Crossing the Harbor on the Free Staten Island Ferry
Board at the St. George Ferry Terminal and step onto the deck as the bow swings away from the slip. The water widens beneath you, and the skyline of Lower Manhattan rises ahead while the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island slip past to your right. This is not a scenic bonus tacked onto a paid journey—it is the journey itself, and it costs nothing. The Staten Island Ferry runs on the MTA, which means you can make the crossing as many times as the day allows, watching the harbor change light and mood with each passage.
Walking Through Three Centuries at Historic Richmond Town
This open-air museum sits at Richmond Road & Arthur Kill Road and gathers dozens of restored buildings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in one place. You move between structures—houses, a tavern, a general store, a schoolhouse—each one telling what daily life looked like in Staten Island's past. The buildings are not replicas; they are the actual structures, moved here and preserved, with interpreters who can explain how people lived, worked, and traded in this part of New York before it became a borough.
The Boardwalk and Beaches Along the East Shore
The FDR Boardwalk stretches two and a half miles along South Beach, one of the longest boardwalks in the United States. You can run it, bike it, or walk it slowly while watching the water. The beach itself is open for swimming, and the boardwalk connects you to a neighborhood with actual rhythm and the feeling of a seaside town. In summer, the water is safe for swimming. If you prefer to stay dry, the boardwalk alone justifies the trip—wide enough for solitude even when busy, with the bay stretched out on one side and the street life of the North Shore neighborhoods visible from above.
Art, Architecture, and Learning in Snug Harbor
Snug Harbor Cultural Center, reached by bus S40 or S44 from the ferry terminal, is a collection of Greek Revival buildings—the largest such grouping in America—clustered around gardens and cultural spaces. The Staten Island Botanic Garden sits on the grounds with an authentic Chinese Scholar's garden designed and built by actual Chinese scholars. The John A. Noble Collection, an art museum, occupies one of the historic buildings. The scale of the place and the architectural beauty of the structures create the feeling that you have stepped out of New York City entirely, though you are still within it. Plan time to walk the grounds slowly.
Museums for History, Art, and Unexpected Collections
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, at 338 Lighthouse Avenue, holds over 120 pieces of Tibetan artifacts gathered by an American woman who dreamed of Tibet but never traveled there. The collection is substantial enough that the Dalai Lama himself praised its authenticity. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1PM to 5PM and costs nothing to enter. The Conference House, at 298 Satterlee Street, dates to 1680 and hosted a failed peace negotiation during the Revolutionary War; it remains a physical record of that moment. The Historic Richmond Town complex includes the Staten Island Museum at 1000 Richmond Terrace, open Wednesday through Sunday from 11AM to 5PM, with admission starting at $2 for children and $8 for adults. The Alice Austen House and the National Lighthouse Museum at 200 The Promenade (open Thursday through Sunday, 11AM–4PM) offer specific windows into the island's artistic and maritime past.
Parks and Natural Spaces Across the Island
The Greenbelt, centered at 700 Rockland Avenue, covers 2,800 acres of woodlands and nature that feel far removed from the city. The Greenbelt Nature Center provides maps and orientation. Blue Heron Park, on the South Shore at Poillon Avenue & Amboy Road, is named for the birds that live there and offers a working example of how the island's wildlife persists. Freshkills Park, at Wild Avenue & Pearson Street, is still under development but will eventually span 2,200 acres—three times the size of Central Park—and covers the Fresh Kills waterway and the site of the former Fresh Kills Dump. The first completed section, Schmul Park in Travis, has a playground, courts, and open grass. Mount Loretto Unique Area on the South Shore has hiking trails, shoreline access, and minimal development, making it good for observing wildlife. Great Kills Park offers both woodland and beaches. Wolfe's Pond Park and Lemon Creek Park, which is home to one of the few purple martin colonies in the New York Metro, are quieter alternatives for a shorter visit.
Start with the ferry crossing—there is no better introduction to the place. Then move to whichever section calls to you: the boardwalk and beach if you want to move, Snug Harbor if you want to wander architecture and gardens, the museums if you want to sit with objects and stories, or the parks if you want to disappear into trees. Staten Island asks only that you slow down enough to notice what is in front of you.