What a Statue of Liberty tour costs
The cheapest way onto Liberty Island is the official ferry ticket, about $26 for an adult bought direct, and every guided tour builds its price on top of it. Our six main options run from ~$29 for a cruise that never lands to ~$166 for a small group of eight. This guide puts all twelve options we cover in one table and then adds up the costs no listing mentions.
Twelve ways to see the statue, priced
Six tours sit on the home page and six more turn up across these guides. The table shows the regular "from" price per person in US dollars, the lower of GetYourGuide and Viator. Your date and the option you pick can move it a little, and the checkout page has the final figure.
| Option | From | Length | Lands? | Guide | Free cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExperienceFirst guided tour with reserved ferry (our pick) | ~$59 | 2 or 4 h | Liberty Island; Ellis on the 4 h option | Live, outdoors | 24 h |
| Walks guided tour | ~$59 | 2 or 4 h | Liberty; Ellis with the longer version | Live, then the audio guide on Ellis | 24 h |
| Babylon Tours, 8 guests max | ~$166 | 3 h | Both islands | Live, outdoors | 24 h |
| Statue City Cruises official ticket | ~$31 | Plan 4–6 h | Both islands | Audio guide | None on Viator; 24 h on GetYourGuide |
| ExperienceFirst Wall Street walk with statue ferry | ~$39 | 2 h walk, then the islands | Yes, on your own | Live for the walk only | 24 h |
| Circle Line Statue of Liberty Express | ~$29 | 50 min | No | Live narration on board | 24 h |
| Save Ellis Island hard-hat hospital tour | ~$67 | 90 min | Ellis only, ferry not included | Live | 24 h |
| ExperienceFirst private tour | ~$325 | 2 or 4 h | Liberty; Ellis if you book 4 h | Private, outdoors | 24 h |
| NY Waterway Golden Hour cruise | ~$38 | 2 h | No | Live | 24 h |
| Classic Harbor Line schooner Adirondack | ~$60 | About 1 h 45 min | No | No formal guide | 24 h |
| HeliNY helicopter flight | ~$309 | About 17–20 min in the air | No | Pilot commentary | 24 h |
| New York Media Boat speedboat | ~$60 | 30 min | No | Not stated | 24 h |
Eleven of the twelve refund in full up to a day ahead. The exception is the official ticket bought on Viator, which is final the moment you pay. Five options never touch land, and only four put a live guide beside you on Liberty Island.
The official ticket, and what a guide adds to it
Every landing starts with the same boat. Statue City Cruises holds the only permit to land passengers on Liberty and Ellis Islands, so the guided tours here hand you the very ticket you could buy yourself. Bought direct from Statue City Cruises, it costs about $26 for an adult and about $17 for children aged 4–12. Seniors 62 and over pay about $23, and children under 4 ride free. That covers the round-trip ferry, both islands, both museums and the audio guides.
The booking sites charge a little more for it. On Viator the official ticket costs ~$31, but it cannot be refunded or moved to another day. GetYourGuide sells it for about $33 with free cancellation up to 24 hours before and nothing to pay until later. If a storm or a delayed flight could wreck the day, the extra two dollars are cheap insurance.
A guided tour such as ExperienceFirst's, from ~$59, costs roughly $33 more than going alone. For that you get a live guide on the outdoor parts of the islands and a reserved ferry time, with the tickets collected for you so you never stand in the box-office queue. The money does not shorten the security line or open the pedestal. Inside both museums you are on your own with the audio guide, because live guides may not lead groups there.
The six main tours, one by one
ExperienceFirst's tour, from ~$59, and the Walks tour, from ~$59, cost the same and look alike on paper. Both offer a 2-hour version that ends on Liberty Island and a 4-hour version that adds Ellis Island, and both take groups of up to 25. The difference shows on Ellis. ExperienceFirst's guide walks the grounds with you before you head into the museum, while Walks gives a brief introduction and then hands you over to the audio guide.
Babylon Tours, from ~$166, costs close to three times as much. What the extra pays for is size, eight guests at most, so questions get answered and nobody strains to hear at the back. It needs two guests to run; if nobody else books, you are offered another date or a refund.
The Wall Street walk with a statue ferry, from ~$39, spends two guided hours in the Financial District, past the 9/11 Memorial pools, before you board the boat alone. On GetYourGuide that price includes the ferry. On Viator ~$39 buys the walk only, so pick the option with the statue in its name, which costs more. Circle Line's 50-minute Express, from ~$29, is the cheapest close look at the statue, but it only passes by and never lands.
ExperienceFirst, Walks, Babylon Tours and Circle Line charge the same on both booking sites. The official ticket and the Wall Street walk are the two where the site you choose changes the deal.
The lowest price that lands
The official Statue City Cruises ticket covers the ferry and both islands, museums included, with audio guides in 12 languages, from ~$31. Pick GetYourGuide if you want the right to cancel.
What you pay on top
- Pedestal or crown. A reservation costs only a small amount on top of the official ticket, but you have to book it with Statue City Cruises, and no tour includes it. Crown places often sell out weeks or months ahead; going inside the statue covers the rules;
- Lockers. The screening at Battery Park has none. The lockers on Liberty Island take quarters, so carry a few coins. Our security guide lists what you can bring;
- Food. The cafés on both islands are convenient and priced accordingly. A snack and a plastic bottle of water help in a long line, though the Walks listing asks guests not to bring food;
- Tips. Gratuities are not included in any guided listing, and tipping your guide is customary in the US;
- The 9/11 Museum. The Wall Street walk visits the memorial pools outside but does not include a museum ticket.
A family of four, added up
Take two adults and two children aged 8 and 11. With official tickets bought direct, the four of them pay about $86 for the ferry and both islands. On ExperienceFirst's tour the adults pay ~$59 each, and Viator lists a separate child rate for ages 4–12 that shows at checkout. Walks prices children from 2 to 14 on its own scale, and Babylon Tours has a child band up to 12. Add a tip for the guide and lunch on the island, and the guided day for a family usually costs well over twice the do-it-yourself version. Whether the stories are worth that to your children is a question the statue with kids tries to answer.
Spending more, from private guides to a helicopter
ExperienceFirst's private tour, from ~$325, keeps the same meeting point at Castle Clinton and the same 2-hour or 4-hour choice, with a guide for your group alone. Reviews are close to perfect. The catch is the bill, and one guest felt that a large one bought about 45 minutes of real content.
HeliNY's helicopter flight, from ~$309, circles the statue and then follows the Hudson north, for about 17–20 minutes in the air on the Viator version. The catch is that it never lands. The middle seats see less, and flights are cancelled for weather or when too few passengers book. Harbor cruise or island landing weighs the views from the air and water against setting foot on the island.
For most first-time visitors the real choice sits between the official ticket and a ~$59 guided tour, and ferry ticket or guided tour sets the two side by side. If Ellis Island is the part you care about, check which tours include it before you pay for a 2-hour option that stops short.