 to 60 minutes on top, covering the secondary screening, the climb or lift, and time at the top.

Add for crown access: 45 to 90 minutes on top. The climb is slow, the queue is managed in small groups, and you will not be allowed to linger at the summit.

Security overhead: In peak summer, mainland screening alone can take up to 90 minutes on a bad day. Build that in rather than assuming a 9am ticket means a 9am boat.

If you only have a morning in Lower Manhattan and also want to see the 9/11 Memorial, be realistic: the Statue of Liberty will fill that morning by itself.

What Can You See on Liberty Island Without Going Inside the Statue?

The majority of visitors never go inside the monument, and for many that is the right choice, since the standard Reserve ticket covers considerably more than people expect.

The grounds and the promenade: You can walk the full perimeter of Liberty Island and circle the statue at close range, which is where the famous photographs come from. The star-shaped base she stands on is Fort Wood, an early nineteenth-century military fortification repurposed as her foundation. Walking the promenade with the Manhattan skyline behind you is, for most people, the defining moment of the visit.

The Statue of Liberty Museum: Opened in 2019 and included free with every ferry ticket, this 26,000 square foot building is much better than most visitors anticipate. Its centrepiece is the original 1886 torch, replaced during the 1980s restoration and now displayed in a light-filled gallery. There is an immersive theatre, engineering exhibits explaining how Bartholdi and Eiffel actually built her, and a full-size copper replica of her face you can touch. Even visitors with crown tickets should leave time for it.

The bronze plaque of The New Colossus: Emma Lazarus wrote her sonnet in 1883 to help raise money for the pedestal, and its closing lines about welcoming the world's exhausted and displaced have shaped how the statue has been understood ever since. The plaque was installed in 1903, and the poem is presented in the museum.

Free ranger tours and audio guide: Both are included with every ticket. Park rangers run short talks throughout the day, and the self-guided audio tour is available in around a dozen languages and takes roughly 45 minutes. Collect it on arrival.

Views from ground level: The harbour panorama from the island takes in Lower Manhattan, Ellis Island, Brooklyn, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. It is not far off what you get from the pedestal, just from lower down.

Honestly, if crown and pedestal tickets are sold out, do not cancel your trip. The grounds ticket delivers the statue, the museum, the harbour, and Ellis Island. The interior access is a bonus experience, not the main event.

Statue of Liberty Pedestal Access

The pedestal is the middle option and, for a lot of visitors, the better one. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and paid for by public subscription in one of the great fundraising campaigns of the nineteenth century, the granite pedestal stands 89 feet tall and lifts you roughly ten storeys above the island.

What you get: Entry into the monument itself, the lower pedestal levels, a small museum inside the base, and the observation level at the top of the pedestal with a wide, open view across New York Harbor. You also get your first proper look at Eiffel's internal framework, which is far more impressive in person than photographs suggest.

Stairs or lift: There are 215 steps to the top of the pedestal, but unlike the crown, an elevator serves this level. That makes the pedestal the highest point in the monument available to visitors who cannot manage stairs.

Booking: Book at least 3 weeks ahead for summer dates. A limited number of same-day pedestal tickets are released at the Battery Park and Liberty State Park ticket offices on a first-come, first-served basis, which is worth trying if you are flexible and early. Pedestal reservations cannot be bought once you are on Liberty Island.

Cost: $0.30 on top of your ferry ticket.

Worth knowing: Pedestal access does not include the crown. If you buy a pedestal ticket hoping to talk your way up the last 162 steps, you will be turned back by the ranger at the top who checks wristbands.

The pedestal is my recommendation to New York City tourists, especially first time visitors. The view is open rather than framed by small windows, you can stay as long as you like, and it costs the same thirty cents as the crown.

Statue of Liberty Crown Access

The crown is the most limited access at any American national monument, and the reason is simple: the space at the top holds only a handful of people at a time, and the only way up is a staircase built into the statue's structure.

The climb: From the top of the pedestal it is 162 steps to the crown platform, and 377 steps from ground level. There is no lift. The staircase is a double helix, one spiral ascending and one descending, so nobody has to squeeze past anyone coming the other way. Each step is about nine inches high and eight inches deep, and the space is tight, warm in summer, and enclosed. The whole ascent is equivalent to climbing a 20-storey building.

What you actually see: Twenty-five small windows set beneath the crown's spikes, giving tightly framed views over the harbour towards Manhattan and Brooklyn. Be clear-eyed about this: the views are not the best on the island, and anyone choosing the crown for the panorama will be disappointed. What makes it extraordinary is the climb itself, the chance to see the copper skin and Eiffel's ironwork from the inside at arm's length, and standing in the head of a statue you have recognised your whole life. On a windy day you may feel her move slightly, which is by design.

How to book: Crown tickets come only from Statue City Cruises, online or by phone. They are not sold at the Battery Park or Liberty State Park ticket offices, and not on Liberty Island. Book 3 months ahead at a minimum. For peak summer dates, these tickets go very quickly.

The restrictions are strict:

  • All visitors' names must be given at the time of purchase, and tickets are non-transferable

  • Every adult needs photo ID matching the name on the ticket to collect the required crown wristband before boarding

  • Maximum four crown tickets per order

  • One crown reservation per person in any six-month period

  • Children must be at least 42 inches (107cm) tall; there is no minimum age, but shorter children can go no higher than the pedestal

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult throughout

What you can carry up: One phone or camera per person, water in a plastic container, and any medication you need. Everything else, including all backpacks, goes into a locker before you enter. Lockers on the island need a 25 cent coin as a deposit.

Fitness: The Park Service advises against the climb for anyone with heart conditions or other significant physical or mental conditions that would make a strenuous, confined ascent unwise. If you have a real problem with enclosed spaces, this is not the place to test it.

Cost: $0.30 on top of your ferry ticket, the same as the pedestal.

If you have the foresight to book half a year out and the legs for the climb, it is one of the most extraordinary things to do in one of the greatest cities in the world. If you do not, the pedestal gives you the better view for the same money.

Guided Tours and Audio Guides

Free ranger programmes: National Park Service rangers run free talks and tours on both Liberty Island and Ellis Island throughout the day. These are included with every ticket, need no booking, and are consistently the most informative thing on the island. Check the board near the flagpole plaza on arrival for the day's schedule.

The free audio guide: Included with every ferry ticket and available in around a dozen languages, the self-guided tour covers the island, the statue's construction, and its history in about 45 minutes. Collect it when you land. There is a version aimed at children too.

Paid guided tours: Various operators sell guided Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours through platforms including GetYourGuide and Viator, typically bundling a guide with the standard ferry ticket. A good guide adds real context to Ellis Island in particular. Be aware that these tours almost never include crown access, and that no tour operator can bypass the mainland security screening, whatever the listing implies about skipping lines.

Hard hat tours of Ellis Island: The abandoned hospital complex on the south side of Ellis Island can be visited on a separate guided hard hat tour for an additional $55, open to visitors aged 13 and over and subject to availability.

Is the Statue of Liberty Worth Visiting?

Here's the case for visiting. Standing beneath the statue can be a defining moment for a tourist, and the approach by water, watching her grow from a green speck to something enormous, is the part almost everyone remembers most. The museum is excellent and free. Ellis Island, included in the same ticket, is deeply moving and is where I would spend my extra hour if forced to choose. For a New York attraction, $26.00 covering a boat trip, two islands, and two museums is a good value for a city as expensive as New York.

The frustrations are equally real. The security screening is the most common complaint, and queueing for an hour in cold rain or blazing sun at Battery Park is a poor start to a day out. The whole excursion consumes far more time than newcomers expect, and people routinely try to squeeze it between other plans and end up rushing or missing Ellis Island entirely. Some visitors find the statue smaller in person than they had built up in their imagination, particularly those who have seen her from the water many times in films. And the crown, the thing everyone wants, is functionally unavailable to anyone who did not plan months and months ahead.

Who will get the most from it: Anyone interested in American history or immigration history, first-time visitors to New York, and photographers. Families do well here too, since the ferry ride and the open space suit children better than a long museum day, though the security queues test everyone's patience.

Who should think twice: Travellers on a tight two- or three-day New York schedule who are not especially drawn to the statue. If your itinerary is packed, the Staten Island Ferry gives you the view for free and returns most of your day. There is no shame in that trade.

My own take: book the first ferry of the day, take the pedestal rather than agonising over the crown, and give Ellis Island the time it deserves. Done that way it is one of the best days in New York. Done as a rushed afternoon add-on, it is a queue with a photograph at the end.

Where Should I Eat Near the Statue of Liberty?

On Liberty Island:

Crown Café is the only full food service on the island, a counter-service operation near the statue's base with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the harbour. It serves burgers, hot dogs, paninis, wraps, salads, fish and chips, and a Starbucks espresso bar, at prices in line with other major New York attractions. It is busiest between 11am and 1:30pm, so eat before or after that window if you can.

Bring your own. You are allowed to carry food and sealed non-alcoholic drinks onto Liberty Island, and there are benches and lawn space on the western side. Picking up a sandwich in Lower Manhattan before you board is cheaper, quicker, and lets you eat with the best view in the harbour. Avoid glass containers, which can cause problems at security.

On the mainland, near Battery Park:

Le District, inside Brookfield Place, is a sprawling French food hall with everything from a bakery and charcuterie counter to sit-down bistro dining at Beaubourg and the Michelin-starred L'Appart. It is a ten-minute walk north and handles groups with mixed appetites better than anywhere else nearby.

Hudson Eats, upstairs in the same complex, is a bright food hall with harbour views and a wide range of counters, and is the easiest affordable option in the area.

Fraunces Tavern, at Pearl and Broad Streets, has been serving since 1762 and is where George Washington said farewell to his officers in 1783. The food is solid pub fare rather than remarkable, but the building and the small museum upstairs make it a fitting stop on a day about American history.

Delmonico's, on Beaver Street, is the upscale choice: New York's oldest fine dining room, back in operation after a lengthy closure, and the birthplace of several dishes you have eaten without knowing where they came from.

What Else is There to Do Near the Statue of Liberty?

Ellis Island is included in your ferry ticket and sits a short hop across the water. Between 1892 and 1954 it processed over twelve million arrivals to the United States, and the restored Great Hall, the Immigration Museum, and the passenger records archive make it a powerful counterpart to the statue.

The Battery, where the Manhattan ferry departs, is a 25-acre waterfront park worth a wander before or after your crossing. Castle Clinton, the circular sandstone fort that houses the ticket office, is itself a national monument and was the city's original immigration station before Ellis Island took over.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is a 15-minute walk north. The memorial pools are free to visit and always open; the museum requires timed tickets and is best booked in advance. Pairing it with the Statue of Liberty makes for a heavy but memorable day.

One World Observatory, at the top of One World Trade Center, offers the highest views in the western hemisphere and looks straight down onto the harbour you just crossed. Tickets are timed and cheaper booked ahead.

Wall Street and the Charging Bull are five minutes' walk from Battery Park, along with Trinity Church and Federal Hall. The whole Financial District is compact and rewards aimless walking.

Governors Island, a separate ferry ride from the Battery Maritime Building next door, is a car-free island park with hammocks, cycling, and superb skyline views. It runs seasonally, roughly May to October, and makes a lovely lower-key alternative if the Statue of Liberty queues defeat you.

Rules, Bags, and Security

Two screenings, not one. Every visitor passes airport-style security on the mainland before boarding the ferry. Anyone with a pedestal or crown ticket goes through a second screening on Liberty Island, at the secondary screening building beside the monument entrance.

Bags: Backpacks and bags of any size are not permitted inside the monument. Lockers sit immediately outside the secondary screening building and require a 25 cent coin deposit. Travelling light is the single easiest way to speed up your whole day, since large bags slow you at both screenings.

Crown restrictions: Crown climbers may carry only a phone or camera, water in a plastic container, and necessary medication. Everything else must be stored.

Photography: Permitted throughout the island and inside the monument for personal use. Selfie sticks and tripods are restricted.

Food and drink: You may bring food and sealed non-alcoholic drinks onto the island, but not into the monument. Alcohol is not permitted outside the Crown Café.

Re-boarding: You can move freely between Liberty Island and Ellis Island on the same ticket, but once you return to Battery Park or Liberty State Park you cannot re-board.

Weather: Ferries operate rain or shine, but severe weather can suspend service. Service alerts are posted before departure.

Accessibility at the Statue of Liberty

The grounds of Liberty Island are fully wheelchair accessible, as are the ferries and the Statue of Liberty Museum. A limited number of wheelchairs are available on both Liberty and Ellis Islands on a first-come, first-served basis.

For visitors holding pedestal tickets, an elevator runs from the monument's lower level, and a wheelchair-accessible lift covers the remaining distance from where that elevator stops to the top of the pedestal. The interior of the pedestal's upper level, including the views of the statue's internal framework, is wheelchair accessible. The outdoor observation balcony at the top of the pedestal is not.

There is no elevator to the crown, and no accessible route to it. The emergency lift inside the statue is not available for visitor use. Crown access is by the 162-step staircase only.

Accessible restrooms are available on both islands. Both mainland departure points are accessible, and Liberty State Park has designated accessible parking. Visitors requiring step-free access should note that the ferry boarding ramps shift with the tide, so staff assistance is available on request at both terminals.

Final Tips for Visiting the Statue of Liberty

  • Book crown tickets as soon as you know your dates. Only a small number are released each day, one per person per six-month period, and peak summer dates are gone three to four months ahead. This is the single biggest planning decision to make.

  • Take the pedestal instead if the crown is sold out. It costs the same thirty cents, has an elevator, gives an open view rather than one framed by 25 small windows, and lets you linger as long as you like.

  • Book the first ferry of the day. Shorter security queues, a quieter island, and enough time left to do Ellis Island properly rather than sprinting through it.

  • Your ticket time is a queue time, not a departure time. It tells you when you may join the mainland security line. Arrive 30 to 45 minutes before the boat you actually want in summer.

  • Depart from Liberty State Park if you are driving. Parking is plentiful and cheap compared with Lower Manhattan, and security queues there are usually shorter than at Battery Park.

  • Carry the smallest bag you can. Backpacks are banned inside the monument, lockers need a quarter, and every extra bag costs you time at two separate screenings.

  • Never pay for the Staten Island Ferry. It is free, runs all night, and anyone selling you a ticket for it near Whitehall Terminal is running a scam.

  • Pair it with Ellis Island, not with a packed afternoon. The two islands together fill four to six hours and belong together; trying to bolt a rushed statue visit onto other plans is how people end up seeing neither properly.

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