Holidays and summer are peak visit times so lines to take ferries out to the national monument can be long and monument passes, a requirement to visit the Statue of Liberty's museum, observation deck and crown, go quickly.
Buy ferry tickets in advance from Statue Cruises, the monument's only ferry operator. Tickets can include access passes to the monument and crown. When reserving a time allow for 45 minutes to board because passengers have to go through security the same as at airports.
Ticket prices are the same whether traveling to one island or both. Prices as of February 2010 are adults $12, seniors 62 and older $10, children 4 to 12 $5 and ages 3 and under free. Ferry tickets are purchased on line at Statue Cruises or at 1 (877) 523-9849. To get audio tours with ferry tickets add $8 for adults and $7.25 for seniors and children. Add $3 to get a ticket to the crown. There is no extra charge for monument passes.
Visitors must decide if they want to leave from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey which has parking lots and short lines or from Castle Clinton National Monument in Lower Manhattan's Battery Park, accessible by public transportation but has longer lines.
Either way, the ferry trip, itself, is an attraction. Cameras come out to capture Manhattan, New York's harbor, Ellis Island's impressive former immigration station and post card views of the Statue of Liberty.
An immigration station built in the French Renaissance Revival style in 1900, the structure now houses the American Family Immigration History Center (AFIHC.) Ranger, audio and self-guided tours take visitors past interactive displays, photos and oral histories. The island's view of the harbor, Statue of Liberty and Manhattan make it a good place to break for lunch with food brought to the island or bought from Ellis Island Cafe.
Known in the mid 1700's as Bedloe's Island, the land became federal property in 1800 for defensive purposes. Indeed, the Statue of Liberty sits on an 11 point star-shaped battery built in 1811 and named Fort Wood following the War of 1812. Ranger led tours of the island start at Liberty Island's flagpole. The Visitor Information Station lists tour times.
Holders of tickets stamped with monument access can go inside the statue's star-shaped base and its pedestal after passing through security. The original torch with a later altered flame stands in the lobby. The torch can also be viewed from a balcony in the Statue of Liberty Museum on the second floor. Museum documents explain why the original was changed to enhance its beacon qualities but then had to be replaced with one based on the original design. Tools, molds, copper sheeting and rivets in a nearby case make the statue's construction even easier to understand.
Although generally known that the monument, dedicated Oct. 28, 1886, was a present from the French people, another exhibit explains that the statue's roots were anti-slavery and that its full name is "Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World."
Other enlightened words, "Give me your tired...," often come to mind upon seeing the statue. The museum displays the whole sonnet, "New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, on a plaque.
To appreciate the statue's location as a welcoming symbol, visitors currently have to climb 168 steps to reach the pedestal's observation deck. There they can walk all the way around the monument to see the statue close up and get good skyline and harbor views. An elevator that took people most of the way is out of order indefinitely, according to the National Park Service.
Climbing 354 steps to the statue's familiar seven spiked halo is an "I did it" challenge. The only items allowed are a camera and medication. Everything else must be left in the monument's locker facility. The reward is seeing the inside grid-work and the birds-eye view of the harbor and countryside.
