Want to tour these sites in August with our 11 year old. What is the best way to tour them. Are there any special tour groups that do it? If you get there first thing in the morning, will the lines be long? The web site says to expect 3 hours. Yike! Would love some hlepful hints. Thanks!!

I did this last June, finally. It was interesting you can spend the entire day. Liberty was not open so we did not get off the ferry. We went over to Jersey City parked at the terminal, paid about $12 each and enjoyed the ride over. Manhatten skyline was gorgeous. Had tried to do it from Battery Park once before they wanted $30 to park!!!

If you get to Battery Park early and get one of the first boats out, you won't have much of a wait.

I've always toured these sites as part of a Grayline double decker bus tour. If you do the Lower Manhattan Loop, you can buy the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour tickets at the same time you urchase the bus tickets. Tha will save you from having to stand in the ticket line at Battery Park. The Statue is still not open to visitors. You get a great view of it from the boat, so i would recommend staying onboard until you get to Ellis Island, and get off there and plan on about 2-3 hrs. touring Ellis Island. I's recommend starting the Grayline tour in the morning, around 10:30 AM, so that you will have enough time to complete the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour as well as the rest of the Downtown loop bus tour.

www.graylinenewyork.com

Thanks for your help! Will check into the Grayline Tours...

The Grayline tour is also a good deal because the tix that you buy allow you to ride the tour bus for 48 hours. You can continually get on and off anywhere that you wish