Follow in the footsteps of over 12 million foreigners seeking roads paved with gold in the New World on this tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Explore these New York landmarks on a 3 hour private guided tour, following your guide on a walk through time when America embraced immigration more than ever.
The tour begins at Battery Park, one of the oldest parts of Manhattan. Here you’ll find the country’s first immigration center, Castle Garden Immigration Station, which operated until Ellis Island opened. Take a ferry to visit Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty keeps an eye on incoming ships. You’ll learn all about Fort Wood, which now acts as the base for the statue, offered to the US by France in 1886. You’ll hear all about its creator, Bartholdi, as well as contributions by famed architect Gustave Eiffel, of Tower fame. Another ferry will whisk you across the water to Ellis Island. Here, millions of European newcomers wandered the very island that you will visit, learning about the medical examines and surprising conditions faced by immigrants. Learn about the island layout, and where immigrants who were quarantined were housed. You’ll end at the Wall of Honor, where you can search for your family’s name among some 700,000 names commemorating those who entered the United States here. After the tour, your guide will introduce you to the museum to further explore the exhibits and history of the island. This tour is the ideal way to remember, and celebrate, the immigrants that contributed so much to America’s success.
Highlights Include: (But not limited to)
Battery Park
Castle Garden Immigration Station
Governors Island – the other forts
Liberty Island
Base of Fort Wood – Fort’s history
Inside – original torch
Bartholdi, construction, Eifel, Hunt, opening
Verrazano Bridge & immigrant journey
Ellis Island
Wall of honor
We’re more than just storytellers. Our young, passionate, and engaging guides approach touring in a different way. They will bring a personal touch to each tour, adding their own favorite anecdotes and tips along the way. They are there to listen to you, to answer your questions, and to create a dialogue – unlike other tours where they just lecture you as you go along. That’s the whole reason why we specialize in private and semi-private tours exclusively, to make sure you get the most possible out of your experience.
