Family travel tips for New York City

We're planning a trip to New York City this summer with the kids while we're in the US. We'll be driving into the city from the Midwest and would like to spend a couple nights outside the city so that we can drive in in the a.m. and see the sights. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay? We've done the google map search, but there are so many possibilities we don't know where to start. Or would it just be better to just let a travel agent in the States book our rooms for us? Would appreciate any advice or tips from people who've been there before. Thanks.

Drive into the city??? Uhmm, would not be my first choice. The trains are easy to use and work quite well. We have used them when staying in Jersey, adds time but not a bad choice. I don't remember the name of where we stayed since we were visiting friends in NJ it was based on proximity to them rather than the city anyway.

You can get some great deals near the airports if you are looking to stay cheaply. Of course, there are a plethora of hotels in NYC, but most (decent) ones are quite pricey. So convenience in this case really carries a hefty price tag. We have found that sometimes the convenience and price was worth it, sometimes not. It depends on what you are looking for. If you chose to stay in the city (I realize you wrote you are looking for outside the city) there are still some good places to stay. In Nov. we ended up a rather dull but nice and clean Marriott in the financial district (near the statue of Lib ferries and ground zero, not so close to times square) for a 4 person room and breakfast for about 360 per night, which for NYC was reasonable.

We have also tried to stay at Bubba and Bean's but there has never been any room when we have wanted to go. So although I have never stayed there, we have heard good things about it.

May not be what you are looking for... but maybe a place to start.

Thanks for your advice on taking the train vs. driving. Have been checking out a site on train connections from Jersey to the City, but have found it to be not that informative for us rookies out there. Will keep up the research though. Amazing how easy it is to fall back into the drive everywhere syndrome so prevalent in the US. Guess old habits are hard to break.

If it's just for a couple of nights, I think I would try to stay in the city. I'd much rather pay a bit more (think of it as the money you won't have to spend on transport to and from the city) and have more time for sightseeing. We were in New York over Christmas and I'm very glad that we decided to stay in a central location because the children were really exhausted at the end of each day.

As MamaE says, do not drive into the city to see sights. Whether you stay inside the city or out, leave your car outside of the city. You will never jump into your car to run down to the market. That ain't gonna happen so forget it. Take a day to drive the city if you want, but be prepared to do battle with the Taxi drivers. If you stay outside of the city and in Jersey, stay somewhere near Paterson (NW) or Edison (SW). Bayonne is also good and cheap, but beware its about as safe as Newark or perhaps even worse Elizabeth. Long Island is really cool, but really expensive because it is after all Long Island.

I would look at staying inside the city at a decent hotel near Times Square. It is the easiest and best value comparatively speaking. Simply being in the city at night is something not to be missed. Its kind of magical. I miss being able to just run up to NY for the weekend. Hell, I miss the DelMarVa Jersey shore. I want to go home. I think I really want to go home. Excuse me while I freak for a while.

If you're going to stay outside the city, I would recommend a hotel in White Plains in Westchester. You can park at the train station and its about a 30 minute express train into Grand Central which is a bit easier to navigate than Penn Station (and nicer, in my opinion). I agree with the others, there is no reason to bring a car into the city. Have a fun trip!