our guide Mike was incredible. Literally sat in pouring rain on wet ground to take pictures of us in front of statue. Informative and took good care of us.
Better get Sal. Not the shady attorney, but the native New Yorker tour guide with a love for history that is infectious. Your day starts out at Battery Park, where you meet with your tour guide, collect the hearing devices in which your tour guide communicates with you, and get an idea of how the day is going to go. The trip to Liberty/Ellis Island can be done without the tour guide, you you would miss so much. If I hadn't known the dented gold globe planted next to Clinton Castle was originally next to the World Trade Center buildings, I would have just walked by without a clue. Sal made sure to keep us updated on points of interest, where to stand to get the best pictures, how the multiple security checks to get to Liberty Island was going to work, where to be to get through the lines quickly, etc... and he's a pretty funny guy to top it all off. Well worth the money.
While it rained the first part of this tour, it was informative and we were able to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I feel that the description of the 9/11 Memorial was not accurate because I thought we would have access to the museum which we did not. When I advised the tour guide about this, he said we could go ahead and get in line for tickets, but there wasn't enough time so we didn't get to see it. This was a huge disappointment. The Freedom Tower was spectacular and the weather did clear when we got up there.