A family trip to New York City is unforgettable – but keeping children entertained in such a big city can feel daunting. This 5 day kid friendly New York itinerary brings together the city’s most iconic attractions while weaving in movie locations, theatre, parks, and experiences that kids love.
From climbing the Statue of Liberty, spotting dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History, and enjoying afternoon tea at The Plaza (Home Alone 2), to exploring the new Harry Potter New York store, this itinerary is designed to keep kids engaged while parents enjoy New York’s highlights too.
Happy kids = happy trip, and in our case, treating New York like a film location tour worked brilliantly.
✨ This article is also featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in New York.
Contents
- Planning a Family Trip to New York
- Finding Flights to New York
- Why We Took the Children
- How I Kept Their Attention: New York as a Film Location Tour
- Best Time to Visit New York with Kids
- Where We Stayed: Riu Plaza New York Times Square Review
- Eating Out in New York with Kids
- Getting Around New York
- 5 Day Kid Friendly New York Itinerary
- Family Highlights from Our Itinerary
- New Addition: Harry Potter New York Store 🪄
- Is New York with Kids Worth It?
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Planning a Family Trip to New York
Finding Flights to New York
We’d always wanted to visit New York, so for our 40th birthdays we treated ourselves and booked it. We found a great deal in the British Airways January sale for flights and hotel, but I’d also recommend checking Skyscanner for cheap flight and hotel combinations.
👉 See my guide: Tips for Finding Cheaper Flights.
Why We Took the Children
Our original plan was to go without the kids (then aged 8, 11 and 12), but I couldn’t bear to leave them behind on such a big adventure. That meant our trip needed to be less luxurious and much more kid friendly, so I designed our own DIY New York itinerary with attractions that would capture their imaginations.
How I Kept Their Attention: New York as a Film Location Tour
The best way I could think of entertaining the kids in a big city like New York was to think of it as a film location tour.
Lots of their favourite movies and tv shows are set in New York – Home Alone 2, Popper’s Penguins, Elf, Night at the Museum, Enchanted, Ghostbusters etc, etc, so convincing my 8 year old son that this was a cool thing to do was pretty easy and, in my book, happy kids equals happy life.
Best Time to Visit New York with Kids
When you’re planning a trip to New York with kids, timing makes a big difference in how fun (or stressful!) it feels. Here’s a breakdown of the best times to visit New York with children:
| Summer 🌞 | ✔️Free concerts and movie nights ❌ Hot, busy and more expensive. |
| Autumn 🍂 | ✔️ Comfortable weather, thinner crowds and vibrant fall colours. |
| Winter ❄ | ✔️ Magical holiday atmosphere, Rockefeller Christmas tree & ice-skating. |
| Spring 🌸 | ✔️ Mild temperatures, longer daylight and blooming parks. |
We travelled during the Easter holidays in April and were lucky with unseasonably warm sunshine. Central Park in spring was beautiful with blossom everywhere.
Where We Stayed: Riu Plaza New York Times Square Review
We were extremely pleased with our funky hotel The Riu Plaza New York Times Square, located in central Manhattan close to all the sights.
The only thing I found slightly perplexing was that we were on the 27th floor, which was a bit scary for me because I’m afraid of heights; I soon had to get over that because New York is built very high.
👉 SEE AVAILABILTY FOR RIU PLAZA NEW YORK
Eating Out in New York with Kids
We ate out at diners and restaurants and had the odd hotdog from street vendors as well as a picnic in Central Park. Food and drink was fairly expensive but that’s what I would expect from a cosmopolitan city like New York.
🚇 Getting Around New York
Getting around New York is easier than it looks once you know your options:
- Subway – The fastest and cheapest way to travel long distances. Trains run 24/7 and kids often find it an adventure! A MetroCard or contactless bank card works at the turnstiles.
- Buses – Great for short hops above ground (and seeing the city while you ride). They use the same payment as the subway.
- Walking – Many attractions are close together, especially around Midtown and Lower Manhattan. Pack comfy shoes – you’ll walk more than you expect.
- Yellow Cabs – Handy when kids are tired, late at night, or if you’re carrying luggage.
- Ferries – A fun, scenic option. The Staten Island Ferry is even free and gives you brilliant views of the Statue of Liberty.
- Hop-on Hop-off Buses – Touristy but easy with children if you want a simple, no-stress overview of the main sights.
🌟 Tip: Download Google Maps real-time subway directions, and consider a travel eSIM so you always have data on the go.
Apart from taxis to/from JFK, we walked almost everywhere. Expect thousands of steps a day, but walking is the best way to soak up the atmosphere.
Booking Your 5 day Kid Friendly Itinerary
Attractions get booked up fast, so I recommend pre-booking tickets for New York attractions online before you go. It saved us hours of queueing and meant the kids never got too restless.
As this was our first trip to New York and we only had 5 days, we decided to stick to the main tourist attractions because I didn’t see the point of going all that way to see things I’d never heard of when there were so many famous landmarks to see.
🌟 I’ve added all the website we used – but you might find it easier to book all your New York activities in one place on Get Your Guide – there’s usually free cancellation too.
5 Day Kid Friendly New York Itinerary
Day 1 – Lady Liberty & Broadway Magic
- Morning: Statue of Liberty boat trip (X-Men, The Day After Tomorrow)
- Afternoon: Aladdin on Broadway (we chose this over The Lion King – just as magical and half the price)
- Dinner: Benihana Japanese Restaurant – a fun, theatrical dining experience
| Websites We Used to Book: Statue of Liberty: www.circleline.com www.aladdinthemusical.com Benihana Japanese restaurant: www.benihana.com |
Day 2 – Dinosaurs, Penguins & Central Park
- Morning: American Museum of Natural History (Night at the Museum)
- Midday: Guggenheim Museum (Popper’s Penguins)
- Afternoon: Central Park movie locations walk
- Dinner: Tavern on the Green (Ghostbusters)
| Websites We Used: American Museum of Natural History: www.amnh.org www.guggenheim.org www.tavernonthegreen.com |
Day 3 – Enchanted Central Park & Afternoon Tea at The Plaza
Afternoon: Afternoon Tea at The Plaza (Home Alone 2, Big Business)
Morning: Horse & carriage ride through Central Park (Enchanted)
| Websites We Used: Get Your Guide: Horse and Carriage Ride in Central Park The Plaza: www.theplazaany.com |
Day 4 – New York Icons & Baseball Fun
- Morning: Empire State Building (King Kong)
- Afternoon: Yankee Stadium baseball game – a true New York experience
| Websites We Used: The Empire State building: www.esbnyc.com New York Yankees: www.mlb.com |
Day 5 – Skyline Views, Harry Potter & Modern Art
- Morning: Top of the Rock observation deck (Crocodile Dundee)
- Afternoon: Harry Potter New York Store & Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
| Websites We Used: www.rockerfellercenter.com www.moma.com |
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Family Highlights from Our Itinerary
Statue of Liberty with Kids
No trip to New York for first timers would be complete without a trip to see the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty was built between 1875 -1884 and was a friendship gift from France.
Our boat trip to Staten Island was great. The tour guide narrated the route and then we stopped off at the island. There was an option to climb the statue and stop at other islands too. We took loads of photos of New York from the sea, as well as the statue of course.
Broadway Show – Aladdin
After visiting the statue of Liberty, we went back to the hotel to dress up for our theatre trip to Broadway to watch the child friendly musical Aladdin, which was phenomenal.
We chose to watch Aladdin over Lion King because we read that it was a more exciting show and it was half the price of Lion King. We all thought it was fantastic and lived up to its great reviews, except for my husband who fell asleep – a 60 dollar nap!
Benihana Restaurant
In the evening we had reservations for the Japanese restaurant, Benihana. Benihana is a fun interactive dining experience where you and other diners sit around a chef who prepares you a meal in a theatrical way, showcasing their knife skills, tricks and flicks as they create culinary delights.
They put on a great show and the food is good too. The only complaint was the length of time it takes for them to seat you at the table.
American Museum of Natural History
The next morning, we walked to the American Museum of Natural History. The museum is huge and there is a great deal to see. It is fantastic for kids with interactive activities and life size exhibits of all sorts of creatures, including dinosaurs, cavemen and whales. You need at least a couple of hours to get around.
Rexy the dinosaur was one of my son’s favourite sights.
Guggenheim Museum
In the afternoon, we visited the Guggenheim Art Gallery, which was a highlight for me; beautiful artworks and architecture – the building itself is incredible. I have since visited the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain which is equally as impressive.
For the children, it was a chance to see where Popper’s penguins slid on their bellies and destroy a party and also terrify me by standing too close to the edge of the extremely high, spiralling gallery.
Tavern on the Green
For lunch, we had reservations at the iconic Tavern on the Green in Central Park. It was lit up with fairy lights making it look magical and the food was lovely too. Afterwards we made impressions of Rick Moranis sliding down the glass outside like he did in the film Ghostbusters.
Central Park
The next day, before our Afternoon Tea reservation, we had a ride on a horse and carriage around Central Park. The driver was very informative and took us on a kind of film tour, pointing out loads of movie locations and even where John Lennon had lived with his wife Yoko Ono.
We were all really impressed with Central Park, having not expected it be so large and pretty and we spent a lot of time there throughout our stay.
Afternoon Tea at the Plaza
Being a ‘Big Business’ and Home Alone 2 fan, I had always wanted to stay at the Plaza hotel but unfortunately, that was a tad beyond our budget so instead I opted for the ‘very expensive but not quite as expensive as staying there’ option of Afternoon Tea, which was just fabulous!
We were seated in the iconic Palm court at an elegant glass table. The sandwiches and cakes were delightful and the children even had candyfloss with theirs. Although it was expensive, for me it was a fantastic experience and one I’ll always remember.
That night we were really tired so instead of going out we ordered takeout pizza and watched Impractical Jokers in bed.
Empire State Building
The following day we took the tour up the Empire State Building, which was a great experience. The view from up there is rather restricted but all the historical information that you learn on the way up and the interior of the building is worth seeing.
Big Piano
Afterwards we wanted to do a bit of shopping. Not far from the Empire State is Macy’s in which, we discovered by chance, has the piano from ‘Big’ on the ground floor to play on. Unfortunately it has lost its sound but you can still whizz up and down on it for a photo opportunity.
Yankee Stadium
My husband really wanted to attend a sports event while we were in New York so we booked some tickets before we came. We found the cheapest option was to watch a baseball match at the Yankee stadium.
We caught the train there with all the crowds of fans, ate hot dogs and drank beer whilst watching the Yankees game – it felt like a very authentic experience.
The best bit was watching the crowds, especially a little boy who enthusiastically chanted for the Yankees the whole way through the game. When he eventually started to lose his voice, the rest of the crowd behind him took over his chant which was very cute and heart warming.
Afterwards we bought a baseball glove and ball and had a play with it in Central Park.
For our last day we went to the Top of the Rock at the top of the Rockefeller Center, which has the ultimate observation deck to see the New York city skyline.
You also get to have a photo like the famous one of the builders sitting on the scaffolding from when it was erected.
We enjoyed the Empire State building and the Top of the Rock but I would definitely recommend the Rock over the Empire State if I had to pick one because it has a better view, isn’t as scary and you can see the Empire State from there.
Museum of Modern Art
Our last stop was The Museum of Modern Art. Unfortunately, the MoMA was not our favourite place; the Andy Warhol exhibition wasn’t open and there were a few other things that we didn’t like, including the limited seating in the café. We had really enjoyed our Guggenheim experience and the MoMA didn’t measure up to our expectations.
Apart from the MoMA, we all absolutely loved New York; it felt so familiar because we’d seen it so many times on tv over the years that it was like home.
New Addition: Harry Potter New York Store 🪄
We didn’t get to do this but my kids would have loved it!
If your kids are Potterheads, don’t miss the Harry Potter New York store near the Flatiron Building. It’s not just a shop – it’s an immersive experience with themed rooms, exclusive merchandise, and a butterbeer bar.
Your children can pose inside the Ministry of Magic phone box and browse wands, robes, and magical props. A perfect addition to this New York film-location adventure.
Is New York with Kids Worth It?
Absolutely! Many of my friends had visited New York without kids, but for us, seeing it through their eyes made the trip even more special. Turning it into a movie-inspired itinerary kept them engaged, and we still got to enjoy all the iconic landmarks.
Would I do New York again without the kids one day? Maybe – if only to sip cocktails instead of candyfloss at The Plaza. But for families, I can honestly say that New York with kids is fun, exciting, and totally worth it.
I ❤️ New York!
Planning Your Own New York Adventure?
Planning your own New York adventure? I’ve rounded up a few tools to make things easier.
✈️ Flights: For flights, we always check deals on Skyscanner.
🏩 Hotel: Looking for somewhere family friendly to stay? We loved our hotel near Times Square – you can see current deals here⬇️
🍽️ Restaurants: It’s not necessary to book all your meals out, but if there’s something special you would like to do take a look at restaurants on Trip Advisor.
🎉 Activities: If you’d like to skip the queues and have all your bookings in one place – see what’s available on Get Your Guide.
Looking for more Itinerary Planning tips? Find all my Itinerary Advice blogs here and Family Travel Tips here!!
✨ This article is also featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in New York.
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