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Family Travel:
NYC with tween & teen
NYC with kids is about as fun as it gets – but depending on the age of your offspring, it’s definitely worth planning your trip in advance. ParentFolk hit NYC with a tween and teen in tow and discovered that you really can get a taste of New York on a mini city break.
One World Observatory If you’ve already previously visited The Empire State Building or the observation deck at The Rockefeller Centre then you’ll be needing a new position to view the city. Welcome One World Observatory at One World Trade Center. You’ll speed up all 102 floors in just 47 seconds so you’ll need to brace yourself for the elevator ride up (as well as for the admission price). Yes it’s impressive, yes it’s worth seeing (once), but we had seen, done it and avoided buying the t-shirt in under 30 minutes and after buying fast pass tickets to avoid more Manhattan queuing, the $67 ticket (per person) plus city tax meant there wasn’t much change from $200. Choose your city viewing point carefully!
9/11 Museum 9/11 was before teen and tween came along. This etched date now forms part of New Yorks history, and a timeline of changes to how we live today in the free world. Visiting the 9/11 Museum is an emotional experience, but also a educational one. The historical exhibition has three key parts, exploring the day of 9/11, before 9/11 and after 9/11, It tells the story of what happened on 9/11, including the events at the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon and tells the story of Flight 93. The exhibition explores the background leading up to the events and examines the aftermath as well as life since that day. The museum answers many questions for young minds, the enormity of what happened that day, and how and why life has changed since. Due to the nature of this exhibition it may not be appropriate for younger visitors, but tween and teen found the visit insightful as well as moving. The memorial exhibition will stop you in your tracks, as it commemorates the lives of those who perished on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, allowing you to learn more about the men, women and children who died.
The Oculus Designed by Spaniard Santiago Calatrava, The Oculus is one outstanding piece of architecture. His design inspiration was a child releasing a dove, and whilst a bustling station, shopping mall and event space, the message of light beyond darkness shines through. Westfield World Trade Center Mall replaces the PATH station that was destroyed during 9/11 in 2001. This incredible 800,000 square foot building cost an eye-watering 4 billion dollars, making it the most expensive train stop in the world. With its sleek and modern design, it’s worth a visit just to view the architecture alone.
Time Square An oldie but a goodie. The classic NY tourist trap is still in full swing. It’s overcrowded, noisy, and yet somehow still brilliantly captivating. Instantly recognisable it’s the ultimate photo opp, with visiting art installations and an observation deck for capturing the perfect photo this is where to see the bright lights of the city. Brooklyn Bridge FREE! Not much in NYC comes without a cost, a ticket, or an opportunity to upgrade, but this was genuinely one of the highlights of our trip. We visited in August when city temperatures hit 107 degrees so the walk across the bridge with the river breeze was a welcome respite from the heat. Jump the subway over to Brooklyn and follow the walking trail to the bridge, then admire the Manhattan skyline as you walk across (stopping for all the hot spot photo positions of course)
The High Line The High Line is a blooming piece of living art. One of the most unique spaces in NYC. Once a railroad built in 1934 to transport goods through NYC industrial district, the High Line is now a botanical beauty and must see attraction. You’ll easily spend an afternoon walking this Meatpacking District public park. With cool littlefolk friendly industrial playgrounds, you’ll also find a heap of pop up family events, and plenty of art installations. A must see when visiting Manhattan.
City Bus Tours There’s a lot of ground to cover, especially on mini-break, so the variety of City Bus Tours are ideal. Prebook a ticket to make the biggest savings, then use your 24 or 48 hour pass to hop on and hop off around the city. The loop tours are superb and also a welcome respite when pounding the pavements becomes too much. We loved the benefit of the colourful commentary, hearing anecdotes about the history of NYC whilst passing well known landmarks and local neighbourhoods.
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Chelsea Market Hands down a family favourite for ParentFolk, boasting food halls and cool indie shopping Chelsea Market is without question one of NYC’s most vibrant venues. Every whim is catered for here. Whether you fancy coffee and indulge me cakes, or local street foods, oysters or even a cheese board, they’ve got it covered. This historic site (and former home of the National Biscuit Company) is a cool hang out for locals and a hot spot for foodies too. The local traders sell everything from handmade jewellery to vintage vinyl, you’ll lose yourself in people watching, browsing the boutiques and the delicious food offerings. Easy to spend a whole afternoon here. Look out for pop up events too!
Central Park More free fun, and much needed time out from the noise of the street, make sure you allow enough time to fully explore Central Park. Depending when you visit, you’ll be led by the season. Visiting in the height of summer dictates messing around on the lake, with pleasure boats to hire, or kicking back and relaxing with an ice cream whilst listening to the many musicians who bring the park to life. Winter seasons see ice skating, roasted chestnuts and picture perfect scenes. You can hire bikes locally to explore the park, but use is only permitted on the bike trails which in someway mean you miss the heart and soul of what this urban escape has to offer.
Broadway Broadway is a must when visiting NYC with kids. Yes you have to choose an age appropriate performance, but with so many leading shows available. You can join the (long) queue in Time Square to bag tickets to same day shows, but most hotels have a concierge who’ll be well connected and usually be able to score you tickets during your stay. Alternatively a great tip we picked up is that many theatres make a number of on the day tickets available each morning, so if you want to put the jet lag to good use, get up and out early and save yourself a small fortune.