Time needed to take in Ellis Island
 

Wondering if time will allow us to do this:
-Staying near Port Authority
-Have a 1:00 advance ticket for 9/11 museum tour

Since we're on that end of the island, we'd like to see Ellis Island.
We tend not to linger forever at museums, but are we allowing enough time to do both.
Have theater tickets for the evening, so going after is out.
Enough time? or come back another day?

It does not take long to go thru Ellis Island but I don't remember how long it takes to get a ferry over and back.

Depends haw long you want to linger, research. We spent 2 hours and it wasn't enough for me.

You would need to reserve a Liberty Island ferry for very early that am - since the ferry goes first to Liberty Island (even if your don;t get off) and then on to Ellis Island.

Don;t know if everything has been redone - but when we were there is was at least 2 hours on Ellis Island - and probably 1.5 hours for the various ferries. This is assuming you have an advance ticket for the schedule. If you have to wait on line for the ferry that can add at least an hour - even first thing in the am.

nytraveler,
Do you think it necessary to order ferry tickets in advance?
Would be Friday, 7/11
Ideally catch the 9:00 ferry, 2-2 1/2 hours on Ellis Island & back to Battery Park by noon. Would give us 30-45 min to get over to the 9/11 museum.

Doable, but I always hate to be on a tight schedule when on vacation. May just hit Central Park instead & save it for Saturday. Just a little more time on the subway.

If you don't reserve tickets for the ferry in advance, you have no priority for getting on the ferry so those with reserved tickets get on first, then those who have a pass of some kind and then you IF there's room. I think it,s worth reserving the tickets if you want to go.

You'll need about 30 minutes for Ellis Island. Only one small exhibit is open. There's actually more to see now at the Statue of Liberty (but you need base tickets). If it were me, I'd skip it if Ellis Island is your primary objective.

But you absolutely need to order those ferry tickets in advance unless you want to spend 2 or more hours in line. But it's your choice.

I was there a few weeks ago and would allow 2 hours or so. There are some exhibits taken down since Sandy (climate control issues). Even if you buy ferry tickets in advance, it doesn't guarantee a return time. If you're trying to go back while it's busy, you might not get on the 1st ferry that comes and you'll have to wait another 20 mins for the next one

Yes, perhaps I should have been clearer. You need a minimum of 2 hours to do the whole thing, including the ferry. But you don't need much time on Ellis Island itself. And I would argue that it's definitely an expendable excursion right now.