Visiting New York City with Kids

-Update, 2009

It's been years now since tourism in NYC revitalized to pre- 9/11 levels. I've been fortunate to visit several times with teens. During one visit, we stayed in a "Creativity Suite"; did dim sum, The Beast harbor tour, a movie tour; saw Van Gogh paintings, Mammuthus fossils, and Spamalot... Check out our itinerary, below.

But that's not all, folks, and it never is in NYC. See more:

• Top Things to do in NY with Teens.

For example, on other trips we saw Blue Man Group, and visited Top of the Rock.

For visits with younger kids, Six New York City Toy Stores turn retail space into entertainment. There's American Girl Place with restaurant on 5th Ave.; Toys R Us with ferris wheel; Build-A-Bear Workshop , and more.

New York City: a 5-day Itinerary with a Teen

New York has so much going on and so many choices, that every family can find an itinerary that fits their predilections. So this is just a sample: see links at bottom, to explore more.

Tip:

• We did the Empire State Building, Natural History Museum, MOMA, and Circle Line harbor tour using CityPass-- a great way to save money on admissions

Day One:

• arrive in the morning; head to Times Square. Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, which recently opened with a stunning collection of rock memorabilia. Very cool.
• lots of walking around Times Square
• quick look at Grand Central Station
• Check-in at Embassy Suites Hotel, in Lower Manhattan-- a great place for families (and pets) with parks and green space by the river. We have a one-of-a-kind Creativity Suite, with iMac, plasma tv, rain-stick, interesting books, and massaging chair.
• lots of walking, through TriBeCa, and to Little Italy: terrific dinner at Benito II on Mulburry St.

Day Two:

• complimentary big breakfast at Embassy Suites, every day. All the fixins'
• work day for me. Evening: a Broadway play, the comedy Spamalot, a reprise of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the comic addition of David Hyde Pierce ("Niles" on the Frasier show)

Day Three:

• tour of NBC Studios -- good choice, for teens
• lots more walking.
• Lunch at landmark Tavern on the Green: top marks.
• visit to Natural History Museum: real-life dinosaur fossils are a highlight, and prehistoric mammals (and the Mammuthus)
• lots more walking, down 5th Ave.
• Empire State Building: prepare to wait in line-ups going up and coming down
• pasta at Sbarro's
• collapse, after walking

Day Four

• amazing Dim Sum lunch feast in Chinatown
• walk in Chinatown
• Chinese Ice Cream Store (black sesame ice cream gets top marks)
• Museum of Modern Art: with two reluctant teens who were wowed by the top floor of Greatest Hits. Van Gogh's Starry Night, Henri Rousseau's The Lion and the Gypsy, Picasso's Three Musicians, to name only a few.
• very pleasant restaurant at MOMA
• shopping at street fair on Madison Ave.
• curry takeout, eaten in suite.

Day Five:

• Manhattan TV and Movie Tour: 3-hour guided bus tour by On Location Tours, visiting places where movies and tv shows have been filmed. Nice intro to Greenwhich Village. Snack at (only-in-New-York) Rice to Riches.
• "The Beast" high-speed harbor tour by Circle Line, past Statue of Liberty
• check-in at airport to lose luggage forever

Most of these activities are covered in:

• Top Things to do in New York City with Teens

For more about NYC, see:

• NYC for Visitors: find out what's going on, where to eat, lots of tips

• GoCityKids covers events and fun places for kids.