New York City with Kids
Tips for enjoying New York City with your Kids
Are you planning a trip to NYC and need some help planning. I wanted to share a few quick tips when traveling to the Big Apple with your kids. First off, the idea of traveling with the kids to such a big, unfamiliar city, was a little daunting at first. While I have had the opportunity to travel to New York a few times in the past, my kids have never been to a city that big so I knew it was going to be an adventure. We ended up having a blast and I learned a few things along the way.
Hotel Insignia, an Ascent Hotel Collection member, in Brooklyn
Sponsored By Ascend Hotel Collection, but opinions are my own
Stay at a hotel that is close to the subway
Driving in New York is a nightmare and the subway is the only way to go. Make sure you chose a hotel that is super close to a subway stop. We stayed at the Hotel Insignia, an Ascend Hotel Collection Member in Brooklyn, and it was amazing. The subway was literally a three minute walk from the front of the hotel. Once you are in the city, your kids will walk, more than they would like to, so why make them walk to the subway! Staying at the Hotel Insignia made it super easy to hop on a train and head into the city no matter what time of the day.
Stay a hotel that offers free breakfast
Food in New York is expensive no matter where you go. I always make sure to check and see if they have a free breakfast before I book a hotel on a family vacation. The Insignia Hotel, an Ascend Hotel Collection Member, in Brooklyn offered a free continental breakfast that had everything our kids could have asked for. It was so nice to get up, get ready for the day, and not have to worry about finding somewhere to eat in an unfamiliar city. The free continental breakfast made this hassle free and since we weren’t waiting in lines to eat, we could focus on getting out and having fun in the city. Save your money to treat your kids to one of the many amazing deserts that New York has to offer!
Pre-buy your attraction tickets
Almost every attraction offers you the opportunity to pre-buy tickets. This will save you a ton of time, and most of the attractions don’t charge anything extra for this. It just takes a little planning to ensure you have plenty of time to get from one place to another. We pre-bought our tickets for the observation floor of One World Trade, and the Top of the Rock, Empire State Building. Most of the major attractions even off a VIP pass that can get you to the front of the line. We actually bought our One World Trade tickets off of Groupon, and skipped the line! Trust me, there are so many things to do in New York City, standing in line is not one of them! One of the unique things we went to was the Spyscape museum which had just opened in Manhattan. We pre-bought the tickets, and we had an awesome afternoon learning about the history of spy and espionage. There were activities for the kids and adults and we all had a blast.
Central Park is a must
One of the best things we did was spend plenty of time in Central Park. If you have kids like mine they are full of energy. After a few days of running from here to there the park was exactly what we needed. I’d recommend heading to the park during the middle part of your stay, we actually went twice. The park has so many playgrounds and wide open spaces for the kids to run, play, and be loud! We rented bikes and took the entire loop around the park. It was 6 miles and my kids ages 7-13 loved it. Plan on an hour if you plan to take the entire loop. They were fascinated at this huge park that was right in the middle of this huge city. We had so much fun!
Get outside of the city
While Manhattan is what most people think of when they think of New York, there are so many cool things outside of the city. The Hotel Insignia is in Brooklyn and we loved the location. It gave us a totally different perspective of New York that we never would have gotten had we stayed in Manhattan. We were close to the Brooklyn Bridge and spent a morning exploring the area and walking across the bridge. There is a Shake Shack located right at that the base, my kids favorite food in New York City. If you find yourself on the Brooklyn side of the bridge, you have to get ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. It’s so good!
Traveling to New York City with my kids was something I’ll never forget, and I hope they don’t forget it either! My kids were fascinated to see this place they’d heard so much about, and to see what city life is truly like. It was an environment like they’d never seen or experienced before. If you’re thinking about taking your kids and have questions just send me a message and I’ll be happy to help out.
