I’ve always thought of New York as an expensive place, and it is – to live. But if you’re only visiting, there are a ton of cheap, fun things to do in New York with your family. New York is a safe, vibrant and energetic city with great public transport. If it’s not on your travel bucket list, put it on right now! Here are 10 cheap or free activities in NYC to get you started. And find out how to get a free book about New York for your kids to read on the flight!

1. American Museum of Natural History – free

Go into the foyer, past the crowds paying at the booths and straight to the ticket desk. The American Museum of Natural History has an inclusive policy of allowing guests to pay what they can. The suggested ticket price is $23 for adults and $13 for children but this inspiring place is open to all.

2. Bronx Zoo – free

You won’t believe you’re in the city at the Bronx Zoo. You could spend the whole day here, watching the animals, wandering the expansive grounds and even riding a camel. If you plan your trip for a Wednesday, you can pay what you like, although the suggested price is $28.95 for adults and $20.95 for children. Get there by subway and bring your own picnic for a cheap day out in New York City!

3. High Line – free 

The High Line is a 1.45-mile long elevated park, built on a disused freight rail line. This walk  gives you great views of the city while enjoying art installations and gardens – all for free! There are elevators, so it is stroller-friendly too. Begin at Gansevoort St and Washington St on the West side of Manhattan and continue up to 34 St. There are several points along the way to get down if you don’t want to do the whole line.

4. Staten Island Ferry – Free

The Staten Island Ferry takes 22 million passengers a year between Whitehall St in lower Manhattan and Staten Island. Keep your camera out because the 25-minute ride offers fantastic views of New York, its harbor and the Statue of Liberty. No ticket is required for this trip!

5. Staten Island Children’s Museum – $8, Free on Wednesday 3pm-5pm

Staten Island has a children’s museum where kids can have fun exploring the interactive, hands-on exhibits. The museum caters to a good range of ages, from babies and toddlers who would enjoy the soft block room, to older kids who will get a kick out of life-size chess games and the bugs exhibition. Perfect for a rainy day or for a break from sightseeing. Find Staten Island Children’s Museum at Snug Harbor by hopping on the S40 bus from the ferry terminal for 10 minutes.

6. Brooklyn Bridge walk – Free

It’s free to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge on the footpath. Enjoy the million dollar views without spending a penny by walking this beautiful bridge! You can take a stroller if your child isn’t up to the 1.3-mile span. Once you get over to Brooklyn, check out the cobbled streets and glimpses of Manhattan’s famous skyline. Go anytime, but try to time the return stretch for sunset to see the city lit up at night – it’s truly magical.

On the Manhattan side, the pedestrian bridge entrance is just across from the Chambers Street subway stop. On the Brooklyn side, the entrance is at Tillary Street and Adams Street.

7. Jane’s Carousel – Cheap at $2

For just $2, ride the Jane’s Carousel just across the Brooklyn Bridge. Open Thursday to Sunday in the winter and every day except Tuesdays in the summer, this historic 1920s carousel is cheap New York fun for all ages. There is a great playground nearby too, as well as a beach giving you a beautiful view of the city, perfect for a family snap.

8. Grand Central Station – Free

To me, exploring New York always feels like wandering around one giant movie set, and Grand Central Station is one of the best locations to enjoy the thrill! Make sure you look up at the ceiling, which is a giant mural of the zodiac painted in gold leaf. See if your kids can spot the dark brick next to Cancer, the crab. This is a small area deliberately left dirty after the restoration project in the 1990s to show how the ceiling used to look. You might think the dark was caused by smoke from the trains but nope, it was cigarettes. Yuck! 

Check out the Whispering Gallery next to the Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant – get your kids to stand on one side of the arch while you whisper to them on the other – see if they can hear you.

There are also lots of restaurants and shops here, including an Apple store, which may have fun demonstrations going on. 

There is even an annex of the New York Transit Museum here, which showcases some of the exhibits of the downtown Brooklyn museum. Admission is free!

9. Domino Park – Free

Williamsburg in Brooklyn is home to super-cool bars, restaurants, shops and possibly the world’s best playground at Domino Park. Inspired by the sugar refinery that used to occupy the site, children crawl, swing and slide their way through this art installation/playground, mimicking the sugar refining process. 

10. Central Park – Free

No visit to New York is complete without a stroll through Central Park. Let the kids burn off some energy at one of the playgrounds and enjoy the views of the city. Check out the rock formations, which offer a glimpse at the bedrock that Manhattan is built on. Also, see if you can find Belvedere Castle, a folly built out of the excavated rock during park construction. It’s a visitor center now, so you will be able to find out more about the park’s history here. 

For families with children aged five and older (or if you can carry younger kids), go for a free guided discovery walk with Central Park Conservancy.

Getting around NYC with kids

Check out our post A Day In New York City With Kids for more ideas on where to go in New York, how to get around and kid-friendly places to eat. I highly recommend a lightweight stroller like this Kolcraft Cloud or a baby carrier like the popular K’Tan. Public transport is great and taking the subway is part of the fun. If you want to take a taxi, consider Uber as there is an option to request a forward-facing car seat (only for 12 months or older) for an extra $10 in New York.

Get your kids inspired ahead of your trip with this colorful Lonely Planet pop up book for New York

Or New York City Trails for slightly older kids.

This book is actually free with Prime reading, another Amazon Prime membership perk. If you don’t have Amazon Prime yet, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial here and read New York City Trails for free on any device!

Finally, New York is so much more than Manhattan. If you have time, take a New York road trip and see more of the Empire State.

Where to stay

I like to use Airbnb when traveling with children, as I like having a separate living/bedroom area and a kitchen. However, I have always stayed with family in Manhattan so I don’t have any specific places to recommend!

Kid & Coe is a good option – an Airbnb for families, it provides listings for places that are kid-friendly and pre-checked by the team. If you don’t want to trawl through Airbnb looking for child-proofed homes, this is the way to go.

More of a hotel fan? I get it, you don’t want to do any cooking on vacation! There are some great-value, family-friendly hotels in New York.

The Four Seasons ($$$) in Midtown East is a five-star hotel providing luxurious accommodation to kids as well as adults. Board games, child proofing and cribs are available free of charge. Children receive a welcome pack including kids toiletries and bath robes! There is also a babysitting service available so you can enjoy New York’s famous night life too.

TRYP by Wyndham ($$) is centrally located near Penn Station and has family rooms that can accommodate up to eight people, perfect for larger families who want to stay in a room together.

POD Times Square ($) is a modern, chic budget hotel, ideal for families. If you just need somewhere quiet to sleep, these rooms with full window shutters and soundproofing offer a quiet sanctuary after a busy day.

The post 10 Things To Do In New York City With Kids For Under $10 appeared first on Tiny Trailblazers.

What can I say about New York? A place everyone should visit at least once, but are there enough things to do with kids? Sure! And while accommodation may be pricey, the great thing about visiting a city like New York is many of the best things to do are free.

But be warned, no matter where you go, when you ask them what their favorite thing was they will say the subway.

If your child has a fear of flying but you still want – or need – to travel with them, what steps can you take to help them? 

Morning

Bagels seem an obvious choice but I won’t blame you if you want to start the day with cheesecake. The Soho and East Village neighborhoods are good places to track down a coffee and pastry of your choice, then take it to Washington Square Park to enjoy the street entertainment and people watching. Eileen’s Special Cheesecake (17 Cleveland Place) is an excellent way to start the day before heading to one of New York’s famous museums.

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

From Washington Square Park, walk to the W 4 St-Washington Sq subway station and take the A train uptown toward Inwood, to 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal. It’s then about a 20 minute walk to Pier 86, where you will find the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, an aircraft carrier turned air and space museum. Even if you are not into military history, it’s hard not to be inspired by the aircraft, space shuttle and the aircraft carrier itself. There’s enough to see and do for everyone, from toddlers to adults. The museum cafe is pretty cool, located in the depths of the aircraft carrier. The Intrepid is open 10am-5pm daily in the winter, 10am-6pm on summer weekends and tickets cost $33 for adults 13-64, $24 for children 5-12 and free for children under 5. Entrance is free for US military and veterans.

American Museum of Natural History

From Washington Square Park, walk to the W 4 St Washington Square subway station and take the B train uptown toward 145 St, to 81 St-Museum of Natural History, to the Museum of Natural History. It’s a traditional museum but one of the best, with an incredible display of dinosaurs to appeal to all ages. Skip the museum cafe and head to the Shake Shack on the corner of W 77th St and Columbus Ave, then eat in Central Park. Open daily 10am-5.45pm, general admission tickets are $23 for adults and $13 for children aged 2-12, but if you go to the ticket kiosks you can pay what you like as a donation. Special exhibitions cost extra.

Bronx Zoo

From Washington Square Park, walk to 14 St and follow signs for Uptown and the Bronx Express, taking the 2 toward Wakefield. It’s a 45 minute ride to Pelham Parkway, then a 10 minute walk to the Bronx Zoo. If it’s a sunny day, a trip to the Bronx Zoo (2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, 10am-4.30pm) is a fun family day out. It’s a beautiful green space and a break from the bustle of the city, with a  children’s petting area and a butterfly exhibit, plus the more exotic animals. Total experience tickets are available online, costing adults 13 and over $28.95, children 3-12 $20.95 and 2 and under are free. General admission tickets are available at the door and if you go on a Wednesday, you can pay what you want as a donation. You can get lunch at one of the cafes in the zoo but I would recommend packing yourself a picnic before heading out there.

Afternoon

The zoo is probably an all-day trip but if you went to one of the Manhattan museums, you probably have time for something else in the afternoon. Central Park is just as beautiful as you imagined and there are plenty of playgrounds for children, so this is a good place to head for the remainder of your day.

If you are feeling energetic (and have a stroller for little ones), take the 4, 5, or 6 trains to the Brooklyn Bridge and find the pedestrian walkway across the bridge. Once on the other side, look out for Jane’s Carousel at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a restored 1922 carousel, open Thursday-Sunday 11am-6pm in the winter and daily except Tuesdays 11am-7pm in the summer. Tickets are $2 with children 3 and under riding free with a paying adult.

A shorter but also great city walk is the High Line, a 1.45-mile long former railroad, which runs above Manhattan’s west side. The park is full of flowers, art and opportunities to admire New York’s street life from a lofty vantage point. You can start at by the Hudson at W 34 St and walk through the Chelsea neighborhood to end at Gansevoort St.

If you would prefer a rest from walking, consider taking the ferry to Staten Island – you still get the great views of the city and it’s one of the best free things to do with kids in New York. Once there, check out the Staten Island Children’s Museum at 1000 Richmond Terrace, open daily 10am-5pm except Mondays, tickets $8, under 1’s free, or visit the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden.

Wherever you go, try and end your day at Times Square. It is much prettier after dark and kids love the M&M’s World store.

Getting around

Public transport in NYC consists of the subway, trains, buses and ferries. The subway is fairly easy to get the hang of, once you have worked out whether you are going uptown, downtown or across the city. Train routes are all letters and the stations all have maps. You can get a Metro card day pass or multi-day pass from one of the kiosks underground.

Metro cards can also be used on the buses, which you may find more convenient if you want to go crosstown (east to west, west to east) rather than uptown or downtown (north to south). Getting a bus might be slower but it’s a good option as you will see more of the city and they are easier to access with small children as there are no stairs.

For toddlers, a light-weight stroller is essential. Many of the subway stations have elevators but some do not or are out of order, so bring something that can easily be folded up and carried down the stairs. For babies, an ergonomic carrier like an Infantino or a Boba is a good option. We have used this Kolcraft Cloud Plus Lightweight Stroller for years and despite clocking up many miles is still going strong. It is very study, folds easily and has a recliner, making your toddler more comfortable if they fall asleep.

Taxis and Ubers

If your child is over 12 months, you can book a car seat with Uber X in New York City, just check the “car seat” box when you book your car. There is a $10 surcharge.

Taxis are exempt from state car seat and seatbelt laws, so you don’t actually need a car seat to hail a cab. However, it’s a safety risk. Taxi drivers are required to wait while you install a seat so you can bring your own – if you are traveling with a baby, you could bring the car seat as part of a convertible stroller, like the Graco Snugride seat plus the stroller frame. Check out my essential travel gear for babies post for more suggestions.

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