Visiting New York With Kids: Copy My Itinerary!
We just spend 3 full days in NYC with our 3 kids. Here is everywhere we went, everything we saw, everything we ate, and all the things we did wrong or would do differently next time. Hope this helps you plan a magical trip to New York with your kids! Copy this itinerary for visiting New York with kids.
Visiting New York With Kids
What To Pack
Luggage
We love these suitcases from Amazon. We usually fly Southwest and could check our bags for free, but we prefer carryon because there’s no time waiting around at baggage claim that way. Plus, now that my youngest is almost 7, he can easily manage dragging a rolling suitcase behind him. We have 5 of these suitcases and it works out perfectly because we can squeeze my two youngest kids’ stuff into one bag which frees up the 5th bag for my husband’s C-Pap machine and whatever clothes or souvenirs we end up buying on our trip.
I love using different colored packing cubes for each of us. We all get our own color, so it makes it really easy to keep our stuff organized once we get to our destination.
Supplements
New York is a busy, crowded, germy place! I like to start taking these a few weeks before I travel to get my immune system ready. I also bring them along with me incase I start feeling run down on the trip.
This nasal spray is excellent to use after a long day of walking around the city! Think of it like a shower for your nose!
Sleep Better!
This mini white noise sound machine is a lifesaver when you have to share a room with 4 other people (and barely takes up any room)!
I swear these help me sleep more soundly each night which is something I struggle with when I’m not in my own bed.
Shoes
You will do a ton of walking in New York! We averaged 20,000 steps a day! These New Balance were extremely comfortable and were cute enough to dress up or down. My kids mostly wore their sneakers or Crocs.
We really lucked out with the weather, but having a pair of water resistant Chelsea boots is key when visiting New York. They look great both dressed up or down, and you can wear them in the rain. They go with any type of outfit!
Coat
I didn’t need it, but I purchased this cute raincoat for our trip in case it rained. It’s lightweight but still warm and soft on the inside.
Visiting New York With Kids
Where To Stay
There are so many hotels in New York that it can be overwhelming to choose which one to stay at. You could pick one based on the area you think you’ll want to spend the most time in. For us as a family of five, we had to select our hotel based on the ability to sleep 5 people comfortably. This really narrows down the choices! We ended up at The Fifty Sonesta. We got the Junior Apartment that came with 2 queens and a pull-out couch. The location was good too! Close to Grand Central Station.
La Guardia
Because we always fly Southwest (I have the Companion Pass), this was our airport. We could have taken a train to the hotel, but didn’t want to mess with all our luggage on the train. We ended up getting an Uber XL which was very easy and convenient. If you can, try to book your flight to arrive at a time that isn’t rush hour. Our experience driving out of the city on the way back to the airport on Sunday morning was much faster than arriving at 4:15pm on a Thursday and driving into the city.
Visiting New York With Kids
Itinerary: Day One
Breakfast
On our first full day in New York, we wanted to start off with bagels. Our hotel was right around the corner from a famous bagel shop (Ess-A-Bagel) and we were very excited to try it! Unfortunately they were closed that day for Rosh Hashana, so we had to waste a bit of time scrambling to find breakfast somewhere else. We ended up at Madman Espresso & Bagels, which was really good and also right across from Grand Central Station so it all worked out.
Grand Central Station
We walked across the street to Grand Central Station, which is super cool to see even if you don’t plan on riding the subway at all. There’s a market, a food hall, and our favorite part: the Whispering Gallery. If you put “Whispering Gallery” into Google Maps, it will take you straight there. If you get lost, ask anyone who works there and they will know. One person stands at one corner and the other stands diagonal across from the first person. if you turn into the corner and speak softly, the other person can hear you! It really works and it’s super fun.
Ride The Subway! Subway Tips
We decided to try a mix of Lyft/Uber and using the subway to get around. The subway is a cool experience we wanted to try with the kids. Plus it’s so much cheaper. It’s less than $3/person (and my youngest was free). A really convenient feature is that you can just tap your credit card and go right through- no special subway card required! The only problem with that is that you need a separate card for each person riding the subway. So my husband and I had to pull out 4 different credit cards for us all to ride the subway.
Another cool thing is that Google Maps has a subway option! Just put in your destination, hit directions, and hit the train icon at the top (next to the car or walk icons). It will tell you which subway you need to take and where to get on and off! This was super helpful.
We rode the subway to Battery Park because we had purchased tickets for the Statue of Liberty for that day. You can use Google Maps to tell you when to get off, or ask at the info booth at Grand Central.
Battery Park/Wall Street
This is where the ferry will leave from to take you to the Statue of Liberty. We had some extra time to kill, so we took the kids over to see the famous Charging Bull Statue over on Wall Street first.
There’s lots to do at Battery Park as well! We got hot dogs from street vendors for lunch, rode the fish carousel ride, played at the playground, and watched some street performers.
Statue of Liberty Tips
I highly recommend booking your tickets online ahead of time before you go. The sooner the better! These are likely to sell out. We booked pedestal tickets because the crown was sold out for our dates, but also because there are so many stairs that I don’t think my youngest could have made it up to the top. It was hard enough just going up the stairs to the pedestal! Keep in mind there’s only one legit company that sells these tickets (don’t be scammed by the fakes!)
The ferry will also take you to Ellis Island on your way back, but we decided to save time and skip this. Just stay on the boat when they dock here and it will take you back to Battery Park. We didn’t think it would interest our kids enough to go, and that was definitely the right call for our family.
There’s also a crowd calculator (based on last year’s numbers) so you can see how crowded it will be at different ticket times. We opted for the 2 p.m. tickets, because that’s when it appeared to be the least crowded. We also didn’t want to have to wake up super early and rush to get on the boat right away. It was still plenty crowded, so I’m not sure how much this helped or not.
While on the boat, sit all the way on the upper deck on the right side of the boat for the best view of the statue.
Warning for those with extreme seasickness: the boat rocks a lot when you get on and off so be prepared!
Backpacks are not allowed into the pedestal, but regular bags/purses are ok! If you have a backpack of any kind, you have to rent a locker.
Dinner
Since we were so close to the Brooklyn Bridge, we decided to walk around that area and get dinner. We found the best place (and our favorite of the whole trip!): Adrienne’s Pizza Bar. If the weather’s nice you absolutely have to sit outside here. It has the most charming outdoor patio! The food was delicious as well. Highly recommend!
The Brooklyn Bridge
We walked all the way over to the Brooklyn Bridge from dinner. It was quite the trek! You can walk all the way across the bridge over into Brooklyn, but we stopped at the middle because all of our kids were sick of walking by this point. The views are amazing from up there!
Dessert
We had to try the famous frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity, so that’s where we ended our first full day in New York. You can make reservations (which I would recommend you do for a Friday or Saturday), but we went in on a Thursday night and had no problem getting sat. In fact, we actually wound up at the Andy Warhol table! The frozen hot chocolate here is definitely worth the hype (I’m still thinking about it!). We also tried the hot fudge sundae and the banana split and everything was delicious. Highly recommend this spot as well!
Visiting New York With Kids
Itinerary: Day Two
Brunch
We started off Day Two with bagels again. This time, we rode the subway over to the Empire State Building area. We found a bagel shop nearby called Chelsea Bagels & Pizza so everyone could get what they wanted (it was 11 a.m., so we got a mix of breakfast & lunch). It was only a 4 minute walk to the Empire State Building from there.
Empire State Building
We didn’t buy our tickets ahead of time, but were able to get them online from my phone as we approached the building. We got in right as the noon tour was entering- no waiting at all! I don’t think you really need to buy tickets in advance for this unless you want to. There are plenty of opportunities to buy tickets inside as well.
One very important thing to note that some people told us about: if you choose to do the Empire State Building, you won’t have the Empire State Building in any of your photos! If you have to choose only one, Top of The Rock might be better because you can see the Empire State Building from there and it will be in your photos. We will do that one next time.
Bryant Park
We spent some time in Bryant Park. The big bros played chess with a guy from Melbourne Australia! The younger bros rode the carousel together. This was a quintessential New York moment!
Rockefeller Center/FAO Schwartz/Nike/Lego
We walked down to Rockefeller Center after Bryant Park. We had to pay the piano at FAO Schwartz and reenact the scene from the movie Big! My big kids also wanted to check out the big Nike store that was right there. We would have liked to visit the Lego store, but there’s always a line to get in there and we ran out of time!
Times Square
No trip to New York is complete without a stop through Times Square. We really wanted to eat at Joe’s Pizza here, but the line was so long we ran out of time. We ended up grabbing dinner from a hot dog street vendor in Times Square near the Lyric Theater, which was my oldest son’s favorite meal of the trip (chili dog).
Broadway Show
We saw Harry Potter and The Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway. It was incredible! Such an amazing show and performance. Highly recommend! They will not let you in with any food or drinks. Plastic water bottles are ok, but no metal (reusable) water bottles are allowed in. Make sure you eat before the show! They have some snacks for sale inside like popcorn and candy, but nothing substantial.
Visiting New York With Kids
Itinerary: Day Three
Breakfast/Brunch
We booked a reservation at Tavern on the Green for a 9 a.m. brunch on Saturday morning. We had perfect weather this whole trip, and it was just lovely to sit out on the patio at this gorgeous restaurant inside Central Park. They don’t guarantee an outside table when you book, so make sure you get there early to request one if you want to sit outside. I highly recommend this spot (and making a reservation)!
Central Park
We spent some time exploring Central Park and the various playgrounds/open areas to run around/giant boulders to climb. After a little while of this, we got some snacks from a street vendor and walked back towards Tavern on the Green to catch a horse carriage ride. Since the horse carriages line up right out in front of Tavern on the Green, you could just get right on one after brunch, but we wanted to walk around for a bit first. We opted for the 45 minute ride which was a nice little restful break from all the walking. The seats are cushy and comfortable and the driver gave us a little tour, pointing things out like the bridge from the movie Elf where they had the snowball fight.
After our ride, we walked some more through the park and headed towards the famous candy shop, BonBon. This pace was way overpriced and not worth it in my opinion. The candy was hard to chew (maybe stale?) and the flavors weren’t great either.
Levain Bakery
We walked to Levain Bakery to try their famous chocolate chip cookies, but these were underwhelming. Maybe they are too hyped up? Definitely not the best cookie I’ve ever had. We walked back to the park to eat them which was very pleasant. The weather was just so nice!
The American Museum of Natural History
This museum is right by Central Park, and would have been the perfect place to spend the rest of our last day in New York.
Visiting New York With Kids
Where We Ate That I Liked
- Adrienne’s Pizza Bar (our favorite restaurant of the whole trip)
- Serendipity 3 (the frozen hot chocolate is a must-try!)
- Tavern on the Green (right inside Central Park, beautiful patio)
What I Would Not Recommend
- Bon Bon Candy Shop (not worth the hype)
- Levain Bakery (good, but nothing mind blowing)
- Cafe Fiorello (really good Italian food, but not kid-friendly (no kids menus)
Places We Wanted To Go To At But Didn’t Have Time
- Joe’s Pizza or John’s Pizzaria in Times Square
- Bleeker Street Pizza
- Apollo Bagels
- Pop Up Bagel
- Ess-A-Bagel
- Bill’s Bar & Burger
- Ippudo Ramen
- Black Tap
- SlooMoo Slime Institute
- The Highline
- Chelsea Street Market
- Grays Papaya Hot Dogs (this place had a huge line and crowd gathered out front!)
- Dominique Ansel Bakery (famous for inventing the cronut)
Visiting New York With Kids
Learn From Our Mistakes
One thing to keep in mind: sometimes those places you see on Instagram or read about online that have a lot of buzz are just not worth it. For us, this happened twice: BonBon Candy Shop and Levain Bakery. Someone I met recommended the candy store to me (I guess it’s blowing up on Instagram). It looks very cute but the candy was just not worth it for us. Too expensive and very hard to chew! The flavors weren’t very good either. The other famous place we tried was Levain Bakery for their legendary chocolate chip cookie. I’d say this was a pretty good cookie, but definitely not worth going out of your way for.
Another tip is to have a loose plan by saving all the places you hope to get to in a folder in Google Maps. I only booked 3 things before our trip (besides the hotel): the Broadway show tickets, the Statue of Liberty tickets, and a brunch reservation for Tavern on the Green. Then I made a list of all the other places I wanted to potentially check out and added them all to Google Maps in a saved folder called “New York”. That way, no matter where we ended up, I could pull up that list in Google Maps and see what the closest places to us were. This was very helpful!
Double check and make sure the places you want to go are open on those dates. We ran into an issue on the first morning with Ess-A-Bagel being closed because of Rosh Hashana. Make sure you have a couple of backups just in case!
Visiting New York With Kids
Make A Playlist As You Go!
While you’re in New York, pay attention to the songs you hear when you’re out and about. Add them to a new Spotify playlist in the moment if you can. You will have a curated playlist of your time in New York, and you’ll remember those special moments, like when “Back in the High Life Again” came on while you were eating a frozen hot chocolate at the Andy Warhol table at Serendipity!
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