Statue of Liberty Sightseeing Cruise

Few sights say "New York" quite like the green-robed figure rising from the water at the mouth of the Hudson. Seeing the Statue of Liberty from a boat is the way she was meant to be met: from below, gaining scale as you glide closer, with Lower Manhattan's towers stacking up behind her. Gliding past Liberty Island and neighbouring Ellis Island, where generations of newcomers first set foot in America, you trade the noise of the streets for open water and a salt breeze.

From out on the harbour the whole story of the city unfolds at once: the spans of the Brooklyn Bridge, the glittering downtown skyline, and the famous crowned silhouette that has welcomed arrivals for well over a century. It is a relaxed, wind-in-your-hair way to take it all in, perfect early in a trip when you want to grasp how this island metropolis fits together. Few first impressions of New York are this memorable.