City Breaks for Families
We chose to break our journey in Washington D.C on the outbound and New York City on the return.
I was a virgin visitor to Washington D.C, and what a lovely surprise I had in store. It’s a gloriously low-rise for a U.S city. It was designed by French/US City Planner; Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1790. You can tell the French design with the wide boulevards and huge National Mall (the most visited National Park in the country). D.C is a 100 square mile territory that they created using land from both neighbouring Maryland and Virginia and is the seat of the U.S Federal Government. The D.C for those that don’t know stands for District of Colombia. There is plenty here to do to keep a family entertained with the plethora of Smithsonian museums and galleries, 17 in all. We made the Natural History, and he Air and Space, both were incredible. A stand-out was seeing the first Wright Brothers aircraft! You’d need at least a week or two to explore them all, there is something for everybody. We walked over 20,000 steps each day and saw the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Capitol building and the sobering Vietnam Veteran’s memorial. We grabbed food on foot from the food trucks that roll into town every day. Check out the riverside restaurants in Georgetown, great for people watching and even a boat ride if you fancy. A trip worth doing is a short metro ride out of the city to Arlington National Cemetery in neighbouring Virginia, you probably think it’s not really for kids but the changing of the Guard that looks over the Grave of the Unknown soldier is a sight to behold.
NYC is a city I have been to many times but have not visited for 15 years! They say if you’re bored of this city you’re bored of life, and I must agree! It’s ever changing and a city which is full of life. It has a buzz like nowhere else on earth. We stayed midtown as it was central to everything, we wanted to show our son the big sights as he is obsessed with tall buildings so a visit to the Empire State and the Edge blew his mind! We went on a ‘Circle Line’ cruise to explore the city from the water. A big favourite was the ‘High Line’; an old, elevated railway line that has been adapted into a park, you can walk the distance from Chelsea Market up to Hudson yards passing beautiful wildflowers/plants, art and take in the incredible city views! There are street performances too, brilliant for kids to explore and run around without the need to have your eye out for traffic! We saw the Flatiron building, Grand Central and the Central Library (go to the kids’ section), The Lego shop and FAO Schwarz where a go on the big piano is a must! After some retail therapy we headed up to Columbus Circle where we grabbed a picnic from Wholefoods, rented some bikes and had a gloriously sunny afternoon cycling the six-mile circuit of Central Park. You can cool off in one of the playgrounds fountains. We even spotted an owl sitting in one of the trees- you never know what you’re going to find! You can try your hand at baseball, rent out one of the tennis courts, row a boat, jog around the reservoir, listen to a concert, go to the zoo or the museum. A perfect day as a break from the city. Two and a half days and we had a blast.
If you want advice, then please contact me I’d be delighted to book your next trip!