Visiting New York City with kids? America’s biggest city is a marvelous (outdoor) adventure (2024)

NEW YORK CITY, New York – We lived in Manhattan for a year. But we hadn’t been back in a decade and a half.

One, I didn’t miss the city. While I was in grad school, my husband and I hit myriad tourist must-sees, from the Statue of Liberty to the Top of the Rock, the United Nations to the Hudson River bike path. Two, we had kids nearly 14 years ago.

We took our kids to Washington, D.C. in a Double BOB stroller. We took them to downtown Chicago with family a few years later. But to appreciate NYC? We wanted them to be older.

Turns out, 13 and 11 are pretty perfect ages. Our kids walked miles without (too much) complaining. They understood the significance of landmarks and museums, like Alexander Hamilton’s grave and the 9/11 Memorial. They had bucket list items of their own, like Taylor Swift’s former townhome and the Mets at Citi Field. They had a ball.

When I told people our family was headed to New York, plenty asked why. Really, why not?

I can’t stand the haughty idea that NYC is the center of the universe, but the city is a massive cultural touchstone. And it offers just about anything you’d want in a vacation: museums and theater, sports, history, shopping, incredible urban parks.

Wandering through neighborhoods is an adventure in itself.

On one day, my 11-year-old daughter and I walked nearly 40,000 steps through 10 neighborhoods, with plenty of subway stops in between. We marveled at the distinct vibes created by the difference of a few blocks, and the massive amalgam of life stuffed into a small space.

From the cacophony of commercialism in Times Square to the impressive engineering of the Brooklyn Bridge to the serenity of the Staten Island ferry, we soaked in the sights of America’s biggest city, with 8 million residents and 62 million visitors a year.

And those were just the activities we planned. The magic of travel is the unexpected, like the delightful drum line show we ran into on the steps of Madison Square Garden.

I never want to live in New York again, but it sure is a fun place to visit. If you’re considering a trip with kids, a few thoughts:

Chelsea is a good base camp.

If you want a central location, but the chaos of Time Square makes you feel claustrophobic, consider Chelsea. The neighborhood is a quick walk to all Midtown tourist areas, including Herald Square, the Empire State Building, Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center. It also has easy subway access, via the 1 Train, uptown and all the way to Battery Park.

We stayed at the economical, comfortable Hilton Garden Inn on West 28th Street, in the middle of the flower district. My husband quipped that it’s probably the best-smelling block in New York. (Because New York in the summer can alternately smell like garbage or urine.)

Chelsea is lovely in its own right. You’ll find a delicious array of restaurants in Chelsea Market. Nearby is the new Little Island, a park and performing space in the Hudson River, built atop what looks like giant golf tees. You can stroll north from there on the High Line, a converted elevated train line. It’s a delightful contrast, walking through woods and native flowering plants, high above the streets.

As a bonus, if you’re driving from Cleveland, the Lincoln Tunnel makes Chelsea an easy spot to reach.

Embrace the outdoors.

Yes, you can visit all kinds of museums in New York: the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the east side of Central Park, the Museum of Natural History on the west side, the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. We visited only one, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, where you could easily spend a day taking in the consequences of that fateful day.

But when it’s your first trip, and the weather is lovely, it’s perfectly acceptable to treat New York like a natural park and hike all over the place.

While my husband and son camped out at Citi Field to take selfies and get autographs with Mets players, my daughter and I joined the throngs walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and then into Brooklyn Bridge Park, which offers a tiny beach, playgrounds, a roller rink, great views of the Statue of Liberty and even free kayaking in the East River.

Unlike in a national park, we could rest our tired feet on the subway back. My kids love the subway. And now you can swipe your credit card for the $2.90 fee at any kiosk. If you’re looking for a boat ride, the Staten Island ferry is free and runs 24/7.

Other fun free destinations: the Portal, where you can wave at people on the street in Dublin, Ireland, in front of the Flatiron Building, and of course, Central Park, 843 acres of rolling green lawns, paths and gathering places.

Don’t underestimate the thrill of buying souvenirs, or even a soft pretzel, from street vendors. And take advantage of learning opportunities with your kids, whether that’s explaining the origination of Wall Street or the Dutch influence in the former New Amsterdam. (I had to put my master’s thesis to good use.)

Three days is great.

You could stay in New York for a month without running out of things to see and do. But if you’re going for action-packed, you can fit in a lot in three days and two nights.

We took off in our SUV early Saturday, checked in to our hotel at 3 p.m. and spent the rest of the day wandering. By Monday, after we hustled from the ferry terminal to the 9/11 reflecting pools, stopping to see the Fearless Girl statue in front of the U.S. Stock Exchange and Alexander Hamilton’s grave in the Trinity Churchyard, we were ready to leave the city.

But we still had time for the activities at the top of the kids’ lists. Meeting Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo will loom large in my son’s memory, and for my Swiftie daughter, seeing the house that inspired Taylor’s song “Cornelia Street” was a highlight. Both kids loved their giant New York pizza slices.

We didn’t see any shows, mostly because I have season tickets to Playhouse Square’s Broadway Series for the same price as two tickets on actual Broadway. (I pointed smugly to the “Back to the Future” billboard and noted I was seeing it in Cleveland the following week.)

That said, my favorite Broadway actress, Sutton Foster, who I saw star in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” on my first trip to New York in 2003, is playing the lead in “Once Upon a Mattress” this fall. I booked a $64 Frontier flight for a return trip in September.

Cleveland.com content director Laura Johnston writes occasionally about her travels. She writes weekly about life in her 40s in the column, Our Best Life. Subscribe to the newsletter to get the column delivered to your inbox Friday mornings. Or find her on Instagram @ourbestlifecle.