Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York City

Although I have looked at Lady Liberty from a distance many times, I Finally I decided to hop on a ferry and spend some time at looking at lady liberty close up. You can purchase tickets online and obviously they have different tour levels, purchasing online will save you a lot of time and purchasing the reserve ticket will also get you in the priority boarding queue. I purchased them right from my phone once I saw the line to purchase tickets. The line waiting for an empty ferry is actually quite long on a daily basis, they do have more than one ferry transporting back and forth which makes the line move a little faster. There is only so much room on the ferry and on a hot day, the wait can be miserable in the sun so be sure to squeeze into the crowd when boarding the boat to ensure you're part of the cut off, having to wait for the next ferry. The ferry ride is relaxing and on a hot day can help to cool you off. Looking at lady upon approach to the island liberty closeup is something quite spectacular and considering the difficulty they faced in getting the foundation of the statute initially built, its even more amazing closeup. The tour will also take you to Ellis Island which is well worth the time and extremely informational. The old hospital on the island is also really cool to see and they do have a tour which would allow you to see parts of the old hospital which I at some point will have to do. I thoroughly enjoy spending time on Ellis island not just for the history lesson and opportunity to get a close up of the awesome architecture but also just sit back and look across the water at the magnificent skyline. This is a good relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Cheers!

Beautiful experience. Highly recommend getting there at least 30 minutes early to give you plenty of time to get through security and to get a good seat on the ferry. They sell plenty of food, drinks, and souvenirs on the ferry which was a lovely surprise! Very easy to navigate the grounds, tons of history here! I bought the ticket to get access to the pedestal which gives you great views and access to the museum inside the statue! The other museum behind the statue is also very nice, with a previously used torch from the Statue of Liberty.