Help me plan a New York trip

[rootsandwings89]

I want to take DH to New York next year for a big birthday. I have no idea when is a good/bad time to go or what area to look for hotels etc. Things we’d like to do when out there are:

statue of liberty
central park
broadway show
empire state building
ground zero

We also have 2 x small children, unsure whether to go during school holidays when they are off or to ask grandparents to stay with them and do the school run?

Help!!
T

The great thing about New York is how walkable it is compared to many other US cities. Great for adults, not so much fun for young children. It can be exciting for younger family members, and there are fun child-centred things to do, but looking at your list of things to do I suspect you will enjoy it more as a couple.

Accommodation is generally very expensive in Manhattan, but it's worth paying to stay near the areas you want to explore or you will spend a lot of time on the subway from Queens etc.

New York is great year round, but would avoid the dead of winter and the height of summer. Autumn and spring are fantastic.

It's an amazing city, hope you have a great time!

We went recently. Honestly, I would leave the kids at home it’s a very busy place and they are very young. I think you would get much more out of it going as two adults.

we saw Chicago which I would very much recommend, and did the Wall Street Bull, Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO and pebble beach to add to your list. Also the Met and Natural History Museum were great. Times Square in the evening is an experience!

I’ve attached screenshots of the chat GPT itinerary I used last September. We didn’t stick rigidly to it, but it made us optimise our time and we didn’t miss anything on our “must” list.
Id honestly leave the kids at home if I were you

Look at booking a Big City Greeter. They are volunteers who will give you a free tour (walking and public transport) based around the interests you put on the booking form. Our tour was one of the highlights of our trip there.

Look at the New York City Pass for ideas and an all inclusive price

We took ours at 16 & 13 but wouldn’t take small kids tbh

We took ours for 24hrs aged 3&5 and for 48hrs aged 6&8. So it is doable. ( we were on holiday in Long Island for a week each time then tacked NYC onto the end before flying home).

At 6&8 they adored the natural history museum and Broadway etc and Times Square.

I can recommend the Hotel Kixby as I've stayed there about 5 times as its current iteration and before when it was a very dated Hotel Metro. It's the perfect location.

I've loved visiting in late October and early November the most but I've also been in December (cold, snow, festive, busy) and February (cold, fewer tourists, quiet).

The end of October is usually super warm, and so autumnal with leaves and lovely craft beers etc there's a beer company that sells pumpkin beer .(not for the kids obv!) 🍺🍁

I wouldn’t take small kids.
we went in February half term and had a fab time. It’s a cheap time to go, and once there it wasn’t busy (for New York standards) so no queuing for attractions and could book the ones we wanted. Also there were deals on in restaurants etc.

it was cold but we knew that and wrapped up. It was beautiful as there was still lots of snow in Central Park.

once you know your dates and where you’re staying put it into chat gpt with the things you want to see and they will give you a logical itinerary.

I always go in May. I wouldn’t take small children to be honest.