After FL and CA, where else in the US with a 7-year-old?
 

Dear all,

Having been with my wife and 7 year-old son to Florida (Orlando, Miami, Keys) and to California + Las Vegas, I am searching for sites for a 15-day visit in Jan 2016.

We are interested in cultural/fun activities (for adult AND child), sight-seeing and shopping. Not much of extended outdoord activities.

Would Texas be a good choice?

Thank you!

Perhaps you can tell us what cultural activities you enjoyed in FL & CA+ Vegas so we better understand what you mean.

<Would Texas be a good choice?>
No!

Maui.

NYC

New York!

A complete change, a look at a whole different part of the country, and a plethora of things to see and do that a small kid would love.

I would reco staying on the upper west side, which has a lot of moderate hotels and kid friendly restaurants as well as easy access to Central Park and 2 museums beloved by children - Natural History and the Met (arms & armor, Egyptian Dept and Temple of Dendur). The zoo also has a small zoo - as well as the larger zoo in the Bronx and an aquarium in Coney Island, the Intrepid Ari/Space Museum with Space Shuttle and a number of boat rides - including to the Statue of Liberty. And don't forget the Knicks and Rangers.

My B and I loved visiting Manhattan when we were that age our parents took us every couple of weeks and we never ran out of things to do.

What's wrong with Texas? There are more than enough cultural and shopping activities, in the DFW area alone, to keep a family busy for days.

NY, Chicago, San Francisco (if you missed it).
Denver and skiing for a couple of days.
Williamsburg

Where are you coming from?

New York is a playland for adults and children.

Washington DC.

San Francisco/Central Coast or split the 2 weeks between NYC and WashintonDC. Yes it will be cold pretty much anywhere.

I think WVa/Va/DC area would be great, but not in January. Nor NY. Not wanting outdoors activities rules out various things I might have recommended, like AZ and NM, with say, the Grand Canyon.

I'd say maybe Louisiana/Gulf Coast area, even Arkansas and MS. And the Panhandle of FL hasn't even been visited previously. I don't know enough about Texas but there is a coast there, why not, I can't imagine it would be so terrible. Or San Antonio, also. http://visitsanantonio.com/english/E...ion-en-familia
http://alamocity.citymomsblog.com/20...nio_with_kids/

NY and Washington, hands down, even in January.

NY & DC are great assuming you don't mind very cold, maybe snowy weather. There are a ton of museums and most are free in DC.

I'm not a fan of Texas, although Austin is nice, but not at all sure what there is for kids, something I'm sure.

For the OP, Texas would be a terrible choice, full stop. Endless driving in exchange for not much, IMO.

Is cold weather OK with you, ick2014? Because DC and NYC will be pretty darn cold, with a chance of snowstorms. You do say outdoor activities aren't your thing, but at that time of year you might find yourselves confined indoors, unless you're hearty enough to walk around anyway. And a big part of enjoying those cities is walking around.

How about Charleston and Savannah? New Orleans would be fun and great weather.

Portland and Seattle will be rainy as heck but fairly mild in temperature.

Tough time of year...

Being confined indoors in either NYC or DC is very unlikely. Yes, it will be cold, but not too cold to be outdoors for a couple of hours (hundreds of kids go skating every in public rinks every day) and you might have some snow. But it is very rare that there is enough snow to close down either city.

Both subways and buses continue to run unless you get a real blizzard - of which there are zero most years.

And for a kid not used to snow playing/sledding in Central Park and making a snowman might be a hoot.

it is easy to get around either DC or NY underground and there is so much to do . In DC get a hotel with a pool if there is a date too inclement to go out( unlikely).
I'd plan to be in DC for MLK day and take advantage of extra activities to commemorate that. I'd rather visit either ny or DCin January than July.

Make that an indoor pool!

Thanks all for the comments!

We are from Brazil and my wife and I have already been to NYC. I wonder if my 7-year old is too young to really appreciate it.

We are not (too) afraid of the cold weather, only if it really blocks our touring.

Trying to illustrate what we look for, and besides the theme parks, among our favorites were an air boat ride in Everglades, Titanic exhbition and LOVE show in Vegas, Santa Monica pier, Chinese Theater in LA + surroundings, etc.


Thanks again!

Have you not been to San Francisco, or was it just not a favorite? If you haven't been, that becomes my top suggestion.

In DC two popular museums for kids would be the Air & SPace Museum and the Natural History Museum, bu their are many so you can pick by what interests your son. Look at the tab for kids
http://www.si.edu/Museums

Going to the Bureau of Engraving & Printng and seeing money being made might be fun.
http://www.moneyfactory.gov/services/takeatour.html

The last 2 winters have been brutal in DC. Some years not so bad. So if you decide to come, bring lots of layers and warm clothes including hat, scarf & gloves. DC is still very much like a southern city when it comes to snow and ice -- the city freezes! It's very rare that the museums close, but transportation can get mucked up for a day or afternoon. None of that should stop your sightseeing--as a matter of fact it might be even less crowded than a typical January day. So if the cold won't bother you, bundle up and come visit.