I have made numerous trips to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with groups as a tour guide. To me the special part of the trip has always been Ellis Island, the Immigration Museum.
My first visit to Ellis was actually long before there was a museum. Many years ago, there was a small boat that visited Ellis Island once or twice a week. My mother and I took our cousins (long story) who settled in Mexico on this trip. You could feel the ghosts. To this day, I always visit the 3rd floor exhibit which shows Ellis Island before it became a museum.
In a few weeks I will be escorting a group from the New Jersey side so I made a dry run so to speak. I took the Liberty Landing Ferry Service from the pier near Vesey Street and the World Financial Center. I picked up Dumplings from the food trucks on the way. There is a discount for Statue Ticket holders who have their ticket.
It is a very pretty and pleasant ride and a short walk from the dock to where you can buy tickets and go through security if you already have them. The view of NYC is (and was...) great.
Things you need to know. The ferry from New Jersey goes to Ellis Island first and then to SOL. The Jersey ferry is smaller and less crowded but it only runs every 40 minutes. The New York ferry runs every 20 minutes. For those who wish to go only to Ellis Island and not the SOL, this is really convenient but...you miss the up close views of the Statue. My recommendation is, stay on the boat until the SOL. Get off and either take a walk on Liberty Island with or without the audio tour that is now part of the admission price and then take the next NYC ferry to Ellis Island.
About the audio tours. On my own I found them sometimes useful and sometimes annoying. Sometimes there were too many directions and sometimes not enough of them. If you want the audio, you pick it up when your ferry lands and return it before leaving the Island. Will report on my experiences with a group later.
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