Catching the NYC Ferry at Pier 11, Wall Street

Pier 11 sits where South Street meets the water at the bottom of Wall Street, tucked under the FDR Drive. From our door at 17 John Street, walk east on John to South Street, then turn right and follow the water for a few blocks. Give it about ten minutes at a normal pace. It's flat the whole way and the last stretch runs along the East River Esplanade, so it's a pleasant walk rather than a chore.

The pier has several slips and more than one operator uses it, so read the sign at the slip rather than following the crowd. NYC Ferry runs most of what stops here, with routes across the East River to Brooklyn and up to Queens. Buy tickets in the NYC Ferry app or at the machines on the pier, and check ferry.nyc for the current routes, schedule and fares before you head down, since timetables shift by season and between weekdays and weekends.

Two things worth knowing. First, Pier 11 is not the Staten Island Ferry. That one leaves from the Whitehall Terminal at the southern tip of Manhattan, it's free, and it's a different walk, roughly fifteen minutes further south from us. Second, the ferry is often the nicer way to get to Brooklyn even when the subway is faster on paper. You're outside, there's a view of the bridges and the harbor, and on a clear afternoon it beats the train by a wide margin.

If you're staying with us and want the route mapped out before you go, just ask. We do this walk all the time.