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Pittsburgh Has Something For Everyone A Total Resurgence Of An Industrial Town
A driveable vacation to please the entire family.
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t is no wonder that people often fondly call Pittsburgh “Kidsburgh.” No matter where you go, you’ll get the sense that city is deeply dedicated to nurturing and engaging the younger generation. It’s loaded with great vacation ideas that’ll keep the kids (and adults) happy.
the spraying jets of water. In the winter, the PPG Plaza becomes a public skating rink. Video game-addicted kids and adolescents may like CyberConXion, a video gaming center (with large screens) on Murray Ave in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.
In February head to the Kidapalooza family festival and if you’ll be in southwestern Pennsylvania in May, make sure to attend the outstanding International Children’s Festival. Children will enjoy riding up and down the Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines which link downtown Pittsburgh to Mount Washington, and the Ducky Tours of Pittsburgh with their “amphibious” buses that become boats will certainly delight people of all ages.
In Pittsburgh, museums and science centers excite even the most learning-phobic kids. On Forbes Avenue don’t miss the Carnegie Museum’s outstanding dinosaur exhibit. The Carnegie Science Center on Allegheny Avenue features over 250 child-appropriate exhibits related to science and technology. The adjacent UPMC Sports Works center helps children experience the physics behind the sports they love. The Pittsburgh Children’s Museum near Allegheny Square has climbing three-dimensional mazes, human-powered elevators, silk screening activities, and countless other hands-on exhibits.
A great idea for a slippery summer sensation is to head out to the PPG Plaza, between Third and Fourth Avenues in downtown Pittsburgh for an afternoon at an interactive fountain with water jets that shoot (in random patterns) up to 15 feet high. Children are invited (and expected) to soak themselves by running in and around
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If you are traveling with children who love animals and the natural world, another good vacation idea would be to head to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, which features over 4,000 animals in their natural environment, or the Living Treasures Animal Park petting zoo in Donegal, PA. If you think zoos are for the birds, then check out the National Aviary, with well over 100 species of colorful and bizarre feathered friends. The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has a special Discovery Garden where children are actually encouraged to get their green thumbs dirty.
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