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Hi guys looking around now for xmas 2013. We want to go to New York to stay for xmas and new year next year. We have two dds and they will be age 4 and 9 by then. So my question is where is the best location in nyc to stay at this time of year? We will get there couple days before xmas and would like to be fairly close to some big toy shops , ice skating, etc some nice xmas bits! But I'm not sure where these bits are!!! Also I hear times square is best to go for new year but I figure we could taxi that. Any advice greatly appreciated

The activities you mention can be done in 2 days. To be planning 9+ days is a long time in a city with small kids.

I think if you are going to stay in Manhattan, then stay somewhere midtown. Don't stay in the suburbs as the commuting is tedious.

You could consider planning just a few days in NYC, and the rest of your time in a winter resort, eg www.smuggs.com.

Fab thank you good points

Personally I would go for a few days before Christmas and then somewhere else for the actual event.

There is a great toy shop in Times Square (think it may be Toys R Us) but the best by far is FAO Schwartz, on 5th Avenue, at the corner of Central Park.

Ice Skating is at Rockefeller Centre and in Central Park.

As for hotels, that totally depends on your budget!

I would also seriously consider staying in Midtown Manhattan or around Times Square as the commuting from the suburbs is indeed tedious.

Also it can be very cold there late December. Snow can fall late December too.

FAO Schwartz is mainly aimed at much younger children (lots of soft toys on sale there); Toys R Us on Times Square would be more suitable particularly for your eldest child.

I would look at suite based hotels like Embassy Suites or some such chain; rooms can be expensive in NYC as well as tiny. I'd also look at tripadvisor.com for recent reviews of hotels in the midtown area.

Excellent thanks guys. Perhaps looking to go on 22 until 26 then considering moving onto Miami or Mexico. Yes FAO Schwartz that's where we would like to go thank you!!! Will have a hunt for hotels today

Definutely move on after Xmas. New years in Times Squares is a nightmare.

We have just come back from spending Christmas in the USA. We were only there a week, which was enough for us to spending with family. We were originally planning a week with family and a week in the sun.

The ideas we had for the sun were a a week in Puerto Rico, or Key West, FL, or a four day cruise from the Miami area. Disneyland would have been fun but you can't guarantee hot. You have to be south of Miami for that. The gulf coast was hit by tornadoes on Christmas day this year, so even places that are pleasantly warm are not guaranteed good weather. We couldn't make up out minds what to do that we ended up doing nothing .

It's nice to have snow at Christmas (we had 8" on Boxing Day and the kids had a blast).

I have a big problem with city holidays with kids. The "must dos" in a place like NYC can be done over a couple of days - Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park etc., followed by a museum and a look around some iconic areas. After that, my kids will say that all we ever do is walk the streets, going into shops and never buying anything. I think you need to pencil a rough itinerary of each day and think about what you will do when doing nothing (hang out in the hotel?). How will your 4 year old react to doing things over their head, or lots of walking, with jet lag?

The other thing to note about NYC is that it is a money-haemorrage. You can check out the prices of activities online, but you can easily spend $200 a day before food.

As a regular visitor to ny visiting family I agree you only need a couple of days to see everything with young children. My son who lives in New York would never consider going anywhere near Times Square on New Year's Eve. Go for accommodation near Penn Station so you are central for transport

Thank you so much. Merryscot great ideas fab post thank you so much

We've just come back from NYC, where we went for the New Year. However our dc's are 19 & 15 plus we had a 18 yr old friend with us. We went specifically to spend NYE in Times Square but I wouldn't do it with anyone younger, it was 8 hours of standing in the cold! A good evening but looong! We stayed midtown near Grand Central Station & have been a few times previously so know what we would like to see & do, for the DC & friend it was mainly shopping! Very busy before New Year & quieter from 1st onwards on the streets.