I’ve visited Liberty island four times. This time I visited the crown (first time opening since 2020). The statue is something to see at least once, there are restrooms on site, a basic cafe with mediocre food, and the rangers are super welcoming and informative. Now, some things you need to know: Unless you’re with a tour group, you must purchase tickets through Statue City Cruises. This can be done on site at Castle Clinton or online, but I recommend online. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis island sites are free of charge for entry. The entire fee you pay is for the ferry. Next, you should arrive early to get through security. They generally recommend a couple of hours, and the line gets really long FAST. However, something I learned today: security does not open until 8:30 AM. Also, if you have a crown ticket, you have to go to castle Clinton first to check in and get your wristband. Then report to security. Crown tickets sell out weeks to months in advance and a single person can only purchase tickets once every six months. For crown and pedestal, no bags of any kind. There are lockers on site for a quarter (cash). There is a change machine, but bring some singles. It’s only around a 160 steps to the crown, but they are steep and narrow. There are places to rest, but the whole journey is tight, so those who are claustrophobic won’t care for this. That being said, it’s over 200 steps to the pedestal. There is an elevator, but it must be ranger operated, and they weren’t doing it the day I went. Total steps I did: 377. The space up top is also pretty tight, but the view is pretty cool and you can see parts of the statue you’d never see otherwise. Going down the steps is easier, but some prefer to do it backwards because of the narrow nature. Overall, great experience to do at least once. Another tip: if you’re not on a schedule, and want to see both, go to ellis island first. Almost everyone gets off at the Statue of Liberty first, so if you go to ellis island first thing in the morning, you’ll have it mostly to yourself. Ellis island also is hard hat tours (reviewed separately).

We booked the standard Statue City Cruises tickets using our CityPass (booking time slot and entry all worked perfectly and got a bit of a discount too!) There were short queues to get in at Battery Park, through security and onto the boat but nothing too bad. The boat was well organised with three decks to view from including an open air top. We walked around Liberty Island, past the statue and through the museum, then back on the boat to Ellis Island for a look around the Immigration Museum (larger than expected!) then final boat back to Manhattan. This was a great way to do it with great views of the Statue from the boats and from the ground (and New York from the boat). Allow half a day - there is a bit of queueing to get on-off the boats but it was definitely worth it!

I pre-booked with Statue city cruises and despite the large number of visitors it ran very smoothly. There’s airport style security for checking in so it’s best to not bring a lot with you, although a face mask is needed. I pre booked to make sure to get a Pedestal ticket which was well worth it as you get to see up inside to see some of the internal framework, and get some great views from the pedestal walkway. On Liberty island there’s a museum and free audio guides too. The second stop is Ellis island before returning back to Battery park and it all ran like clockwork. I’m glad I got to visit the actual island as previously I’d only seen the statue from afar. A must do when in NYC!