New York City - the city that never sleeps, has a whole host of family friendly activities to enjoy with the kids. It was my eldest sons dream to visit New York and I was delighted to make this happen for his 11th birthday. My sons want for nothing and no longer play with toys, so I've decided that travel and days out are the best gifts I can give them. We spent 5 days in New York, including travel days and we fit a lot into those 5 days. Here is my ultimate family friendly itinerary of New York with kids.
Day 1. Arrive in New York, M Social Times Square Hotel and Times Square
We had a long travel day, travelling from Cork to Dublin via car for an early start in Dublin Airport. We flew via Aer Lingus from Dublin to JFK - I booked our flights when they were on sale in October and we traveled to New York in February. We got a taxi from JFK to our hotel, which was the M Social Times Square (I can't recommend this hotel enough - I'll share more in a later post). The taxi cost around $80 and this included tolls into Manhattan. This, for us, was the best area to stay in New York with kids as it was close to everything we wanted to see and do.
It was around 5pm when we got to our hotel and we were all exhausted. As we were so close to Time Square - our hotel room actually looked out on it - we decided to have a stroll around, get our bearings and some food before heading back to the hotel to relax and get an early night as we had to be up early the following morning.
Day 2. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge
On our second day in New York it was my sons birthday and he had always wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty, so this was how we planned to spend part of his birthday. We took the subway (there was a stop right by our hotel) to the ferry, located in Battery Park. I had booked our tickets in advance and we had access to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Sadly, access to the crown was sold out the whole time during our visit, so book well in advance if you'd like to go up to the crown. Also, if you're visiting in February, bring a warm hat as the queue to the ferry can be quite long and slow and it was freezing right down by the water!
We toured the Statue of Liberty and her island and then hopped back on the ferry for a visit to Ellis Island - this is all part of the tour package we booked. Everything was free to explore at our own pace.
Once we had explored Ellis Island we took the ferry back to Battery Park and decided to walk our way up to Wall Street. I work for an international stockbroker and hear and see a lot about Wall Street so I wanted to see the NYSE in person. It didn't take long to walk there from Battery Park, but bear in mind that my sons were 11 and 7 at the time of visiting New York and were used to walking long distances.
From Wall Street we walked to Ground Zero, another site my son wanted to visit. Walking through the city made for a great opportunity to do New York with kids on a budget, as a lot of the sites we visited and wanted to see were completely free to experience. We had planned to do the National September 11 Memorial and Museum also, but when visiting Ground Zero I actually felt physically ill - the emotion of this site was too much and I decided against the visit to the museum. If you're visiting Ground Zero be prepared for how incredibly sad it is there.
From Ground Zero we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge - another must see for my son. We walked to the centre of the Brooklyn Bridge and got a lovely instant photo there was $8 from a seller on the bridge. It made for a lovely keepsake. From there we took the subway back to Times Square - at this stage my 7 year old son was starting to get extremely tired from all the walking.
At Times Square we stopped off for some cake at NY Bakery and Desserts - you have to have a slice of cake on your birthday! My sons also did one of the 360 video captures at time square, I think it cost $10 and they were super happy they got to do it.
We also got dinner and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest after all our walking and sight-seeing!
Day 3. Central Park and American Museum of Natural History
On day 3 of our visit we woke up to snow! New York looked amazing under snow and we were so happy to experience this during our trip. We had pre-booked tickets for the American Museum of Natural History and decided to walk there through Central Park, which was quite close to our hotel also.
Central Park looked like an absolute fairy-tale in the snow and the boys had great fun playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and running around there.
I don't think I was quite prepared for just how big Central Park is! I thought we saw a lot of it during our visit (we visited twice during our stay) but we didn't even get to see half of it. It's one of the best free things to do in New York with kids!
We arrived at the American Museum of Natural History just before it opened and the queue was huge! Keep that in mind if you're visiting with small kids.
The museum was amazing, with floors full of artefacts from all over the world, dinosaurs, areas about space, etc. We had booked a visit to the planetarium while we were there and I can't recommend it enough - it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life!
We got lunch in the café at the museum, but again, be prepared for queues and lack of seating as everywhere is busy here.
Once our visit to the museum was finished - we spent hours here, we walked back through Central Park and the snow once again.
Day 4. Ghostbusters, Museum of Ice Cream and Intrepid Museum
On day 4 we caught the subway to just a few blocks away from the Ghostbusters Firehouse Company 8. The boys are big fans of the film and wanted to see it.
I wouldn't go out of your way to go here, as there's nothing else to do put take pictures outside. Thankfully for us, it was close to where we were going anyway and was a nice, free photo opportunity while in New York.
We took a few pictures there and walked on to the Museum of Ice Cream. This was by far the most expensive place we went to during our visit (and possibly ever on a family trip or day out). The tickets cost close to $200! It's also not a museum in any shape or form. I'd describe it as an indoor playground and one of the most Instagrammable places you'll ever visit in your life.
My boys loved it here! The had so much fun - and us adults did too, especially on the indoor slide! The place is decorated to perfection - lots of pink and fun places to get your picture taken.
There's also unlimited ice cream, but in very limited flavours. I was expecting more of a focus on ice cream, given the name, but nevertheless it was a great laugh in there. The kids didn't want to leave!
The giant pool of 'sprinkles' at the end was the highlight for them - they would have stayed there all day!
From there we had a quick look in TjMaxx - had to take a look while in New York, and on a whim we booked tickets to the Intrepid Museum. We caught the subway to a few blocks away from it.
My boys love history and the Intrepid is an aircraft carrier from World War Two, which is now a floating museum. Inside there's lots of attractions, aircraft, etc. and the boys loved it - as did my partner!
They even got to visit a real-life submarine! They spent hours here and had the best fun. I'd highly recommend a visit if your kids are into history, ships, aircraft, etc. In my opinion, this is one of the best indoor activities to do in New York with kids on a rainy day.
We walked back to Times Square from here and got dinner before heading back to the hotel for some rest.
Day 5. Central Park, Top of the Rock, St. Patrick's Cathedral, FAO Schwartz, Grand Central Station
On day five we went back to Central Park for a stroll around some areas we hadn't seen during our first visit. The snow had also melted so it was nice to see it as it normally is too.
We stopped by the 'castle' there and the obelisk and walked past the zoo before walking to the Rockefeller Center for our visit to Top of the Rock.
We had pre-booked this in advance too and it was a great experience seeing the 360 views of the NYC skyline. If we ever go again I'd like to see the night views.
From here we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral - which is just across the road and spent some time looking around here - the boys recognized it from Home Alone, another of their favourite movies.
We also took a trip to FAO Schwartz, which is also very close by and bought a gift for baby brother (our youngest son), who was happy at home with his Nana.
We then walked around the city, passing the Empire State Building, visiting Macys and Grand Central Station, before heading back to Time Square for some Pizza from Little Italy and taking our last few pictures.
Day 6. Times Square and JFK
My eldest son wants to be a firefighter when he grows up and on our last morning he got to see the NYFD at work (thankfully nothing serious!) and a picture next to the engines - it really ended our trip on a high note.
Then it was time to leave the city and head to JFK for our flight home to Ireland. It was a night-time flight and we arrived into Dublin around 4.30am and had the long drive home to Cork. We were shattered after a fun-filled few days in New York.
I'm so happy I was able to make my sons dream come true and I feel like we fit a lot into our trip.
We averaged 25,000 steps per day during our trip to New York and the boys preferred walking to catching the subway - it meant we got to see more as we travelled.
If you asked me is New York worth visiting with kids I'd definitely say yes! I highly recommend a trip to New York with kids - especially the ages my boys were at the time we visited. It was so much fun and I'd do it all again.
You can see more highlights, videos and reels from our trip to New York on my Instagram @dollydowsie
