Making Memories in NYC

As someone who did not travel much growing up, this was one place I had seen so much in books and T.V., that I really wanted to experience a piece of this city for myself! NYC has so many iconic places and sights to behold, and bonus – I got a cheap flight through a budget airline…which was good because this city is not cheap!

I made this trip with my daughter, who was 8 at the time, and my sister’s family which includes two kids who were 10 and 12 at the time of this trip. We came here in the summer, and we only budgeted a few days because of other travel plans later in the summer. I knew 3 days would not be remotely enough to see everything, but it did allow us to see all of the major things we wanted to see and experience. Next time I come here, I will go beyond all of the mainly touristy things which is what we concentrated on for this trip.

If there are a lot of the touristy things you’re going to do, you could look into different city passes. This link shows a good comparison between them. We did not get these because it didn’t prove to be of value based on where we went.

Getting to NYC:

Our plan was to fly into Newark at 9:05 a.m. and then take an Uber or Lyft to our hotel in NYC, but our flight got cancelled last minute due to weather in the New York area. So much for our cheap flight! Luckily, we were able to get a flight to Washington D.C instead, and then we took a train to Penn Station. This was close enough to just walk to our hotel.

Even though it was stressful, and it had us arriving a lot later, it worked out, and we all thought the train was really comfortable and cool. I’ve since looked into traveling via train, but it is almost always more money and takes longer. I think we got a really good deal because we were booking tickets on the same day, and they were just trying to get rid of them at that point? Definitely not ideal for me because I plan trips way out!

Where We Stayed in NYC:

I certainly did not want to deal with a rental car in NYC, and I wanted to be right in the middle of the action, so we stayed right in Times Square at the Westin. This is one of those times we splurged more on our accommodation to benefit from an amazing location. TripAdvisor ranks the walkability of this hotel as a 100 out of 100, so yeah, the location IS good! Of course, you’ll still need transportation for places further away.

Our Itinerary for NYC:

Here is a map and a quick summary of the main activities we did each day throughout NYC. These could easily be moved around to fit your own needs. There were a few things we had to move from day 1 since we arrived so much later, so I am only putting what we actually did. Below this, I go into detail for each day. I include information for cost, hours, etc., that is correct at the time of writing. I’m not including parking for this itinerary because you are much better off using ride-share, bus, or subway to move around even if you do have a rental car parked at your hotel.

Day 1:

• Arrive
• Empire State Building

Day 2:

• Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 9/11 Memorial
• One World Observatory
• The Edge Building
• Times Square
• Broadway Play

Day 3:

• American Museum of Natural History
• Central Park
• Rockefeller Center
• St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Day 4:

• Hop On Hop Off Bus – many bus stops, but we did the ones below
  • Soho
  • Chinatown/Little Italy
  • Brooklyn Bridge
• Depart

NYC Day 1: Arrival, Empire State Building, Get Settled

Our flight was originally supposed to land at 9:05 a.m., but with the flight being cancelled and us taking a train after a flight to Washington D.C, we got there much later – around 7:30 p.m. I had planned more stuff for our first day in NYC, but we ended up only getting to do Empire State Building and settling into our hotel. Because we walked from Penn Station to our hotel, we did get to see some of Times Square, but we walked around that area more the following night.

Empire State Building

We finally got to the Empire State Building around 9:30 p.m., so it had been a long day for us considering we were at the airport originally around 5:30 a.m. (before it got cancelled). You have to have a timed reservation. FYI, our original reservations were at 12:00, but when I called to see if it could be changed, they said it was fine, and we could show up any time after that. I don’t know if that’s always the case, but I was grateful. There were definitely perks to getting here around this time. It was not very crowded, and seeing the lights of New York City from the top was gorgeous.

We decided to do the basic ticket which included the exhibits and 86th floor observation deck. It excluded the 102nd floor observation deck. You can upgrade your ticket for $35 a person, but we decided not to. I had read a lot of reviews that said the 86th floor was more than sufficient considering the cost to upgrade.

We started by doing the 2nd and 80th floor exhibits. There is far too much to explain it all here, so I linked it for you, but we very much enjoyed the exhibits. They were informative and engaging! Then we did the 86th floor observation deck. Before leaving, we checked out one of the souvenir shops. There are also several restaurants, but we didn’t eat there. When we were done, we walked back 18 minutes to our hotel and went to bed!

Cost:	Exhibits/86th floor: $44, $38 (6-12), $42 (62+), 5 and under are free Exhibits/86th & 102nd floors: $79, $73, $77
Hours:	Usually 9:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m.; last entry at 11:15 p.m.
Address:	20 W 34th St., New York, NY 10001

NYC Day 2: Statue of Liberty, 9/11, One World Observatory, The Edge, Times Square, Broadway

*The map above shows the route we walked once we were finished with Statue of Liberty to One World Observatory.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

This attraction was a must for us! There is only one authorized seller for ferry tickets to visit Statue of Liberty, and that is Statue City Cruises. They offer some different options, but all of them include visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can choose to add access to the pedestal (with museum) and/or crown of the statue for the same price if you book it early enough as those tickets are more limited (especially the crown). An elevator can take you to the pedestal level, but not to the crown which is an additional 162 steps in a tight helix.

When we visited in summer of 2022, there were still many protocols in place for Covid and the crown pedestal was not open, so we could only do the pedestal section. The museum in the pedestal was well done and went over the history, construction, and symbolism of the statue. Large bags had to be put in a locker for a fee.

Ellis Island is a separate spot using the same ferry. The museum there is also well done and contains three separate floors of exhibits. We went through it pretty quickly since we had kids with us, but I’m glad we all got the experience.

The line to get back on the ferry was long, and we were sweating like crazy because there was no shade. Once we got on, it was packed! We sat on the ground on the trip back, but it was only 10 or 15 minutes, and they did sell some refreshments on board.

Cost:	Adults: $25.50 Kids (4-12): $16.50 Seniors (62+): $22.50
Hours:	The earliest you can book is 9:00, and the latest is 3:15.
Location:	Battery Park, New York which has no official address.

9/11 Memorial

Before heading to the Memorial, we ate lunch at Pronto Pizza which was a 2-minute walk from the memorial. It was a little busy, but it was delicious and well worth the wait.

Battery Park is pretty close to a lot of other tourist attractions in New York City, so once we were done with the ferry, we headed to those. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is only about a 13-minute walk from where we departed, but we chose to visit two famous statues on the way: The Charging Bull and The Fearless Girl, Trinity Church, and walked down the first part of Wall Street since it was right there. This made it a 24-minute walk instead to that location.

I planned on just visiting the memorial because I wasn’t sure if my 8-year-old daughter could handle such a somber and terrifying concept of terrorism at that age with vivid pictures and what not at the museum. At the memorial, I explained the essence of what happened to her, but I was careful about how I worded it. I also explained how it was not a place to be loud and run around. The memorial is beautiful, and I hope to go back one day with my daughter to experience the museum.

Cost:	Museum: many categories for prices: adults – $36, youth – $24/$30, senior (65+) – $30; and more options 90-minute Guided Tour of Ground Zero: adults – $39, children (4-12) – $35 Guided Tour and Museum: adults – $84, children – $75 Combo ticket for guided tour, museum, and One World Observatory: adults – $114, children – $104
Hours:	Guided Tour: 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. daily
Address:	180 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10007

One World Observatory

One World Observatory has multiple things to look at and a super-fast elevator, but we mainly went for the 360-degree views on the 102nd floor. It was all inside, but the views were remarkable! It was also nice to see the skyline during the day since the night before at Empire State Building was after sunset.

Cost:	Multiple options; basic is $44 (adults), $38 (6-12; 5 and under are free), $42 (65+)
Hours:	Hours change seasonally; summer was 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Address:	117 West St, New York, NY 10007

Highline, Vessel, and The Edge

We decided to get a rideshare to this part of NYC since we were close and there were a few things we wanted to see – primarily The Edge building. We got dropped off at 30th street to access The Highline. We only walked a little bit of it. Then we checked out the Vessel, which was very interesting looking, but we didn’t climb, but if you wanted to, it’s $10.

Finally, we went to the Edge. You access this through the mall on the 4th floor. There is a really well-done multimedia experience you walk through before you get to the elevator to go up to the 100th floor. Even the kids were very intrigued. It was about how Hudson Yards is a real working prototype of a future city working smarter and greener. After that, we made it to the top. We all made sure to stand on the “glass floor” part of the outside deck and get a picture where the two glass panels meet at the corner though there was a line for that. The Edge also has a “Climb” experience where you harness up and lean over the edge. It’s expensive ($185), and our kids weren’t old enough, but if you’re an adrenaline junkie and have the money, it’s right up your alley.

When we were done, we hit up the candy store in the mall. Then we got a rideshare back to the hotel, so we could relax for a few hours before our Broadway play.

Cost:	The Edge uses dynamic pricing, so check their website. General admission starts at $34 for kids.
Hours:	Hours vary depending on day; usually about 10 to 10
Address:	20 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001

Times Square

The kids and us decided to check out Times Square before our play, so we could get some food and check out the vibe before it was too late outside. We ate at Los Tacos No. 1, and they were the most delicious tacos I’ve ever had. I actually walked to this place again because it was so good on the next day, and I will go again when I find myself in New York City. Times Square itself was very lively, and I’d expect nothing less. My daughter was probably most surprised by a couple of practically naked women walking around just covered in a paint mural. We also did not accept any type of favor from anyone as I had read that sometimes, people will offer you something like taking your picture and then demand a fee.

Broadway Play – The Lion King

This was another must-do for me once I started planning this trip to NYC. I had always heard how phenomenal the plays were on Broadway, and I really wanted to create those memories for our family. I went with The Lion King because I thought the kids would love it as much as us adults. It was expensive, but I thought it was well worth it. My daughter was so excited, she decided to dress up and be fancy. Also, when I bought the tickets, I paid for a Simba stuffed animal as an extra special touch for my daughter, and she loved it. We were also close enough to easily walk to it which was nice.

The one thing I’d change is to make sure we were a little better rested or see an earlier show. With all the travel and getting back late to the hotel the night before, and all of the activities from the day, my daughter and I started falling asleep about 3/4 of the way through. I was so mad because it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, but I just kept dozing off towards the end no matter how hard I fought it. Our show was 8:00 to 10:30, and I should’ve known better!

Cost:	This varies widely depending on show, dates, and seat location.
Hours:	Also varies depending on show and date.
Location:	Also varies depending on show, but primarily in the theater district

NYC Day 3: AMNH, Central Park, FAO Schwarz, Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks’s Cathedral

American Museum of Natural History

This is a place you could spend the whole day at because of the sheer number of exhibits they have. We spent a few hours here in the morning. It was enough to see everything and really take our time in certain sections. The kids very much enjoyed the AMNH and learned a lot of interesting things. The only problem we faced was when my daughter’s flip flop broke! She tried to scoot around with it, but it was too difficult, so she ended up walking barefoot for a while!

You’ll definitely want a map, and they will give you one once you get there. Click here to be taken to their map page where an app and interactive map are also available. They also have different food options including a food court and sit-down restaurant. You have to have separate reservations for the restaurant, but the reviews are good. Now, I don’t know if those reviews are considering it good for museum food or good in general, but I saw a full post about how good the food was, so possibly the latter.

Cost:	$30 (adults), $18 (kids 3 to 12), $24 (seniors 60+)
Hours:	Daily 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas)
Tours:	Free 75-minute guided tour to many iconic halls and display 30 min. after the hour from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Address:	200 Central Prk W, New York, NY 10024

Central Park

*The map above shows the route we walked once we were finished at the museum and then through Central Park.

One of the entrances to Central Park is right across the street from the AMNH, so it was an easy walk over. We even stopped to get some delicious smoothies from a food truck right before entering. The difficult part was figuring out a route to take to see everything of interest…well, we didn’t actually see everything of interest, but we got a lot in before exiting around W 59th St. Here is everything we did in the order we did it in:

1. Enter straight across from the museum
2. Belvedere Castle (7 min. from above)
3. Obelisk (5 min. from above)
4. Alice in Wonderland Statue (8 min. from above)
5. Conservatory Water (1 min. from above)
6. Bethesda Fountain and Terrace (7 min. from above)
7. The Mall and Literary Walk (2 min. from above)
8. Carousel (6 min. from above)
9. Heckscher Playground and Umpire Rock (3 min. from above)

As you can see, it wasn’t that much walking, and everything was broken up pretty well so that it wasn’t just one long walk. The kids loved playing at Belvedere Castle, climbing on and around the Alice in Wonderland Statue, eating hotdogs from the Central Boathouse Cafe near the Conservatory Water, and playing at Heckscher Playground/climbing Umpire Rock the most. The Conservatory Water does have model boats to watch or rent sometimes which I think the kids would’ve enjoyed but they weren’t available when we were there. There are many food options in the park as well.

Cost:	Free; carousel – $4.00
Hours:	6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Location:	59th Street to 110th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West

FAO Schwarz

After a little relaxation at the hotel, we walked to the area around the Rockefeller Center since it was pretty close to our hotel. First, we went to FAO Schwarz, the iconic toy store. My main objective was to see and play on the giant, floor piano famously featured in the movie Big. I loved that movie growing up and vividly remember that scene. The piano is now upstairs, so we went up there first, and luckily, we were the only ones up there, so we had the piano to ourselves. Although, the kids hadn’t seen the move, they thought the piano was awesome. Then we looked around the rest of the store before going to the Rockefeller Center.

Cost:	free to walk in and explore
Hours:	10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Address:	30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111

Rockefeller Center

FAO Schwarz is located in the Rockefeller Center, but there are many other things you can check out here including other shopping, dining, and lots of people watching. Ice skating is also offered here from around mid-October to early April. One of the things on my travel bucket list is to travel to NYC near Christmas and skate here!

For summer, the rink is converted into something different each year. When we visited in the summer of 2022, they had just converted it into a roller-skating rink which was the first time since the 1940s that it was permitted. They also had roller-skating in 2023 during the summer months, but disappointingly to me, it seems to now be a lush area with a lot of tables and what not. I’m sure it’s still a nice spot to soak in NYC, but I am hopeful they bring back the roller-skating again because our kids had a blast there.

Since there is not currently skating in the summer, I will list the cost and hours for ice skating the rest of the year since it is such a wildly popular activity.

Cost:	The cost to ice skate varies greatly depending on the date. When I checked it said $21 – $114.
Hours:	Typically, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Location:	Rockefeller Plaza between 50th and 49th Streets

St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Walking Around

Our next stop was the St. Peter’s Cathedral. It was exquisitely beautiful. We told the kids this was another place they couldn’t run around and be loud. We did not do a tour, but I’ve read they’re good. Also, if you’re here at Christmas, they have a lottery to attend midnight mass on Christmas. The Atlas Sculpture and Lego Store are also right across the street, so we visited both of those locations as well. After that, we went into a few more stores, but mainly window-shopped down 5th Ave, one of the famous areas to shop in NYC and then back to our hotel.

Cost:	Free to visit Self Guided Tour – $19.99 VIP Tour – $99.99
Hours:	6:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m. mass times here
Address:	14 East 51st Street New York, NY 10022

NYC Day 4: Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour, Depart

Thankfully, our flight back was not first thing in the morning, so we had a little more time to still explore around NYC. Originally, I had wanted to do this tour on our first day in the city to get acclimated with everything, but since our flight was so delayed there was no time. We did it here instead. You can choose which stops to get off an explore (you can do all of them or none). There is also an audio guide on the bus with commentary about the city’s sites and landmarks. There is also a useful app (click link above) to help with detailed maps and bus tracking. We chose to do the downtown loop (red) since we had already seen a lot of the uptown loop (blue). This red loop consists of stops at the following locations:

• Times Square
• Empire State Building/Korea Town
• Flatiron District
• Soho
• Chinatown/Little Italy
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Wall Street/Statue of Liberty
• Trinity Church
• World Trade Center
• Chelsea/Pier 57
• Hudson Yards
• Circle Line Sightseeing

We did not get off at every stop as we had already explored some of the areas at least a little bit. Based on time and interest, we chose to get off and further explore Soho, Chinatown/Little Italy, and Brooklyn Bridge. We spent a decent amount of time in each spot and then took the bus all the way back to the beginning so that we could go back to our hotel, get our luggage, and get to the airport.

Cost:	24-hour flexible ticket is $60 (adult) and $50 (3-12) Multiple packages here
Hours:	Times and duration can be found here for both tours.
Beginning location (1st bus stop):	Downtown (red): M&Ms World – 7th Ave & W 48th St Uptown (blue): Hope Sculpture – 7th Ave & W 53rd St

Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown

I really enjoyed walking around this whole area. Because Soho and the Little Italy/Chinatown areas were close together, we walked between these two buses stops instead of waiting for the bus. Here is the route we took with a map below it. You could explore much more of the streets though in this area!

1. Get off at Soho (stop 5)
2. Walk to Dominique Ansel Bakery to get cronut – 5 min.
3. Turn around and walk back down and take a right on Mulberry St. – 10 min.
4. Walk Mulberry Street (Little Italy) to Canal Street – 8 min.
5. Take a left on Canal and then a right on Motts St. – 4 min.
6. Walk down to Pell St. on left and then back up to Mott St. and take a left to continue down Mott St. – 5 min.
7. Turn right on Mosco St. – 2 min.
8. Go to 106 Mosco St. to try fried dumplings – 20 sec.
9. Checkout Columbus Park – 1 min.
10. Walk to 100 Lafayette St. and get back on HOHO Bus (stop 6) – 7 min.

Our main objective in Soho was to go to Dominique Ansel Bakery and get a cronut, but this place is very popular! By the time we got there, their line was very long, and we didn’t have the time or patience to wait, but the reviews are stellar. We didn’t plan on shopping in Soho, so we continued on.

We got smoothies while we were walking around Little Italy. Then we got fried dumplings in Chinatown. The vibe in both places was fantastic. With our fried dumplings in a to-go box, we also spent some time in Columbus Park. The kids got to play while we relaxed and munched on delicious dumplings.

Brooklyn Bridge

The next place we checked out was the area around Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge itself. We walked half-way across the bridge and back. It was a hot day, but if you had a little more time and it was cooler, I think walking or biking all the way across would have been even more memorable. The kids got ice cream at one of the food trucks near the bridge. As we walked the bridge, there were many, many vendors towards the beginning part selling all sorts of things. We didn’t buy anything, but it was neat to see it all. After the bridge, we walked back towards the bus stop allowing us to see a little more from that area.

Once we were done with this area, we stayed on the bus and listened to the audio guide as the bus finished the route we were on. Then, we went to go get our luggage that our hotel was holding for us and headed to the airport to go back home.

We were barely able to scratch the surface with this huge city, but we ticked off a lot of the places and things I wanted to see. If/when we go back, I’d love to venture into some of the suburbs around NYC and do some more stuff in the city that we didn’t get to on this trip.

Additional Fun Activities to Make Memories

We only had a few days in this magnificent city, so there was a lot of activities that looked fun, but we weren’t able to fit in.

Each picture below is linked to their site for more information if you want it. A few places are not right in NYC but are relatively close.

Please leave suggestions for cool activities or places to visit in NYC that I missed so future readers and I can learn from your knowledge and experience!