Back in September my wife and I spent 4 nights in New York as the final stop on our 21 day honeymoon. And what better to do in New York than visit all of the key sights including the globally recognised Statue of Liberty!
Liberty Island ferry transfer
To get across to the island you take the ferry which is about a 10 minute transfer. As we had a New York CityPASS we paired our Statue of Liberty visit with Ellis Island.
From the subway station it’s about a 10 minute walk to the ferry – once there we exchanged our CityPASS voucher for a ferry ticket at the ticket office.
With ticket in hand you then make your way to the ferry terminal where you are required to pass through a security check involving a full bag search and hand scanner. Once through security you board the ferry and set off!
The day we visited the weather was pretty bad – a lot of wind and horizontal rain! So the ferry was pretty interesting, rolling around a lot on the way across!
On the ferry transfer you get some great views of the Statue of Liberty on the right hand side so you have the opportunity to take plenty of photos.
Getting a decent photo here is pretty difficult however as everyone on the ferry has the same idea so we you have to jostle a bit to get into a good position!
Liberty Island
Once the ferry has docked you realise just how small Liberty Island is and how little there is there. I’m not really sure what I was expecting however the statue really is the only thing on the island.
If you book far enough in advance you can make your way up the base of the Statue and all the way up to the crown however this isn’t possible with a CityPASS which only permits access to the island. It’s also worth noting that access to the flame is no longer permitted.
From the ferry and in the pouring rain we made our way around the island to the front of the Statue to take some photos.
Like most big tourist spots around the world there’s a cheesy photo template that should only be followed by the tourists – Pisa has holding up the tower, New York has pulling the same pose as Lady Liberty!
Having had a good look at the Statue, looked back across the bay to New York and taken some rainy selfies we decided to call it a day and head back to the ferry to continue on to Ellis Island.
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island review
Visiting the Statue of Liberty was great and certainly something to tick off my bucket list however it was spoilt a bit by the unforgiving weather! I was also quite surprised that the Statue wasn’t taller. I mean don’t get me wrong it’s not like it’s small or anything, I just imagined it to be bigger based on how it’s filmed in movies!
As there isn’t really anything to do on the Island our trip was quite short so if you’re planning something similar don’t leave too much time for this. It was recommended as 2 hours however I have no idea how you would spend that long on the island!
Just be sure if you’re visiting New York City to buy yourself the CityPASS as this is considerably cheaper than buying entry tickets to all of the major city attractions individually.
If you’re visiting New York City I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to visit such an iconic landmark. It’s really interesting and a great way to spend some time, especially if you are coupling it with Ellis Island!