8 engaging ways to experience NYC with kids

Robin McKelvie

Robin McKelvie

"New York with a teenager, are you joking?" exclaimed my dad-of-two neighbour when I told him I was taking my 15-year-old daughter. After five glorious days back in the Big Apple I'd turn that on its head and state boldly that NYC is one of the world's great cities for families looking for something different.

Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, New York
Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, New York © Sergii Figurnyi - Adobe Stock Image

Stick with me as I reveal a retro theme park big and little kids alike love, the superb beaches within touching distance and edgy walking tours that let teenagers taste more authentic sides of the city. After reading about these fabulous family-friendly New York* experiences, you'll be booking a trip Stateside with your kids too.

Getting to New York: Find great value city breaks for all the family to NYC with TUI*.

Family hotels that are fun for everyone

Let's face it, some New York hotels are cramped and characterless. But it needn't be that way. The Moxy NYC Times Square* brings that searing energy, pounding music and those bright lights inside.

Swirl in table football, or 'foosball' in these parts, and a hotel restaurant in Legasea worth staying in for and it's an ideal Midtown base.

Ditch the Empire State Building for the Edge

I'll be honest, the Empire State Building may be a joy for adults, but the interminable (to a kid) museum exhibits and the often long queues are compounded when you finally get to the observation deck and find a wall blocking the view with metal caging above it.

Far better is the Edge. You zip up to the city's highest outdoor viewing deck with minimum fuss, and it's a stunner. The safe outdoor space is protected by tall glass walls so you can snap ace photos without worrying about your wee ones climbing up for a peek.

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere
Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere - photo courtesy of Related-Oxford

You'll find cocktails too for stressed-out parents looking to relax. Teenagers accompanied by an adult can also hike up the stairs and hang suspended above Manhattan with a harness on with the City Climb option.

No boastful friend will be able to outdo that with their holiday snaps and stories. Even if they don't go for the City Climb, kids tend to be braver than parents, stepping onto the glass floor area that peers right down vertiginously to street level.

Taste via TikTok

Fair play to any parent who tries to resist a medium that so many kids now use as their main 'news' and information source. Why not actually embrace it in a safe way for a brilliant TikTok-led foodie day?

I let my teen lead me around between the hot spots and they were a surprising joy. Yes, I was fleeced for surely Manhattan's most expensive cheesecake, but she took me to the only slice pizza joint in Little Italy and a tiny Cantonese hole-in-the-wall where we snared 13 delicious fried dumplings for US$5.

I hadn't realised how much I needed cronuts in my life, but this vital sensation, a cross between a doughnut and a croissant, was ace straight from the original Dominique Ansel bakery.

New York is a hip, reactive city where places become passé as quickly as they become hip and TikTok helps tingle the whole family's tastebuds.

Take a walk on the wild side

If the crowds and searing neon of Midtown get too much, break away to savour a slice of the edgier side. Experience First has been running Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy tours for years, and it shows.

The expert tour leaders spice up the rougher fringes of these districts with tales of Mafia hits in the restaurants we walk by and also delve deep into how the buildings that vault all around came into being, going back as far as the Native American population who first named their, then very hilly, peninsula, Manna-hatta.

Great tours for all ages and the guides are also superb at providing bespoke eating, shopping or family attraction tips they can email you at the end of the tour. Highly recommended.

Tackle the Tenement Museum

Ok, this one sounds a little dull for kids but, I assure you, this award-winning museum is a family must-do. Real thought and effort have gone into preserving this 19th-century tenement house and the fascinating stories of the immigrant families who called it home.

The award-winning Tenement Museum, New York City
The award-winning Tenement Museum, New York City © Jay Manday - Wikimedia CC CC BY-SA 4.0

The guides keep things at a good pace with photos to pass around and regular opportunities to ask questions. They also offer guided walking tours of the surrounding area, which open up more remarkable tenements and their stories. Handily, there is an excellent shop here too if you need to engage in a little motivation or plain bribery.

Head for the beach

Yes, seriously, when the mercury and humidity get up in New York even New Yorkers start to melt; but did you even know there are good beaches nearby?

New York boasts over 20 km of beachfront, with many stretches of sand accessible by bus or ferry from Manhattan; it's just over a half-hour subway ride to Orchard Beach in the Bronx.

Summer day on Rockaway Beach, New York
Summer day on Rockaway Beach, New York © Ryan Struck - NYC Tourism + Conventions

Coney Island and Staten Island also have beaches, where many little New Yorkers learn the beach ropes. Rockaway Beach is often top of lists of the best New York beaches, but Jones Beach is up there too and is normally great for kids.

Kids can go mad on six miles of sand, backed by a swimming pool and mini golf. Times Square feels a very long way away from here indeed.

Go retro in Coney Island

Brooklyn is not just the achingly hip spawning ground for a seemingly never-ending array of alternative rock bands. This sprawling district is one of America*'s largest urban areas and its southern fringes are home to Coney Island.

This oasis is ideal for families looking for fun without the Disney slickness or inflated price point; more amusement rides than theme park. Luna Park is a nostalgic joy. It does have roller coasters, but vintage carousels are more in keeping.

Along the Boardwalk at Coney Island
Along the Boardwalk at Coney Island © Brittany Petronella - NYC Tourism + Conventions

Here you also have Brighton and Manhattan beaches, plus a boardwalk that New Yorkers have been strolling for over a century.

The whole family will love it here; just try not to sing the Taylor Swift song. Cooler parents will be humming Death Cab for Cutie.

Don't completely skip the classics

There's a reason New York's big-hitting attractions are such a delight, so don't miss them out. Instead, beat ticket queues and cut costs by snaring a City Pass.

You can pre-book and shoogle your slots around online at the likes of the Empire State Building, a Statue of Liberty Cruise, the 9/11 Memorial and the Guggenheim Museum.

Then there's Broadway; seeing a show is as much of an integral part of a New York visit as spying Lady Liberty herself. The Broadway Collection can cut costs on shows and it's all online in advance so you arrive with everything already sorted.

Climate in New York City

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Robin McKelvie

Robin McKelvie

Robin McKelvie is a Scottish travel writer, author and broadcaster. He has visited over 100 countries and regularly writes about Scotland and the Canary Islands. As well as frequently contributing to Weather2Travel.com, Robin writes for publications including The Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and Wanderlust, and has authored more than 30 guidebooks.

Posted on Tuesday 24th September 2024 in: City Family North America

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