New York City's Statue of Liberty, UNESCO-listed in 1984, and Ellis Island, the country's principal immigration-processing station from 1892 to 1954, are both reached on the same NPS-authorized Statue City Cruises ferry from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. The National Park Service charges no separate entrance fee to either island, but a ferry ticket from Statue City Cruises, the only NPS-authorized provider, is required to reach them, and pedestal or crown access requires an additional timed reservation.
The National Park Service itself charges nothing to enter Statue of Liberty National Monument or Ellis Island, but Statue City Cruises, the sole NPS-authorized ferry operator, requires a paid ticket for the boat ride itself, worth understanding as an easy-to-miss distinction, the fee is for transportation, not admission.
Because crown access adds a separate timed reservation on top of the base ferry ticket, and peak-season crown slots sell out months in advance according to third-party booking guides, worth booking a specific access tier as early as a trip is confirmed rather than assuming it can be added on arrival.
A single ferry ticket carries visitors to both a monument celebrating an idea (liberty, as expressed through 19th-century engineering and French-American friendship) and a site documenting a specific, massive historical process (mass immigration processing), worth treating as two distinct visits rather than one combined stop.
The practical takeaway is that the ferry ticket is the actual gatekeeper here, not a park entrance fee, and crown access in particular needs advance booking. Both islands are covered in full detail on their own landmark pages below.
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