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My four-year-old daughter and I found ourselves living it up in New York recently when we joined my husband on a business trip. We had a great time eating out, exploring the city on open-top bus tours, and doing museums and Broadway shows, but some of the best things we did really were free (or at least nearly free). Here are my top ten things to do with kids for next to nothing in NYC…
1. Lay out a blanket in Central Park (picnic optional) and soak up the atmosphere. The huge expanse of grass at the Great Lawn is a favourite spot and great for games too.
2. Visit Belvedere Castle in the middle of Central Park at 79th Street. It is the highest point of the park with great views, a visitor centre, walking tours and free educational programs.
3. Attend Saturday morning story time for children of all ages in Central Park at the Hans Christian Anderson Memorial (mid-park from East 73rd entrance. Check for times at www.centralparknyc.org).
4. Visit one of the spectacular toy shops: Toys-R-Us in Times Square or FAO Schwartz (the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South) which has a giant electronic keyboard built into the floor upstairs that children can play with their feet. You can easily spend an hour or more exploring and trying out the display toys without buying a thing.
5. Take the Staten Island ferry. Day or night this is one of the best free (or paid for) boat rides in the world. It takes about half an hour each way. You can get straight off and back on again or spend time on the dockside at Staten Island looking at the distant Manhattan skyline. The ride gives spectacular views of the downtown skyline and the Statue of Liberty, all lit-up to magical effect at night.
6. If it’s a quiet stroll you’re after and you find yourself in Brooklyn, take a walk along the Brooklyn Seafront for a great view of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. (And if you do want to spend a few dollars there is a great ice-cream parlour there too.)
7. Stand in the middle of Times Square for ten minutes and don’t forget to look up.
8. Stand just about anywhere and play how many yellow cabs can you count in a minute?
And if it’s summer…
9. Summerstage (held at Rumsey Playfield near 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue) and Shakespeare in the Park (at the open-air Delacorte Theater near the W81st Street entrance to the park) are two of the most popular summertime programs and both are free. Top-shelf acts and great performances.
10. Fancy a dip? There are 14 miles of public beaches in four of NY’s boroughs: Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. Contact General Parks and Recreation Department Information at www.nycparks.completeinet.net for more info.
General info at www.nyctourism.com
Central Park info at www.centralparknyc.org
Summerstage info: www.summerstage.org
More info on Shakespeare in the Park can be found at: www.publictheater.org
There are games to download to take with you on your skiing holiday.
One is a ski holiday travel quiz for children. They tick off items they see on their journey to their ski holiday.
The other is a snowsport trivia quiz to do at the chalet with the other guests. I have enjoyed using them both.
www.upmymountain.com/ski_news/travelling_kids_ski_holiday.php
New York style (how did you guess?) diner in the docklands development next to the IFSC. Next to the financial district, so I expect it's worth avoiding during the week. On a Sunday, though, it's a pretty chilled out place to get Eggs Benedict or a vast array of bagels. Next to the river (by the Jeannie Johnston boat).
Lower Mayor St.
Opposite NCI (National College of Ireland). A short walk from Busáras (the main bus/coach terminus) or Connolly Station (DART [rail] / LUAS [tram])
Every time I go there I discover something new: open spaces, extensive rose gardens, cool playground, woods, streams, ponds, ruins, pitch'n'putt next door, nice coffee, small Saturday market.
North Dublin, next to Coast Road. Killester Dart station's probably the closest - about 5mins walk (but we usually drive or bus it - Coast Road has lots of buses)
Public swimming pool complex at the Westbad tram stop. Just follow the scent of chlorine from the tram. Entrance was nine euro last time I visited.
Inside there's a water slide, a whirlpool, heated mineral bath, sauna and swimming lanes. Good place to take kids on a rainy holiday. Outside there are even more pools, plenty of grass to lay about and sometimes ducks come down to swim laps in the pools.
Address: Weinbergerstraße 11, Westend, Munich, 81241
Phone: +49 89 23617701
Nearest Station: Westbad: Tram 19, Bus 72
Neighbourhood: Westend
There are lots of choices on the Isle of Skye; hotels, B&B, hostels and camping sites.
Our family stayed in a camping site called Torvaig near Pontree for two nights. It was cheaper than the one we had stayed at near Ben Nevis. The services were the same; showers, bathrooms, clean drinking water for free, although at Ben Nevis there was a shop. The ground was hard, but there was a beautiful view at sunset.
We liked cooking so we didn’t eat out much. But when we did there were big portions. The food was similar to Irish food; haggis is just like a mix of black puddings and mince meat. If you asked for an apple pie you would expect to get a slice but there you get a whole pie. The Pike Hotel had particularly big portions.
When we cooked it was easy to find the supplies to cook on our own in any supermarket. There are also shops on the Isle of Skye so don’t fret.
We didn’t stay long, so we only got one trip done; a boat trip.
We saw a brochure in the campsite and my dad thought it would be a good thing to do. The boat left Armadale and got to Mallaig in 45 minutes. When you get there you can stay or you can walk back to the pier. It takes a couple of hours to get back on foot. It was a great boat ride. I even got to drive the boat. The view was spectacular. It was so spectacular - that I had a dream about it. When we pulled into the bay, it was lovely and calm. To the left of me there was a mountain sheltered under a beautiful white cloud. The bay had lovely turquoise water, warmer than the sea because of the surrounding rocks and big boulders. Just right for swimming. If you don’t like salt water there is a river up beside it.
The overall view from the high rock over looking the bay was really pretty, and one you don’t see everyday.
I would recommend the holiday to outgoing people and families with teenage kids.
I had a wicked time.
Restaurant Chartier is possibly the best restaurant in Paris (although I haven't been to many!).
They change the menu every day so you can try a different meal anytime you go and the food is always gorgeous.
The waiters are really friendly and, with a mixture of English and French, you can always have a good chat with them. They have time for everyone even though it's a busy restaurant.
There's not many problems with it apart from it's quite hard to find - it's on Rue Du Faubourg, Montmartre and there are at least four Rue Du Faubourgs in Paris!
The other thing is the room vibrates a bit when the Metro train passes underground!
from Roisin (age 12)
7 Rue Du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris
www.restaurant-chartier.com
There's a Metro Station just outside the Restaurant.
I am 6 years old and I love ocean commotion. It is in a converted chapel and now is a brilliant place to play. There is a little slide for toddlers and much bigger and faster ones for older children. I can run around for an hour and I am very hot and sweaty afterwards. Mummy and daddy can have a cup of tea and then join in with us, if they want to. It is a great place for parties and I love it.
From Lily Rose Lawrence, from Pembrokeshire.
Lower Frog Street, Tenby.
Tel: 01834 845526
St Mary's is the largest Island out of all the Scilly Islands, it also is the busiest. I'd recommend St Mary's because it's a nice place to go and have a break and since you're only allowed a car if you live there, it's quite a 'Global Friendly' place. It's also brilliant for a midnight cycle adventure!
It has a lot of great beaches to picnic on, where you can paddle in the sea even in April! Watching the gigs race whilst having fish and chips is fun too. There are plenty of interesting little shops to potter around in. You can get to any of the islands by boat.
My favourite island is Tresco because of the Abbey Gardens and the shell grotto inside it.
From Katie Lawrence (age 10) from Pembrokeshire.
Last year me, mum, dad and my brother Aidan went on holiday to Jura. We stayed in a cottage beside the sea. There is a beach and a little park just along the road. Sometimes it rained but mostly it was a sunny day. One day we went down to the beach and found a crab crawling around the rock pool. When we went back to the beach one day we saw a wild otter.
Jura
Heatheryknowe
Craighouse
Isle of Jura
Once when I was staying at Sheffield with my Grandma, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We had been looking for a exploring stream, but also one that we could enjoy the lovley sunshine. Then I asked if we could go to Padley Gorge. We went there, and it was beautiful! The swirly, twirly water was shallow and deep, so my younger 5 year old brother could paddle. The stream is in the middle of a valley overlooking the rocky ravines and paths. Not to mention the breathtaking waterfall!
After having a paddle, we all decided to go up one of the rocky paths. After walking for fifteen minutes, we came across a water spring leading down to the stream we had explored earlier. We followed it up, and where the spring started, we found a saucepan that someone had hung on the end of a tree. My little brother filled it up, watering all the nearby trees. After that we went down the hill back to the path. I saw some rocks on the way the car covered in moss. They were Lovely. I sat down on a rock. I thought: "I'm telling all my friends about this place. I'ts sooo lovely." And that is what i'm doing. Five star place, and all free!
National Trust estate of Longshaw, path leading to Grindleford station. Meals and snacks are nearby. Bues run from Sheffield to Fox house pub.
Walk into the museum and some huge, colourful, hanging fish point you downstairs to a magical world of masks, music and even a mermaid (well, actually a sort of monkey I think, but that's another story).
The fabulous music room has interactive tables where you can listen to music from around the world, and from other centuries, whilst looking at a most extraordinary menagerie of instruments. You can then wander through a secret door into a space where you can play delicately on a dulcimer, or bash out a tune with flip flops on some special pipes.
Next door there are some darkened, mysterious rooms full of mummies, voodoo shrines and bizarre objects of intrigue from around the world.
Wander out of the galleries and into a fab new aquarium with real waves. There are sci fi-like jelly fish, haughty seahorses, and starfish like jesters' hats. Wonder at the groovy anenomes! Dress up as a crab!
Blimey! After that it's time for a spot of v yummy lunch in the very me friendly cafe, and perhaps a little something from the shop (please). And what about the bee room, with real bees, and the stuffed animals. Oh, and there are gardens with rabbits and birds. And a big polar bear upstairs........
I love the Horniman!
From Xavi Maddison (age 10).
100 London Road, Forest Hill
Tel: 020 8699 1872
www.horniman.ac.uk
Last summer my family and I went down to Cornwall and my mum booked us on a sea kayaking and coasteering day at Porthpean Activity Centre (St. Austell).
They gave us wetsuits and life jackets to wear and then we walked through the village down to the beach where our kayaks were waiting for us.
We then kayaked along the coast for about half an hour. Then the instructors stopped us and said we could jump out and swim to the rocks. You could then climb up the rocks and jump off! My dad did it and said it was scary. I jumped in and swam around the boat. It was a bit scary as we saw a jellyfish near us and we were in deep water.
After this we kayaked onto a small beach where the instructors gave us snorkelling equipment and we swam out along the rocks until the water was about 10ft deep. I saw a huge dogfish and lots of other fish swimming around the rocks. It was amazing. We then kayaked on a bit further along the coast and landed on another beach for lunch.
The instructors were really good, they showed where to find crabs
and told us about the creatures on the beach.
After than we kayaked back to Porthpean, but my mum and sister got tired out and one of the instructors towed them back for some of the way. It was a brilliant day where I did things I had never done before.
(PS my mum said it was good value as it cost £19.00 for each of us)
From Finn Monaghan (age 9)
I travel in central London a lot at weekends, buying games, clothes and various other things. I have always generally enjoyed London, for all its opportunities and tucked-away secrets. But I then found a place which doesn’t have clothes or games. There was a children’s show on there (and this was many years ago) and we decided to sit down and watch. The show itself wasn’t really that good, and I soon tottered off. I wandered around, looking for anything interesting, but just found dull concrete buildings. But in the midst of this wall of grey I found a most peculiar sculpture. It was very hard to describe, as it seemed to be a partly squashed bug. A large sphere of metal with wiggly antennae, with two large flat metal discs behind it and I found it very amusing to hop from one disc to another, as they weren’t very high, and made a loud clang, much to the annoyance of my parents. As I got older I would always visit that metal sculpture. There were several large buildings nearby the metal toy. We ventured inside one once, and found it very family friendly. It often had exhibitions, and had a constant feed of entertainment, such as live music and dance, as well as a cafe, and a well-stocked book shop. This was of course, the Royal Festival Hall, which is now under refurbishment.
As I grew older still we would move around London more, and me and my little sister would beg our parents to let us go to the South Bank instead of boring clothes shops. We soon discovered the far-off ends of the South Bank, which seemed to never have an end to the various forms of entertainment. There were several good restaurants, along the bank, including a Wagamamas we still often visit, a Strada (best Italian food in the world) and a pizza place at the end. In the summer, we regularly visit the South Bank, as it provides a way to take up a day, and make it a fun one. We often meet friends there, or go and watch a show, as well as having dinner.
The great thing about the South Bank is that there is always a place you haven’t been, some unturned leaf, which is always ready and waiting, and bursting full of energy and imagination. And these leaves are always falling, so regular visiting is always needed. Still things remain undiscovered to my family, so we shall keep on visiting, and so should you.
Angus Hegarty, Age 13, East Barnet
Embankment or Waterloo Tube Station
I love to go to Duinrell in Holland. I go by Ferry. Duinrell is a theme park and there's lots of scary, lovely, fun and wet rides to go on. If you stay at the park you can go on the rides as many times as you like every day. I love to go to
the Tiki Pool there. It's a very big pool with lots of slides. My
favourites are Moonlight and Starfright which are both fast, dark slides with lots of lights inside them. You have to ride in a boat
shaped like a number eight. There is also a Lazy River which goes
very slowly. You have to ride in a special ring.
From Niall Scruton (age 7)
Duinrell is located in Wassenaar, South Holland a short drive from the Hook of Holland ferry terminal. There are daily crossings from Harwich to the Hook of Holland by Stena Line.)
www.duinrell.com
We like to go to Colchester Zoo. We really love the baby elephants. It's a nice zoo because the enclosures are bigger than other zoos. Feeding the elephants is fun; they like to eat carrots and apples. There are lots of breeds of animals like leopards, monkeys and zeedonks. There is a playground with a cool climbing frame. We like to take a picnic which we share with our cousins George and Lucas.
From Robin Odell (age 9) and Lucy Odell (age 6).
One of my favourite places to go on holiday is Cornwall. Tintagel is very cool because I like exploring everywhere, across the bridges, up and down the steps, it is quite nerve wracking, and exploring all the old buildings and castles and thinking that someone actually lived there all those years ago.
The stories of Tintagel are very exciting, with Merlin and the king who was in love with a beautiful lady but she was married to someone else. In the village before you get to Tintagel there are lots of ice cream shops and good places to eat.
From Ella Schneider (age 9).
One of my favourite places to go where I live has got to be Craggy Island; the indoor climbing centre in Guildford. I love it because it’s somewhere I can go with my Dad, just the two of us, or maybe three if my sister tags along. Even though my Mum isn’t keen on the actual sport, she always encourages us from the Island cafe, which sells excellent and wonderfully gooey brownies. These always go down brilliantly after a hard climb!
The climbing itself is always rewarding, and you get a great buzz when you reach the top of the wacky walls, which range in difficulty. To warm up my muscles, I always start with traversing, which is basically working your way across a horizontal wall without falling off. This is great fun and my Dad can use the auto belay device which allows him to take a break from holding my rope. Afterwards I often try bouldering, where I can climb without a rope and practice my skills on the wall. For me, this is a great way to unwind with my family!
Kate Schneider (age 12).
Craggy Island Indoor Climbing Centre, Unit 9, Cobbett Park, Slyfield Industrial Estate, Moorfield Road, Guildford GU1 1RU
Tel: 01483 566 880
www.craggy-island.com
You want to know the best place ever? Two words: Camp Merrywood! The reason why this is the greatest place ever is because it mixes fun, adventure and caring all in one small area.
To start off, the camp has so many places you can be for each of the amazing periods that if it was not for the dramatic presentations each morning at flag pole a camper could never decide. There are a total of four periods with lunch break in between. They include going kayaking, sailing, canoeing, art and crafts, drama and music, pottery and much more!
The periods also change activities daily. So one day you may be making stain glass art and the next wind chimes. There are also two main trips during the ten day session and if you are picked you get to go! These include white water rafting on the Ottawa River with OWL and a four-day campout on Crotch Lake with tents and all.
At the hottest part of the day, before and after lunch, you have ‘Friendship Time’ (before) and ‘Hang Time’ (after) - you get to relax with your fellow campers on the front or back deck and listen to music. This may sound boring but with such interesting and easy going counsellors, it is an exciting time.
After dinner you’d think it’s time to wind down but the counsellors organise a theme for each night which includes a mock-up of barn chores like milking the cow (squeezing a glove full of water). Some other themes include building a boat from junk and being a detective.
Once this is done there is campfire where we all sit around and sing silly camp songs. The counsellors get right into the act and dress up according to the campfire theme, usually linked to the after dinner events.
Then it is time for a snack and if you thought the adventure was finished you are wrong! It is ‘Camp Merrywood Time’ where we play games either in or outdoors depending on the plan.
On the last day of camp the staff of camp Merrywood put together a banquet with food and drinks and everybody gets dressed up and dances the night away. The dinner at the banquet is awesome and the dance is even more so. Also on one night we have a talent show where each cabin goes up and puts on an act where talented individuals shine.
So, I hope you have enjoyed learning about Camp Merrywood and how much fun it is. Merrywood is the place to be!
From Richard Sookraj (age 13).
RR 5, Perth ON K7H 3C7
Tel: 613 267 1244
www.easterseals.org/services/camp/
I am recommending Southern Down because it has everything that you could possibly ask for in a beach.
It has beautiful rockpools, fantastic surf, eye-catching sand and even stunning fossils (including ammonites and 'devils toenails!'). Southern Down is truly an incredible beach not to be missed.
By Tom Marlowe (age 10).
South Wales coast, near Bridgend. M4 Junction 35. (Between Porthcawl and Barry Island).
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
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