Before You Book the Statue of Liberty: Every Cost, and What's Worth It
By the BeatTheCrowd team · Prices last checked 2 November · 3 min read
Visiting the Statue of Liberty means taking the official ferry, and the ticket you choose decides how close you get: the grounds, the pedestal or the crown. There's the general ferry ticket, pedestal and crown upgrades that sell out months ahead, Ellis Island included, and harbour cruises that look similar but never land. Most of them sound worth paying for. You don't need the most expensive one to have a great visit. In this guide we walk through what each option costs, what you really get, and how to choose the right one, whether that's the first ferry of the day or a packed midday crossing.
At a glance
Ferry + grounds (adult)
About $25.50-26
Child (4-12) / senior (62+)
About $16.50 / $22.50. Under 4 free
Pedestal access
About +$0.30
Crown (adult)
About $25.80; sells out months ahead
Ellis Island
Included with the ferry
Official ferry
Statue City Cruises only
Quietest
First ferries, and mid-afternoon
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The real total: basic entry vs what most visitors pay
The ferry ticket, about $25.50-26 for adults, covers the round trip, Liberty Island grounds and Ellis Island. Children 4-12 pay about $16.50, seniors about $22.50, and under-4s are free. Pedestal access adds only about $0.30, and a Crown ticket, which includes the ferry, costs about $25.80: barely more, but it sells out months ahead. Prices are from The Better Vacation and Lou Davym Krokem; confirm on the official site.
Visitor
What they buy
Price
Most visitors
Ferry + pedestal
About $26
Child 4-12
Ferry
About $16.50
Bucket list
Ferry + Crown
About $25.80
Tickets: what each option gets you
Cost
Price (US$)
Type
How to cut it
Ferry + grounds, adult
About $25.50-26
Unavoidable
Includes Ellis Island.
Pedestal add-on
About $0.30
Optional
Always worth it; limited numbers.
Crown, adult
About $25.80
Optional
Book 3-4 months ahead in peak season.
Pedestal or Crown?
The pedestal gets you inside the statue's base, with views over the harbour, for almost nothing extra. The Crown takes you up a narrow spiral staircase to the top, with small windows, and sells out 3-4 months ahead in peak season. Crown tickets are named, need matching photo ID and have a 42-inch minimum height. Our verdict: always add the pedestal; book the Crown only if you can plan that far ahead and don't mind tight stairs.
Harbour cruises
Circle Line and other harbour cruises pass the statue but don't land. Only Statue City Cruises docks at Liberty and Ellis Islands. Our verdict: a cruise is fine for a photo; for the statue itself, take the official ferry.
What visitors say
Visitors say seeing the statue up close and the view of Manhattan from the ferry are unforgettable, and that Ellis Island is a moving bonus. The most common complaints are long security queues at the ferry and crowds on the island at midday, so the advice is to book the first ferry and pre-book pedestal or Crown access.
Prices last checked: 2 November. Prices vary with the season, peak and off-peak dates and promotions, and we recheck them every month. Visitor-reported costs are marked as estimates, and US$ figures are rough conversions.
The crowd tax: what busy hours cost you
Our crowd data shows Liberty Island moderate on the first ferries, then busy from about 10-11 am until about 1-3 pm, and until about 4 pm on Saturdays. Mid-afternoon is moderate again. The crowd tax is the security queue at the ferry, which grows through the morning.
When
Crowds (our data)
What to do
First ferries, 9-10 am
Moderate
Best time
About 10 am to 2-3 pm
Busy
Long security queues
Mid-afternoon
Moderate
Check the last ferry back
Crowds by day and time
From the typical weekly visitor pattern for Statue of Liberty, based on Google’s popular-times data.
Quietest time
Wednesday, 4-7 pm
Busiest time
Saturday, 11 am-5 pm
Guides and tours: official, licensed or touts?
Ticket sellers around Battery Park sometimes sell cruises that don't land. Our verdict: buy from Statue City Cruises, the only authorised operator.
Short on time? What you'd regret missing
The pedestal, for views of the harbour.
The Crown, if you've booked it.
Ellis Island's Great Hall.
The view of Lower Manhattan from the ferry.
Getting there
Ferries leave from Battery Park in Manhattan and from Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
Rules and closures
Expect airport-style security before boarding. Crown tickets are named and need matching photo ID.
What can go wrong
You buy a cruise that doesn't land.
Crown tickets are sold out: book months ahead.
You take a late-morning ferry: long security queues.
What one adult really spends
Level
What's included
One adult
Typical
Ferry + pedestal
About $26
Bucket list
Ferry + Crown
About $25.80
Prices vary slightly between sources. Under-4s are free.
How we research: every guide is written by the BeatTheCrowd team from official sources and recent traveller reports, cross-checked against each other. Crowd figures come from our own crowd data. Prices last checked 2 November. Prices and rules change, so always confirm on the official site before you book.
When
What to expect
Verdict
Weekdays, 8-11 am
Light crowds, easy to move around and take photos. Most visitors haven't arrived yet.
Best
Weekdays, 11 am-3 pm
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Peak sightseeing hours, when most visitors are on site.
Worst
Weekdays, 3-6 pm
A steady flow of visitors, short waits at the main spots. Crowds thin out after the midday peak.
OK
Weekdays, 6-7 pm
Light crowds, easy to move around and take photos. Most visitors have left by now.
Best
Saturday
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Busier than weekdays, as locals join the visitors.
Worst
Sunday
A steady flow of visitors, short waits at the main spots. Busier than weekdays, as locals join the visitors.
OK
📍 Live crowd check
See how busy Statue of Liberty is right now, plus today’s hourly forecast.
