By Lincoln McElwee
Family vacations to New York City may seem daunting at first. The city is a sprawling metropolis of over 8.3 million people who live in an area comprised of about 468 square miles. Yet despite this density, the Big Apple holds an impressive amount of attractions for even the most labor-intensive of travel itineraries!
One way of easing into your New York city vacation is to plan your trip with a specific theme in mind, such as visiting city museums, touring local parks or even finding those off-the-beaten-path eateries to take in the local vibe.
Whatever the ultimate goal of your vacation might be, establishing one or two primary themes for your overall travel itinerary can help to hone in on the city’s special points-of-interest that speak specifically to your family’s own interests. This will ensure that no member of the family will feel left out while exploring what New York City has to offer.
The vacation-by-theme concept can also add one more important item to every family vacation. By remembering to focus on your child’s educational development while on the road, you can ensure that family vacations are fun, cultural and creative!
If a themed vacation centered on a truly unique and educational experience for your children is what you have in mind, try making the Metropolitan Museum of Art – The Met – the focal point for your New York City trip!
Located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, the Met provides an overabundance of activities for kids of all ages. Indeed, both kids and parents can even go online beforehand and print out museum material that is specifically tailored for children. The Family Map, for instance, is a great tool that provides a floor plan of the museum and a fold-out, illustrated color poster of the Met’s collection.
The museum also provides special guides, most of which can be downloaded beforehand, and which help to show children the history of specific collections while providing fun facts. Kids can explore Greek mythology with the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” guide, or learn about medieval weaponry with “Fierce or Fancy,” or even download the “Young in America” guide to discover what it was once like to be a child in America. Whatever your child holds an interest in, there are over 25 special guides that can either be downloaded or picked up at an information desk in the museum itself.
Another great aspect of the museum is its family programs, which are free and on a drop-in basis for participants between 18 months and 12 years of age. The Met’s family programs include Storytime in Nolen Library for ages 18 months to 7 years, which starts with a book and then ends on a self-guided treasure hunt through the galleries, Drop-In Drawing for informal sketching, various programs for families with children who are blind or partially sighted, a family audio guide program, and a plethora of others! For more information, call 212-650-2217 or email familyprograms@metmuseum.org.
In case you would like a tailored tour to navigate the museum, the Met also provides suggested itineraries for families, such as half-day tours and other family-inspired itineraries for age appropriate tours.
As far as lodgings are concerned, New York City’s hotels, including the abundance of family-friendly hotels that it’s also known for, can run the gamut in price ranges, locations and room/hotel specific amenities.
Though the Upper West Side is generally known as a kid-friendly neighborhood, Loews Regency New York in the Upper East Side is a family-friendly hotel worth looking into. The hotel is currently going through a complete overhaul of its property and will not reopen until January 14th, 2014. Reservations do fill up fast, however, so keep this future date in mind as the hotel has been noted on countless travel-themed websites as one of New York’s top kid-friendly hotels.
One website that parents can make use of, and that is greatly informative in providing invaluable material on various kid-friendly activities, excursions and hotels on the Upper West Side, is mommypoppins.com. The site is a veritable one-stop shop for planning kid-themed vacations in the Big Apple.
The Milburn Hotel, for instance, located at 242 West 76th between Broadway and West End Avenue, is one such hotel offering an advantageous amount of amenities for both younger and older children. In addition to the continental breakfast included in the room price and the fact that their suites come with their own kitchenette, the hotel also provides PlayStations, books for children and DVDs for the family. Children under 14 years of age stay free at the hotel, while children 14 years of age and older pay only $10 per night. Also, cribs and rollaway beds are provided free of charge.
Another hotel recommended by the above-mentioned website is the Lucerne, located at 201 West 79th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. This recently renovated hotel which is located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side provides a feeling of old world charm with jazz music playing in the lobby and a doorman who greets you at the hotel doors. Guests can request the deluxe family suite for additional room and privacy. Children under 16 stay free at the hotel and cribs are provided free of charge.
The great thing about many of these hotels that are located on the Upper West Side is that they are in close proximity to other kid-friendly attractions, such as the American Museum of Natural History, located at Central Park West at 79th Street; the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, located at the Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, and a number of peaceful and scenic outdoor spaces, two of them being Riverside and Central Park.
Indeed, because of the neighborhood’s approximation to all of these kid-friendly venues that will fit every itinerary, the Upper West Side is known as the most kid-friendly part of New York City to visit. So be sure to explore the neighborhood extensively and feel free to use it as a safe and exciting base from which to explore the surrounding areas and all of what New York City has to offer!
