New York City

After a gruelling 2 weeks in Orlando, it seemed like a good idea on paper to add a stop off in New York for 4 days in the height of summer. Well in for a penny, in for a pound they say! Travelling with kids in cities can be fun as long as you find things they want to engage in too, here are some of the things we found that were fun to do

Central park, the green lung of the city and welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Our top tips were,

Clambering up the Alice in Wonderland bronze sculpture. José de Creeft designed it so that children could immerse in the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s classic story.

As we love a story, we stopped by the Hans Christian Andersen statue

Ate ice cream at the The Bethesda Fountain

Learned how to play the fiddle by one of the characters to be found performing around the park

Visited Strawberry Fields that pays tribute to John Lennon, and saw the imagine mosaic

Hired a boat from The iconic Loeb Boathouse

Jogged through central park

Times Square by night

Times square and Broadway is a force to be reckoned with, purely for the number of people and crowds to fight through. Good for people watching though and near Broadway if you fancy a show.

Financial district

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum, humbling and heartbreaking

The Oculus transportation hub is not only a magnificent structure from the outside but equally beautiful from the inside

Wall street and the Charging Bull Statue. Fancy some good luck? Rub the Bronze Balls on the statue if you can get near them!

Federal Hall is now a museum from the 1789 inauguration of George Washington.

Tiffany & Co, well every woman deserves a browse

Everyone assuming position for a massive trump in front of Trump building…Priceless!

Staten Island Ferry and The Statue of Liberty

Love a free activity and the Staten Island ferry is a must. 30 minutes roughly and a great view of the The Statue of Liberty. We didn’t visit the Statue of Liberty as the daughter was more keen to emulate her

Flat Iron District

A wander through the city admiring the views and notably the Flatiron Building and Empire State building.

The Morphous sculpture in Union Square by South African artist Lionel Smit of conjoined heads was cool

Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Centre

No visit to NYC would be complete without a journey 70 floors up to observe the city from sunset to all twinkling lights. Top of the Rock, You can then have a dancing in the disco lights waiting for the lift, or try your best sprinting in the vast corridors

Brooklyn Bridge

Today heading for Brooklyn via a walk across Brooklyn bridge. State of Emergency at the court house as fire breaks out and rows of orange chained inmates are escorted across the street

Brooklyn & Williamsburg

We love to head off grid a bit away from the tourist throngs and this was the highlight of my trip.

A really vibrant area, with a hipster vibe if thats what you’re into. Lots of street art and curiosities to look at, which is why I am here, along with some great food haunts.

Thank god for the Wythe hotel. Trying to a find a rooftop bar suitable for kids, no mean feat! Delighted to have found one with nice alternative views of the Manhattan skyline and great nibbles (cocktails)

The boys found the Brooklyn brewery so they were sorted as well as the whisky Annexe

I love a record store, so Rough Trade was right up my street. Followed by a stroll in East River State park and Hurricane point for some pictures looking back over at Manhattan

Dinner was at Fette Sau A great BBQ place specialising in heritage pork breeds and craft beer. It was a thumbs up from us!

Dessert was from Odd Fellows unconventional to say the least but delicious!

East River ferry

The East ferry from Williamsburg gave an alternative route home ending up in 34th street.

Chelsea Market and The Highline

Chelsea market today for a browse and some quick eats, curry wurst was the name of the game. Next stop a walk in the sunshine along the Highline. The High Line is a public park which was a rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan, built in 2009 it’s a fabulous public space featuring nature, art, and design and takes about 30 minutes to wander along.