Battery Park or Liberty State Park?

One ferry company, two docks

Only Statue City Cruises may land passengers on Liberty Island and Ellis Island, and its boats run a loop from both shores. From Battery Park the order goes Liberty Island, then Ellis Island, then back to Manhattan. From Liberty State Park it runs the other way round, with Ellis first and the statue second. The ticket covers both islands and both museums from either side, and the screening before boarding is the same airport-style check.

The round trip brings you back to the dock you left from. Pick the side that suits the rest of your day, then, and not only the morning.

Battery Park, Manhattan

The Battery, which almost everyone calls Battery Park, is the green tip of Lower Manhattan. Everything to do with the ferry happens around Castle Clinton, the round fort near the water. The only official ticket office is inside it, and the screening tent and boarding lines sit beside it. The subway stops at South Ferry and Whitehall St on the edge of the park, with Bowling Green a few minutes north.

Boats leave roughly every 20–30 minutes, more often than from New Jersey, and the crossing to the statue is short. The price of that convenience is company. Most visitors start here, so the lines are longest. Construction around the Battery has confused recent guests trying to find the boarding area or their guide. Arrive with 15 minutes in hand beyond what the booking asks.

Liberty State Park, New Jersey

Liberty State Park lies on the Jersey City waterfront, facing the statue across the water. It has parking, which makes it the obvious dock for anyone driving, and a stop on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail serves the park. Beside the dock stands the old Central Railroad of New Jersey terminal, a handsome piece of history to look at while you wait.

Boats leave about every 35 minutes, according to one listing, so a missed boat costs a little more time here. Lines on this side are usually calmer than in Manhattan, though nobody promises it on a summer weekend, and the security check is identical. Because the loop reaches Ellis Island first, New Jersey visitors see the immigration museum before they reach the statue.

Where each tour on this site starts

Only the official ticket, Statue City Cruises' own, from ~$31, offers the New Jersey departure, and you choose the dock when you pick the option. Every guided tour gathers in or near Battery Park. The exact spot matters, because the park is crowded and the meeting points are easy to walk past.

• ExperienceFirst's guided tour (from ~$59) meets on the steps outside Castle Clinton's north entrance, the side facing Manhattan. Look for an orange hat or a blue shirt;
• Walks (from ~$59) gathers at 1 Bowling Green, in front of the glass subway elevator outside the National Museum of the American Indian, under a yellow WalksDevour sign;
• Babylon Tours (from ~$166) meets at "The Immigrants", a bronze statue just southeast of Castle Clinton;
• ExperienceFirst's Wall Street walk (from ~$39) starts outside 24 Broad Street, where you should not go inside, and finishes in Battery Park, where you take the ferry on your own;
• Circle Line's cruise (from ~$29) does not land and leaves from Pier 16 at South Street Seaport, 89 South Street. Mapping apps can put Pier 16 about a 10-minute walk from where it is, so head for the blue Circle Line booth.

The guided tours ask you to arrive 15 minutes early. ExperienceFirst is strict about it, and late arrivals miss the tour with no refund.

Sellers and roadworks in Battery Park

Battery Park has a long-running problem with street sellers. Some tell visitors that the official ferry is sold out or not running, then sell them a harbor cruise that never lands. Reviewers on several listings, the official ticket among them, describe being approached this way. The only official ticket office is inside Castle Clinton, and Statue City Cruises staff work there and at the boarding lines. Anyone selling tickets on the path outside is someone else.

The same crowd makes life hard for guided groups. ExperienceFirst's guests mention lookalike sellers around its meeting point, and some Walks guests never found their guide and missed the tour. Know your meeting point before you arrive, and if a stranger in a cap waves you over, check for the sign or the hat your booking describes.

A cruise from Midtown instead

If you are staying in Midtown and only want the view, you can skip both docks. NY Waterway's Golden Hour cruise, from ~$38, leaves Pier 79 at West 39th Street for two hours on the water, with a photo stop in front of the statue and a free bus to the pier. It does not land, and some departures start in full daylight, so the golden light only arrives near the end. Pier 79 is hard to find as well, so give yourself time to locate the check-in by Slip 2. Harbor cruise or island landing weighs what you give up.

Choosing your side

For most visitors the choice makes itself. Anyone on a guided tour starts in Battery Park, as does anyone arriving by subway from Manhattan. Liberty State Park suits drivers and people staying in Jersey City, and it rewards anyone who would trade slightly less frequent boats for what is usually a calmer line.

Whichever dock you pick, the screening is the slow part, and what to bring through security keeps you out of trouble there. The order of the islands decides when you reach the immigration museum, which adding Ellis Island to the day covers in detail. Crowds on both sides follow the calendar, so when to visit the statue helps pick the date. On a tight budget, the New Jersey waterfront doubles as one of the free and cheap statue views.