Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in One Day, Starting in the Financial District

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Quick answer

You can do the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in one day from Manhattan, and the National Park Service says to expect it to take most of one. Both islands are reachable only by the Statue City Cruises ferry, which leaves from Battery Park, so buy that ferry ticket first and take an early departure. From our block on John Street, Battery Park is about a mile south, roughly a 20 minute walk down Broadway, or one stop on the 4/5 from Fulton Street to Bowling Green. Liberty Island takes most people two hours, Ellis Island takes longer if you read the museum properly, and you'll be back on dry land in the Financial District by mid afternoon.

The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor

Almost every guest who asks us about the Statue of Liberty asks the same two things: can you see both islands in one day, and how early do you really need to leave. Yes, and earlier than you think.

The National Park Service is blunt about it: visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island can take most of a day. The Statue is only accessible via ferry, and the ferry is run by Statue City Cruises, the official provider, out of Battery Park. That single fact shapes the whole day. There is no walking on, no separate boat you can grab later, and the middle of the day is when the lines at the Battery are longest.

The good news, if you're staying down here with us, is that you're starting from the right end of the island. We're on John Street in the Financial District, about a mile north of Battery Park. That's roughly a 20 minute walk down Broadway, or one stop on the 4/5 from Fulton Street, which is about three minutes from our door, to Bowling Green. No cab, no transfers, no crossing town at 8am.

Here's how we'd run the day.

One day: Battery Park, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and back

  • 7:45am

    Breakfast in your own kitchen

    Your suite has a full kitchen if you want to cook, and this is the morning to use it. There is food on Liberty Island, but it's concession food at concession prices, and the ferry queue is not the place to be hungry. Eat properly, fill a water bottle, and go. If cooking isn't happening, there's coffee within a couple of blocks of us in either direction.

  • 8:20am

    Walk down Broadway to Battery Park

    About 20 minutes on foot from our block, straight down Broadway, past Trinity Church at Wall Street and Bowling Green. It's the most pleasant version of this walk you'll get all day because the sidewalks are still empty. If it's raining or you're moving slowly with kids, take the 4/5 from Fulton Street to Bowling Green instead and walk the last few minutes through the park.

  • 8:45am

    Security screening at the Battery

    This is the part people underestimate. Everyone boarding is screened before they get on the boat, airport style, and the queue grows through the morning. Being there for one of the first departures is the single biggest thing you can do to make the day feel relaxed rather than spent standing in line. Have your ferry ticket on your phone already, not in an email you're still searching for.

  • 9:15am

    Liberty Island

    The boat runs Battery Park to Liberty Island first. Two hours covers it comfortably: the walk around the base, the view back at Lower Manhattan, which is genuinely the better view of the two, and the museum on the island. Pedestal and crown access are separate ticket types and they go early, so if you want to be inside the monument rather than around it, that decision happens at booking, not on the day.

  • 11:30am

    The hop to Ellis Island

    Your ferry ticket covers both islands, and the same boat continues on to Ellis Island. Don't skip it to save time. The National Museum of Immigration in the old main building is the more affecting half of the day for most people, and the Great Hall is worth standing still in for a minute. Ellis Island runs year round, so this half of the plan works in February as well as July.

  • 2:00pm

    Back at the Battery, late lunch on Stone Street

    The return boat drops you back where you started. Rather than eating on the island, walk about ten minutes north to Stone Street, a narrow cobblestone block of restaurants with tables set out down the middle of it. It's one of the places we send guests most often, and at 2pm you'll get a table without the lunch rush. From there you're a short walk from us if the day has caught up with you.

  • 5:00pm

    The rooftop, or a second look at the harbor

    The rooftop is a nice spot in the evening, and after a day on your feet it's a reasonable place to stop. If you still have energy, the free Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall gives you a second pass at the Statue from the water at no cost, and the light at that hour is better than it was at nine in the morning.

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