Statue of Liberty Cruise & Tour (via Statue Cruises)

We visited the Statue of Liberty with Pedestal Tickets bought from Statue Cruises- see what it was like from our visit in late June 2019. We arrived at Liberty State Park in Jersey City for departure of the ferry boat. If you are taking a rideshare such as Lyft or Uber like we did, be sure to indicate your drop off location as "Central Railroad New Jersey Terminal"- otherwise you could be dropped off near the entrance of Liberty State Park which would be nearly a mile from where you need to be for the cruise.

You also have to go through an airport-style security check before reaching the waiting area for the Statue Cruises ferry. The Ferry first took us to Ellis Island where you can visit the former immigration building which is now a museum, as well as the abandoned hospital.

The ferry stopped about 15 minutes at Ellis Island before proceeding to Liberty Island, during which is a nice chance for a good photo op as you can see in the video.

After getting onto Liberty Island, we proceeded to the Statue of Liberty to tour the pedestal, but beforehand we had to stow away our backpack in a locker, plus go through another airport-style security check.

Once inside we visited the museum first which provided a nice visual history and the background story behind the Statue of Liberty. We then climbed the stairs (you can take an elevator as well) up to the pedestal, which took about 4 minutes. There you can go outside to take in beautiful views of Jersey City, Manhattan, Upper Bay & Hudson River. We also got a glimpse of the Celebrity Summit, the cruise ship which we had disembarked from earlier in the morning.

It was a great experience- just note that it could get crowded and very hot during the summer, so stay hydrated and bring hats & apply sunscreen.

#statueofliberty #ellisisland #newyork