Ellis Island Tours

Ellis Island featuring a bay or harbor and a park
Relive 60 years of immigration history as you explore the exhibits of this poignant museum. Find out if your ancestors passed through as they entered the U.S.

Travel by ferry to the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Imagine the joy and hopes that earlier immigrants felt as they finished much longer and rougher sea voyages to finally arrive in America. Over 12 million people entered the country through this structure’s golden doors. About half of today’s more than 300 million U.S. citizens descended from these brave immigrants.

Immigration services operated here between 1892 and 1954, with newly arrived visitors spending hours in an inspection process determining if they would be allowed to stay in their land of hope or would be among the 2 percent denied entry. View exhibits showing interpreters, nurses, doctors, inspectors and clerical staff whose daily actions determined the fates of hopeful visitors. Photos and stories relate the dreams of those visitors.

Note Ellis Island’s unusual rectangular shape. A smaller natural island was expanded by landfill to provide a functional base to build the original immigration and service buildings and expanded farther over time. See the history of these major projects in the exhibits on the places of importance on the island. The Main Immigration Building, now filled with three floors of exhibits, opened in 1900.

Immigration services ended here in 1954 and the buildings sat idle until the site became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. By 1990, the National Park Service opened the renovated Main Building to visitors. Search arrival records in the American Family Immigration History Center.

The only way to reach Ellis Island is by ferries leaving from Battery Park at Manhattan’s southern tip or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Purchase ferry tickets from the authorized National Park Service operator for a specific time and be sure you are in line well before departure time.

The site is open daily except Christmas Day. Join a ranger-led walking tour of the building or purchase a hard-hat tour to see the immigration hospital. Plan to spend several hours at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and enjoy a second stop to see the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, which is included in the same ferry fee.

Plan a trip to see Ellis Island

Palazzo Lakeside Hotel
Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa Universal Studios Area
The Delaney Hotel
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Reviews of Ellis Island

4.4
Top Destination
5 - Excellent
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" "5 - Excellent 56.10749185667753%
4 - Good
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" "4 - Good 30.944625407166125%
3 - Okay
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" "3 - Okay 10.30130293159609%
2 - Disappointing
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" "2 - Disappointing 1.0586319218241043%
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" "1 - Terrible 1.5879478827361564%

1/5 - Terrible

Traveller
Jan 8, 2020

The Ellis Island experience is a borderline simulation of turn of the century immigration. Standing in long lines, going through multiple security checks, and getting packed into boats to eventually see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island was reminiscent of the journey made by our ancestors. The museum closes early on Sundays, and so we were not able to see everything.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveler
Dec 16, 2019

Don't purchase tickets from anyone else other that at Castle in Battery Park.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Nov 5, 2019

A wonderful experience. Highly recommend.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Aug 12, 2019

While you are at Ellis Island, plan to check out the Hard Hat Tour of the old hospital-- fascinating!

4/5 - Good

Verified traveler
Jul 18, 2019

Not as exciting as Liberty Island, but still very interesting. There's a lot of history in the museum and you get to see what conditions were like for immigrants. Make sure you visit the Statue of Liberty first because you will likely spend more time on Liberty Island than Ellis Island and you don't want to waste any time as the last ferry leaves at 7pm.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Jul 12, 2019

Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour was very informative and fun

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