Summer Family Vacations: New York City
Our summer vacation trip started on the first day school was out with a pre-dawn flight from Savannah to NYC. We hit the Manhattan sidewalks by 9AM that first day and the rest flew by in dreamy 15,000+ steps-per-day blur. Our stay went too quickly.
Here are a few NYC spots, activities & programs we loved that you might savor, too, with your kids when visiting.
* Citi-Bike: if your kids are old enough to bike with New Yorkers who bike like they drive, download the Citi-Bike NYC app and ride as much as you can. We rode Citi-Bikes in: Central Park twice; from Boerum Hill in Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge to Union Square Park; from Little Island & the High Line north along Hudson River Park then walked the bikes along W. 72nd Street to the infamous The Dakota apartments and the Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park – eventually docking our bikes near Central Park South.
* Book a walking tour of Central Park with Central Park Conservancy. The guides know everything you want to know about this public-use landscaping masterpiece.
* See the Delacorte Clock’s musical animals announce the time every half hour between 8AM & 6PM between the Central Park Zoo & Tisch Children’s Zoo (near 64th Street). Think penguin on snare drum, hippo playing violin. (Free)
* While near Central Park, embrace your inner John Cusack and celebrate with a Frozen Hot Chocolate @ Serendipity 3 on East 60th Street. Reservations help.
* Got a Swiftie with you on your trip? While making the Taylor Swift pilgrimage to Cornelia Street in the West Village, please eat @ Tacombi on Bleecker Street. (We also loved eating outdoors @ the Tacombi Upper East Side location.) You are welcome! If you are in NYC during Summer 2023, see Taylor Swift’s costumes @ Museum of Arts and Design off Columbus Circle. “Taylor Swift: Storyteller” is on display at MAD through Sept. 4.
* Van Leeuwen Ice Cream – any of the many locations but we loved the sweet one in Boerum Hill on Bergen Street in Brooklyn. If in that area for lunch or dinner, check out Taqueria Al Pastor
* Bring a meal to one of the many free tables in Madison Square Park then watch dogs play on a dog park with hills @ the square’s Jemmy’s Dog Run.
* Luminescent evening views from balcony of the Whitney Museum of American Art during Pay-What-You-Wish Friday Night @ the Whitney.
* Visit Little Island & the High Line (Free)
* Breakfast in the garden @ Soho Diner. Reservations help.
* Late night, post-Broadway show cookies @ the Milk Bar.
* Free view of NYC @ the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library Terrace
* Free, upclose look at colorful works by artist Yayoi Kusama @ David Zwirner Gallery on West 19th Street. On exhibit until July 21 2023.
* Walk Mulberry Street in Little Italy with cannolis or gelato from Ferrara Bakery.
* See what two miles of books looks like & do penance for all your chain bookstore indulgences by visiting the independent bookstore The Strand’s main location on Broadway @ 12th Street.
* Climb scary, spiral staircase up to The Crown @ the Statue of Liberty. Reservations required. Learn more here. Or at least visit the pedestal @ the Statue of Liberty.
* Find the hidden tennis court in Grand Central Terminal. (Free)
* Discounted tickets for Broadway shows from TKTS and Today Tix.
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Things on our to-do list that we didn’t have time for or weren’t happening yet, but on our wish list for next time:
* Governors Island ferry (free on Saturdays & Sundays before noon) to Governors Island which includes free walking tours by the National Park Service; a hammock grove through Sept. 3; climbing boulder; adventure playground; lavender field & more. (Free)
* Amateur Night @ Apollo Theater.
* Manhattanhenge – when the sun settles perfectly along the city’s west-east corridors – on only four days from May-July 2023. See the dates & more here. (Free)
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Find more family vacation ideas here.