New Jersey Capitol Complex

So even though this is called the Capitol Complex, by in large I would assume the main draw to this address or to this Unilocal listing would be the tour of the State House. Seeing as there was just three of us we didn’t call to make a reservation and we didn’t expect a crowd on a Saturday in the afternoon but much to my surprise that is exactly what we got.
When you get to the State House building front entrance there is a clearly marked sign for visitors/​people taking the tour. Having done the tour of the PA Capitol Building (far nicer by the way) I expected some kind of security screening or metal detector but there was no one manning any of the stations so we just walked into the main rotunda. Behind the desk was a little old woman who asked if we were taking the tour and then asked if we were part of the group of 30 that they were expecting for the 2pm tour. We weren’t part of that group and I told her we were here for the tour to which she told us to just hang out with the other couple in the rotunda as the tour would start whenever the guide got done with the 1pm.
We eventually got started but not before the 1pm group with around 25 girl scouts ran past schedule and the 2pm group scheduled for 30 only had 20 but they also showed up fifteen plus minutes late yet the guide chose to wait for them and told the woman at the desk that there wouldn’t be a 3pm since everything was running behind schedule.
As for the tour:
He gave us a full explanation of the rotunda and about all of the portraits in it which are of NJ’s governors up until the 1950’s. The portraits from the 50’s until the present are located in the governor’s reception office where press briefings and bill signings are done. Governors who were not elected (Richard Codey for example) can have a portrait done but they have to pay for it personally just like any portrait not of an elected governor can be removed at any time by the sitting governor. One guy on the tour asked the guide where Christie’s real office was at but he wouldn’t give an answer except to say «near by». When asked again he sort of snapped that it was near by and the exact location couldn’t be told to us for security reasons.
After that we went to the Assembly Chamber and then to the Senate Chamber for brief talks about their respective legislative process before wrapping things up back in the rotunda. According to the state’s website and literature on site a visit to a Senate Conference Room is supposed to be on the tour but that got skipped due to the fact that we were now running way behind schedule.
Overall to rate this place the only thing I have to compare it with is the tour of the Capitol in PA and in comparison this tour was honestly not even close in any way, shape or form. The guide was going through the motions, him snapping at someone over a benign question about where the actual governors office is because of «security concerns» when everyone walked into the building unscreened is laughable and quite honestly the Capitol Building in PA is arguably the nicest in the country so after that everything is a step down.
But hey, it’s still free and that means it’s still worth a look.
If you go:
Tours operate Monday-​Friday from 10 – 3 with tours beginning at the top of the hour. On the 1^st and 3^rd Saturdays of the month tours are from 12 – 3 beginning at the top of the hour. The cost of course is free and naturally what you see is dictated by when you come and what is going on that day.
I would imagine parking to be difficult during the week when the government is open with the only choices costing $$$ to either park in a deck or at a meter on the street. On weekends things are far more relaxed and we parked for free in the state police lot right behind the Old Barracks Museum.
Tours are supposed to last an hour but that is of course subject to change if there is another guide working plus if the tour starts on time and if they are expecting large numbers for the next tour plus any questions that are asked.
Photography (non-​flash) is allowed anywhere on the tour with the exception of the governor’s reception office and just to make sure no one tries anything when in the office a NJ state trooper is present at all times during that part of the tour.
Monday-​Friday the cafeteria is open from 7:30 — 2:30 & the welcome center from 9:30 — 4:30 which has various interactive activities showing how NJ state government «works».
Reservations are mandatory for groups ten or more as the Saturday tours are apparently popular and the weekday tours at different times of the year get fully reserved by bus groups and school groups.

Great location, with so much history, and a lot to see. The buildings are beautiful, too. It’s definitely worth a visit. We watched a concert on the green on Saturday night — it’s part of the Levitt AMP series, and will continue each Saturday night though September. But there’s always stuff going on — shows at the War Memorial, tours at the Old Barracks, Revolutionary War re-​enactments, etc.