Statue of Liberty NYC | Liberty Island Tour | Ellis Island Tour | NYC Best Things To Do

We'll be there in no time. Today we are doing one of the most popular activities to do here in New York City. We are taking a ferry over to Liberty Island which is where the Statue of Liberty is located. Not only that, we are also going to check out Ellis Island, another very historical site here in the city which is home of the Immigration Museum. Together these two islands make up what is known as the Statue of Liberty Monument. Ferries are only operated by statue city cruises so beware of any sketchy websites or people trying to sell you tickets on the street. On their official website you will see different types of tickets so get the one that works for you. Today we are going to check what the general admission gets you. Another tip that I saw online is to arrive here 20 to 30 minutes before your departure. You do have to go through airport style security and lines do start to form very early. And check it out you guys, the top section of the boat is almost full. That is where you want to be if you want to catch some amazing views as you're making your way to the island. And check it out there's still people coming in so make sure again to arrive early. We are currently here at Battery Park which is located on the southernmost tip of the island of Manhattan. This is where you get on the ferry if you are located in New York City. I mention this because ferries also depart from New Jersey just so you know. So that ferry is leaving as you can see. I'm gonna go ahead and go through security and get in line so I can be one of the first ones on the next one. Okay guys so now it's time for us to wait in line. All right you guys so I just made it onto the ferry. I think what I want to do as we make our way to Liberty Island is to give you a little bit more background on this location. Let me do that right now. We just sailed from Battery Park in New York City. As I mentioned we are making our way to the Statue of Liberty monument. The first stop in our trip will be at Liberty Island. After that we will be heading over to Ellis Island. Both islands are located in the upper New York Bay and as you can see both are closer to New Jersey rather than to New York. In fact they are on the New Jersey jurisdiction line. However New York owns Liberty Island and a section of Ellis Island. Explaining why would require a video of its own but be sure to research on your own. You won't regret it. Today our objective is to see what the basic ticket gets you. From what I've seen it does include access to both islands and the museums on them. And the last thing I want to do is to see if I can walk on the section of Ellis Island that belongs to New York. Just because. So we are almost at Liberty Island. Check it out. We'll be there in no time. And just like that you guys we have arrived. So we are finally here. What I want to do first is give you my first observations as you walk into the island. There's a gift shop and cafeteria over this way. There's an audio tour booth. This is where you get your self-guided audio tour devices. This is a great option if you're coming here blindly. And best of all it's free. There is a museum. The museum is included in every ticket including general admission. So I'll be making my way here in just a bit. There's also a roof section on top of the museum. I wonder what kind of views you can get from there. And over here you get two for the price of one. Views of the iconic New York skyline as well as Ellis Island right over there. I believe that in the distance is Battery Park. The place from where our boat departed this morning. And as I said earlier we'll be making our way to Ellis Island in just a little bit. But first. First I want to tell you a little bit more about the reason we are here. Lady Liberty. As you can see what we are looking at is her backside. So we have to make our way around. Check it out you guys. I just made it here at the front of the Statue of Liberty along all these people of course. But anyways I'd like to tell you a little bit more about her. The Statue of Liberty is a 305 foot tall statue which includes the pedestal she is standing on. She holds a torch with her raised right hand and clutches a tablet with her left arm. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the U.S. as a symbol of friendship and also to celebrate the centennial of American independence. To fund the project the deal was that France would create the statue and then assemble it in the U.S. while the U.S. would be in charge of funding and constructing the pedestal. The Statue of Liberty is considered a feat of engineering as it had to be constructed, disassembled, transported across the world and then reassembled here in America. Its construction took a total of nine years to complete and it was finally dedicated on October 28, 1886. There is a lot of symbolism hidden in plain sight. If you look close she is wearing a crown that doesn't represent a monarchy instead it represents sun rays extending into the world. As I mentioned before she's holding a torch which represents light and in that position she's showing us the to freedom and enlightenment. Fun fact for you guys her original name was Liberty Enlightening the World. The more you know. On the tablet you can see an inscription with July 4, 1776 a callback to American independence. And one last fact that I didn't know about before making my way here is that there's apparently a broken shackle and chain at the statue's foot which represents the abolition of slavery. Again the more you know. All right you guys I'm making my way over to the museum and I just wanted to say that visiting museums like this one is great if you want to learn more about the history about the background and in the case of the statue how it was constructed how it was transported and its legacy. I have researched a lot of this stuff but there is something there that really interests me and I want to show you. Check it out you guys the theme of this section of the museum is the construction of the statue and they have replicas of how the process would have been at that time. Check it out this is how it would look inside and that right there is a replica of the statue's foot a very small replica but it's still huge in comparison. Check it out and they actually have the making of that replica on video display. Here they have a section dedicated to the pedestal itself. This right here was the final design and over here you can see a replica that shows you how it looks on the inside. A lot of great information like I said but I want to show you this. That right there you guys is the original torch which was replaced in 1986. I think it's really cool that you can see it up close so it's definitely something you don't want to miss. And before we head to Ellis Island I just wanted to show you this view from the top of the museum. Again you guys that right there is the skyline of New York City and that over there is our next stop Ellis Island. Alright you guys we have just arrived here at Ellis Island and I want to show you something real quick. This is our view of the New York City skyline from here as well as of the Statue of Liberty right over there. Okay you guys so you get to go inside let's go and check it out. I can see that the first floor here is dedicated to exhibits like this one right here where you can see the types of bags that immigrants would carry with them as they make their way to America. Right here is a graph that visually displays the different waves and booms of immigration that America has seen over hundreds of years. Check it out you guys we just got here to a place that I wanted to show you this right here is the registry room. This is also known as the Great Hall and it is the location where immigrants that arrived here in America were inspected and registered. Standing here is sort of a surreal experience for me just thinking about all the people that have set foot here in the past you know some of those people were having an amazing day they were accepted here and they were ready to start their new life but for others it was not that good of an experience they were rejected and who knows what happened to them or how that must have felt. Here on the top section you can see images of how this place would have looked back in the day. Check it out just completely full of people and if you make your way to the third floor you'll discover that this is an amazing vantage point check it out you can get amazing views of the area. Over here you can see the replica of a room where they kept immigrants once they made their way here. Check it out you guys so this was the reality of a lot of immigrants that came through here just bed stacked next to each other and on top of each other and worst of all just one bathroom that everyone would share. I don't know about you guys but that just seems like the worst Airbnb or hostel situation. Wow you guys I really enjoyed my visit here to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. You learn a lot about the history the people the places and the different stories associated with immigration throughout American history and more specifically associated with this location. Strongly recommend. Now before we leave you guys maybe you thought I forgot or something but I didn't. I wanted to check out the section of the island that belongs to New York City. It was hard for me to find I thought it was going to be inside of the museum itself but I asked people and apparently this area I'm right at the back right that's the museum right there in back of me right here this section fits within those margins. So yes you guys I am currently standing on the New York side of the island. I honestly thought that there would be like a marker to tell people that they're crossing the border from city to city but sadly that's not the case at least not that I've seen but that would be so cool wouldn't it? And just like that you guys we get to the end of today's video hopefully you guys enjoyed. If you guys did I'm gonna go ahead and ask you to please click on the like button and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more cool and interesting travel videos just like this one and just to remind you to always be kind have an open mind I'll see you next time