New York City With Kids
New York City with kids surprises me every single time, and it is far cheaper than people think. The trick is doing four things properly instead of eleven things badly.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
How many nights do we need in New York?
Three to five. Three is enough to do it well if you accept you are seeing a fraction. Beyond five with children you are paying Manhattan hotel rates for days you will spend repeating yourself.
Is the subway safe with children?
Yes. It is busy, loud and full of stairs, and that is the real difficulty rather than safety. Keep everyone on the same car, agree where you are getting off before you board, and let the kids watch the map. They love it.
Which museum should we pick if we only do one?
The American Museum of Natural History, every time, if your kids are under about twelve. The Met is incredible and it is an adult building. The Intrepid is the surprise winner for kids who like machines.
Do we need a car?
No, and you actively do not want one. Parking in Manhattan costs more per day than most of what you will do, and the subway goes everywhere you are going.
Can a family of five stay in one room?
Sometimes, but far less often than in other cities. Many New York rooms are legally capped at four people. Check occupancy before you check price, or ask me and I will find one that works.
Is it worth combining New York with anywhere else?
It pairs well with Washington DC or Boston by train, both around three to four hours. It does not pair well with Orlando, whatever the flight map suggests. Those are two completely different kinds of trip and doing both in ten days is how families come home exhausted.
The City That Surprises Me Every Time
I have been to New York three times, and twice into the city itself. Every time, the New York in my head, the one built out of movies and songs, is not the New York that is there. The people are kind. The streets are clean. The food is worth the trip on its own.
After visiting cities all over the world, Adam and I both came back with more respect for the ones we have at home. The ornate detail on the buildings. The gap between a two hundred year old brownstone and the glass tower next to it. The construction workers in hoodies and hard hats talking New York smack in New York accents. It is a place with a personality, and kids feel that.
The reason it belongs on this site is that it is the one American city a family can do almost entirely on foot and on public transit, without a rental car, without a resort, and without the kind of ticket math that Orlando demands. That makes it a affordable trip if you plan it right, and an expensive one if you do not.
Who it is for
Kids about seven and up. Families who like walking. Anyone who wants a big trip that does not involve a theme park.
Who should skip it
Toddlers and strollers. The subway is full of stairs, there are no elevators at most stations, and you will spend the week carrying a stroller up and down them. Wait a few years.
Getting There
General ranges, not exact schedules. Your travel advisor can pin down the real times once your dates are set.
Doing New York Without Going Broke
The Free List Is Long
The Staten Island Ferry is free and passes the Statue of Liberty. Central Park is free. The High Line is free. Brooklyn Bridge is free to walk. Grand Central is free to stand inside with your mouth open. Governors Island is nearly free in summer. A family of five can fill three days on that list alone and it will not feel like budgeting.
Skip The Multi Attraction Pass
The city passes only pay off if you are cramming four paid attractions into a day, which is exactly the way not to do New York with children. Do the math for your actual list before you buy. Nine times out of ten the family that bought the pass then rushes through things to justify it.
Suggested Admission Is Real
Several of the big museums have suggested rather than fixed admission for New York State residents, and most have free or reduced evenings. Kids are frequently free under twelve. Always check the museum’s own page the week you go, because these policies move.
Midtown West Or The Upper West Side
Midtown West puts you inside walking distance of the theater district and on top of half a dozen subway lines, which with tired children is worth more than a nicer room further out. The Upper West Side is calmer, cheaper, close to Central Park and the Natural History Museum, and full of actual families. That is the one I book most.
Five People Do Not Fit
This is the New York issue nobody warns families about. Standard New York hotel rooms are small and many legally cap at four occupants. A family of five often needs a suite, a connecting pair, or an apartment style hotel. Sort this before you fall in love with a rate, because it changes the budget more than the neighborhood does.
Where I Earn My Keep
You pay the same rate or better, and I know which properties take five people without an argument at check in. Booking a New York room for a family of five online is where most of the mistakes happen.
Four Things, Done Properly: Things To Do In New York With Kids
Central Park, With A Plan
Central Park is bigger than most people picture and wandering it aimlessly with children is how you lose an afternoon. Pick a corner. The southern end has the zoo, the carousel and Bethesda Terrace. Go in at Columbus Circle, come out at 79th, and you have done a proper piece of it in two hours without anyone crying.
The Museum That Lands
The American Museum of Natural History is the one that works with children, and it is not close. Dinosaurs, the blue whale, the gems. Book a timed entry, go straight to the fourth floor fossil halls at opening, and leave before anybody has had enough. Three hours, not six.
The Statue Of Liberty, For Free
You do not have to buy a Liberty Island ticket to see her. The Staten Island Ferry runs all day, costs nothing, and goes right past. Ride out, get off, get back on. Kids get the harbor, the skyline and a boat, and you have spent nothing. If you want to climb the pedestal, book that months out.
For The Kids
The subway is the best thing about New York with children and the thing parents are most nervous about. It is fine. It is cheaper than anything else, it is faster than a taxi at almost every hour, and children love it in a way adults have forgotten.
Downtime Pick
A playground, not another sight. New York has great playgrounds and they are all free. Heckscher and Ancient Playground in Central Park, Pier 51 on the Hudson, Domino Park in Brooklyn. Build one into the middle of every day. An hour on a slide resets a child far better than a fourth museum room does, and you will get more out of the afternoon.
What To Eat
A dollar slice
Bagel with cream cheese
Pastrami on rye
Chinatown dumplings
Halal cart chicken and riceWhat I Think About New York
Stay a few blocks off the main road
Being straight with you: I do not have a photo of myself in New York. This is my own photo from the day Adam and I walked from Midtown all the way down to Battery Park, which is still the best thing I have done in that city. If I find one of me I will swap it in.
That walk taught me the thing I now say about every city in the world. Stay a few blocks off the main road, a few feet away from the tourist center, and that is where the actual place is. Homes behind doors you assumed led to factories. Little cafes tucked in corners behind benches. New York rewards that more than almost anywhere.
So my honest advice for a family week here is to do less. Four fixed things across four days, and let the rest be walking, subway rides, a playground and whatever you find. The families who try to see everything come home and can only tell you about the lines.
And go in winter if you can stand it. It is cheaper, it is emptier, and the city looks better cold. Tell me your dates and I will find you a room that holds five people.
Coney Island
An Hour On The Subway, A Different City
The D, F, N or Q runs all the way to Coney Island for the same flat subway fare. At the end of it there is a beach, a boardwalk, a hundred year old wooden roller coaster and an aquarium. In summer it is loud and crowded and completely alive. In winter it is empty and strange and quite beautiful.
It is the single best value day in New York with children, because the transport is already paid for and the beach is free. Budget for the rides, eat a hot dog, and go home tired.
Where The Money Is Worth Spending
If you splurge once in New York, make it a Broadway show, not a rooftop dinner. A family show with kids old enough to follow it is the thing they will talk about for a decade, and the food will not be. Buy directly from the theater or the official lottery rather than a reseller, and look at a weekday matinee, which is regularly half the price of a Saturday night. The second best splurge is a hotel room big enough that nobody sleeps on the floor.
When To Go, And Practical Tips
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
New York FAQ
How Many Days
Three or four days for New York with kids.
Central Park and its zoo, the view from Top of the Rock, the Natural History Museum, and a Broadway matinee.
Add the Statue of Liberty ferry, the High Line, and a slice-of-pizza crawl through a couple of neighborhoods.
The beaches at Coney Island, or a change of pace up the Hudson.
How many nights do we need in New York?
Three to five. Three is enough to do it well if you accept you are seeing a fraction. Beyond five with children you are paying Manhattan hotel rates for days you will spend repeating yourself.
Is the subway safe with children?
Yes. It is busy, loud and full of stairs, and that is the real difficulty rather than safety. Keep everyone on the same car, agree where you are getting off before you board, and let the kids watch the map. They love it.
Which museum should we pick if we only do one?
The American Museum of Natural History, every time, if your kids are under about twelve. The Met is incredible and it is an adult building. The Intrepid is the surprise winner for kids who like machines.
Do we need a car?
No, and you actively do not want one. Parking in Manhattan costs more per day than most of what you will do, and the subway goes everywhere you are going.
Can a family of five stay in one room?
Sometimes, but far less often than in other cities. Many New York rooms are legally capped at four people. Check occupancy before you check price, or ask me and I will find one that works.
Is it worth combining New York with anywhere else?
It pairs well with Washington DC or Boston by train, both around three to four hours. It does not pair well with Orlando, whatever the flight map suggests. Those are two completely different kinds of trip and doing both in ten days is how families come home exhausted.
Seven printables built just for New York
I built these for this trip, ages 3 to 13. The subway map they will have to read, the bagel they will be handed, a fort at the Battery and a burial ground the city forgot and then found again. Every page is about New York itself.
Poppy’s New York Discovery Deck
Ages 3 to 7. Forty cards, our dog finds New York one clue at a time. $6.99.
New York City Activity Book
Ages 4 to 7. Look, count, draw and match your way through the city. $7.99.
Travel Day Little Explorers
Ages 4 to 6. The plane, the train and the wait at the gate. $5.99.
Travel Day Junior Navigators
Ages 7 to 9. Routes, codes and predictions for the journey. $6.99.
New York Explorer Journal
Ages 8 to 12. Edward Hopper, Tiffany glass and the Guggenheim’s spiral. $9.99.
New York History Hunt
Ages 11 to 13. Six real stops from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge. $9.99.
New York City Adventure Bingo
All ages. One card, seven print sizes. $1.99.
Ready To Put New York On The Calendar
Send me your dates and how many of you there are. I will find a room that legally holds your family, tell you which week is cheapest, and build you four days that do not involve waiting in line for things you will not remember. There is no fee.
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