The Behind The Scenes Tour Of The Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital is the perfect tour, if you’re the adventurous type, love exploring out of bound spots and also enjoys a bit of history and exciting stories!
So start, we are proud to say that we have NYC’s top partners offering the best tours in the city. The behind the scenes tour of the abandoned Ellis Island Hospital is one of them!
Practically every Saturday (and a couple of Sundays), groups leave around 12pm and head towards Ellis Island. Guests are taken to explore a few out of bound spots not offered to the general public that will blow their minds and spark even more curiosities!
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Have you ever imagined visiting an abandoned hospital and walking in what was once an autopsy room? Or visit a former contagious disease ward – today cleared up, of course!? Plus, access spots not opened to the general public?
Here is a small description on what to expect from this tour:
“The abandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex—once the standard for United States medical care (and later transformed to the FBI headquarters when the island served as a detention center)—has been left to decay for nearly 60 years.
Now, our amazing partners is bringing you behind-the-scenes for a unique exploration of the abandoned facility.
On this experience, you’ll visit the contagious disease wards and the autopsy rooms. And still, have exclusive access to places usually closed to the public.
While Ellis Island has become one of New York City’s top tourist attractions, drawing over two million visitors per year, the 22-building South Side hospital complex is hidden in plain sight. It’s just to the left of disembarking passengers headed towards the Great Hall…
Looking at its desolate, skeletal frame, it’s difficult to imagine the backstory as one of the largest public health undertakings in American history.
Join us for our upcoming hard hat tour, guided by a Save Ellis Island docent. We’ll uncover its many, buried secrets.”
OMG!!! So cool, right? Save Ellis Island has their own tour. But, this one has a few extra secrets, as we mentioned in the beginning. We do access some pretty sweet out of bound spots to the public!
This is one of the tours we love the most! But, then again, we are always psyched about exploring abandoned spots that have groundbreaking history!
You’ll learn the most curious facts and have opportunity to shoot several “Instagram worthy” pictures. They will leave your followers in “awe” and might even go viral!
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Discover buildings over 100-years-old, which have not been occupied since 1954
- See an exhibition installed by the world-renowned artist JR, who has placed life-sized historic photographs of Ellis Island immigrants on interior walls of the hospital buildings
- Visit the Laundry Building, where 3000+ pieces of laundry were washed and sanitized daily
- Discover infectious and contagious disease wards, the kitchen, the autopsy room and other usually off-limits places
TOUR DETAILS:
Price: $90 / person — Your ticket includes the price of the ferry to and from Ellis Island.
Getting to the ferry: After purchasing this experience, you will receive a separate email a week prior to your tour date, which will include your Ferry ticket. Print this ticket and show it to security to board the Ferry. To reach the site, visitors will have to board a Statue Cruises ferry, which takes off by Castle Clinton in Battery Park, lower Manhattan. The tickets can also be used interchangeably for departure at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Please REMAIN on the boat past the Statue of Liberty to get to Ellis Island.
Ticket Confirmation: After you book this experience, you will receive a confirmation email from our partner confirming you are attending the tour!
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In order to be on Ellis Island by the beginning of the tour (2pm), we recommend following this schedule:
– Start 11:30: Arrive to Castle Clinton ahead of time to allow time to clear the airport style security
– Then 1:10pm: Board the ferry at Castle Clinton (the ride is roughly 40-minutes)
– Finally 1:50pm: Arrive at Ellis Island and head to meeting location
What to wear: Closed-toe-shoes are mandatory. Please dress appropriately for the weather, as the buildings are not climate controlled.
What to know: The tour is approximately 2 hours long. It will make scheduled stops for quick photographs, but tripods and uni-pods are not allowed. Due to the nature of the buildings, all guests must stay with the tour guide at all times. The tour is inaccessible for people using wheelchairs or powered scooters, and kids must be 10+ years-old to join. Tickets are not refundable however we can accommodate changes up to two weeks prior to the tour date.
Did you enjoy our Behind the Scenes Tour at the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital? If you are looking for a behind the scenes tour for your team or clients, contact our experts to learn more about our Corporate Experiences.
You might also enjoy our “Secret Behind The Scenes Grand Central Terminal Tour“!
Texts excerpts by our Partner!
Photo Credit: The featured image is Stephen Wilkes. He worked on a photo exhibition about the place, so locations visited may currently have a different layout.
*Last Update on Feb/2020.*
