Customer Reviews

Fodor's Family New York City with Kids, 1st Edition (Travel Guide)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While some guidebooks seem to be written by someone on assignment, it is clear that the author of this book is passionate about New York and that she really knows the ins and outs of where to go, what to see, and where to eat with kids in the Big Apple. I especially like the "Bad Weather Plans" section that details fun indoor activities and the "If Your Kid Likes" section that tells you where to go if your child likes dinosaurs, princesses or techno gadgets, for example. For the various New York City neighborhoods, the book provides a quick at-a-glance listing of attractions and necessities, like fun stores for kids and even where to find public bathrooms with changing tables! The age guides for attractions are handy too - telling you, for example, that a visit to the Chrysler Building is best for ages 7+up.

I relied on this book for a hotel recommendation, which I booked six months ago for this past weekend. The hotel (Loews Regency) was exactly as described within the book. My four kids were comfortable, the staff was great, and we had a wonderful weekend; never before have we had such luck in finding a great place to stay! The descriptions of restaurants and places to visit were spot-on, too.

If you are traveling with children, this is the book about Manhattan for you!

We were in NYC with our grand-daughter and referred to the book many times on things to do, places to go, etc. Well written and easy to follow. Great maps, etc.

I really disliked this book and stongly encourage you to look elsewhere for a guide to NYC. I have never written a book review before but was so frustrated using this on a trip to NYC with my 10 year old son that I wanted to spare others. While the book had some good suggestions for kid oriented activities, it was almost useless as a guide to actually doing any of those activities. For example, there isn't one single map of the entire city. All maps are so broken up it is impossible to see one view of everywhere you want to go. There is no map that shows the location of the airports. There isn't a subway map!!! The index is EXTREMELY sparse which made looking up things on the fly almost impossible. I was trying to find the Museum of Natural History. Was it in the index under Natural Hisotry? - no. Under Museums? - no. I finally read through the book again and found out it is officially called the American Museum of Natural History so only appears in the index under American. This book is only helpful if you already know a whole lot about NYC and just want suggestions for activities.

I found this book to be missing information in the categories of: restaurants, parks, and things to do with the preschool-K age group. Recommend using the Internet for "kid activity" related searches before arriving in NYC and just picking up a map when you arrive.