Ever wanted to take your kids on a NYC family trip?! We just returned from a (pretty quick) 4-day NYC family trip and had a BLAST! I feel like we made the most of our time while we were there and I’m sharing our itinerary below.🙂

Flight to NYC

I traveled in one of the softest + best travel sets I’ve ever bought! The pants come in petite length options and fabric is SO soft!

Unfortunately, our flight was delayed getting into NYC. Our first planned adventure for our NYC family trip was to the Museum of Natural History but needed to stop at the hotel first!

The Plaza Hotel

We stayed at the Plaza Hotel because our kids (and hubby and I) are huge Home Alone 2 fans! Our room was a spacious suite with a king bed + family room with a pull-out bed and additional rollaway bed for the boys.

They really lean into the Home Alone theme at the hotel and dropped off this note from Kevin, alongside some gifts for the boys. The bellmen were very knowledgeable about the movie and showed us different spots where it was filmed inside.

Museum of Natural History

We took Uber Black around the city for transportation. It’s not very cost effective but we budgeted in for this and felt much safer using this vs. public transportation or cabs.

We had less than 2 hours at the museum but tried to make the most of our time there. The museum is several stories tall with dozens of exhibits – I would give yourself 4 hours here (at least). I think it’s helpful to go in with a plan with what you want to see due to the size of the museum. We didn’t do this and got lost several times 😅! You can buy tickets here.

We grabbed pizza at NY Pizza Suprema and I was super happy there were both vegan and gluten free options!

Empire State Building

We had a busy second day planned for our NYC family trip starting on Sunday morning! First up was the Empire State Building. We had tickets (these are required) to visit the 102nd and 86th + the museum. There was virtually no one there! We heard security and crowds can get kind of crazy if you go during a busy time. There is a VIP/Express line to skip the lines but we didn’t find that necessary when we went. We spent less than 2 hours there but I could see it taking much longer if there were a lot of people. The views of the city were absolutely beautiful!

Afterwards, we went over to Liberty Bagels and OH MY GOODNESS! I was so excited to see they had tofu cream cheese options in different flavors (vegan-friendly). There are several locations, but we went to the one by the Plaza Hotel. We got bagels here everyday of our trip! My favorite combo ended up being the cinnamon raisin bagel with tofu cinnamon raisin walnut cream cheese (vegan).

Here’s a pic below!

The Lion King on Broadway

After bagels, we made our way over the Minskoff Theatre to see The Lion King on Broadway! Several of you recommended we see this and it did not disappoint! The show is 2.5 hours with a 15 minute intermission. They sell snacks and drinks here, and they have little cushions for the kids to sit on so they can see! Highly recommend!!

Here is my broadway #OOTD! This outfit would be gorgeous for a wedding or holiday party as well!

For dinner, we stopped at Planta Queen! Everything is plant-based and the food is incredible, I highly recommend and would go back!

The Statue of Liberty

The next day, we went to the Statue of Liberty. Our boys are 6 & 8 years old and this is something that both of them really wanted to do! You have to book tickets through Statue City Cruises – this company is the only official authorized company to run ferry’s to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We did not get tickets to go up to the crown or the pedestal. I didn’t think the kids would be able to do the 162 steps to the crown but looking back, they definitely could have done the pedestal! There is a really nice indoor museum there as well. There is also a big gift shop and a place where you can grab lunch.

This is the original torch inside the museum

We spent while 4 hours total (including ferry ride) doing this activity. We did not stop at Ellis Island.

This $52 faux fur coat came in handy this trip! I loved it paired with these velvet pants and comfortable knee-high boots that are also waterproof! You can shop the whole outfit here.

Afterwards, we made our way over to Chloe on Bleecker Street. This is such a cool spot with an entirely vegan menu. I got the Caesar salad with tofu on top, I think this is the best salad I have ever had!

The Sloomoo Institute

We had a little bit of time before our next activity, so we decided to visit the Sloomoo Institute, which is an interactive slime museum. I have a mixed feelings about this place and overall, I do not think it is worth the money. It was over $200 for the 4 of us (yes, they charge the adults, even though we didn’t really do anything) and we spent maybe 45 minutes here. If your child really loves slime, it might be worth it. But this is something I personally would pass on if given the chance again.

When we were done, we made a quick stop to La Cabra coffee, over in the East village) which was within walking distance of the slime museum. This is one of the best lattes I have ever had!

FAO Schwarz VIP Shopping Experience

We had a 5 p.m. VIP shopping experience at FAO Schwarz. This is a 90 minute experience for up to six guests and cost $125. We went for our son’s birthday and he really wanted to do the Jelly Cat diner experience. The VIP pass and allows you to skip the line as well! This toy store can get quite busy, especially during the holidays. We felt like the VIP pass was worth it because we were able to do all of the experiences. The kids wanted to and not wait in a huge line. They also did the Build-A-Bear experience!

We had a late flight out the following day so we went over to Central Park in the morning for about an hour and let the kids play! We were very impressed with the playground, and also the various rocks that the kids could climb. I wish we had more time to spend there because you could easily spend half a day there and do lunch in the grass. We are going to do this the next time we visit for another NYC family trip!

Reflections from our NYC family trip

Overall, we truly enjoyed our family trip to NYC! We missed them putting the Rockefeller tree up by a few days. The beginning of November is a great time to go because the weather was perfect and not too cold! We felt fairly safe in the city minus Times Square (way too chaotic for us and we left almost immediately). We also chose not to do public transportation, but that is personal preference. The Plaza hotel is incredible. It is definitely pricey but I feel like we got our money’s worth there!

You can read about our other family vacations here and message me on Instagram if you have any questions. 🥰