Manhattan with 14-year-old Daughter
 

I'm surprising my daughter with a first trip to NYC (as I posted in a previous post re Broadway shows suitable) and am as excited as anything!

We'll be there for the first week in August.

What would be some must-sees with a 14-year-old smart kid, interested in many things - art, architecture, music, cool/funky stores including food/candy stores?

Are there any movie-set type places available to see?

Thanks!

I love Greenwich Village area, get brunch at Tartine in West Village and then just walk around exploring. Full of funky shops and i like the architecture there too- makes you want to own a roof-top loft. There is a great pizza place there called Keste which we really enjoyed.

Also there is a cool burger joint (called burger joint!) in a secret back room in the meridian hotel.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur..._New_York.html

near central park which we enjoyed after strolling the 5th avenue stores

also one of these tours always appealed to me, not made it yet but still seems to be getting excellent reviews

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract..._New_York.html

<<<There is a great pizza place there called Keste which we really enjoyed>>>

We had dinner at Keste last week - loved it. Followed up with gelato at Grom, which was excellent, too!

sf haha, yeah i had one with a truffle base rather than tomato which was super yummy, and we found it friendly too

Thanks - what are must-see sites and museums?

Definitely do a search on this forum as there are plenty of threads with ideas of what to do in NYC in general, with kids, etc. ...

If you and your daughter want to do any shopping, this thread might interest you:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...r-old-girl.cfm

This one might help with the movie-type request:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...s-in-nyc.cfm?6

The most well known candy store is Dylan's. There's also Economy Candy on the Lower East Side - a totally different vibe!

Also take a look a the Fodors Destinations on this site. I've noticed that they have some really good ideas recently.

Thanks ggreen and all! Great suggestions.

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is wonderful: www.tenement.org

My DD is 24, and we really enjoyed a food and walking tour:
www.foodsofny.com We did their "original" tour which is Greenwich Village, but I think I would have enjoyed any of them.

Don't miss a walk on the High Line. We've done the whole thing ourselves, but recently did just a short section with our DD (25) and she loved it as much as we do.

Hang out in Washington Square in Greenwich Village on a nice evening.

Stroll through Bryant Park, and visit the main reading room at the New York Public Library (adjacent to Bryant Park).

Walk through Grand Central Station.

Eat a pastrami sandwich at Second Avenue Deli.

Spend some time in Central Park.

Walk up or down Fifth Avenue from 59th Street to 42nd Street (take in the Apple Store (if that's out of the ordinary for your DD), Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's on the way). We actually walked from Rock Ctr to the World Trade Center a couple of weeks ago.

Stroll (and eat) through Eataly and Chelsea Market.

musicfan, tenement museum sounds really interesting. Which tour did you do there?

We actually did two: Hard Times and Irish Outsiders; both were very good and we had excellent tour guides for each. If you can make the time to view the movie about the museum before your tour, I really recommend it--they show it on a loop in a small theater just off the gift shop/ticketing area.

We also really enjoyed the High Line and Chelsea Market! I keep intending to get started on my Trip Report...hopefully by the end of the week!

Sf7307, thank you- those are great, calming, non-touristy suggestions - especially the apple store which she would LOVE!

Thanks again musician- definitely will do one of the tours at the Tenement museum.

If you visit the Apple cube on 59th and 5th, be sure to peek inside FAO Schwartz behind it. And the windows at Bergdorf Goodman on the west side of 5th between 57th and 58th Streets are always fabulous. Plus Tiffany's is right there, if you've ever watched Breakfast at Tiffany's...

And just to clarify - while the High Line is fun, non-touristy it is not. By its nature, the narrow, elevated structure makes for people density, compounded by everyone wanting to take pictures of the admittedly beautiful views! :)

We've also done the Irish Outsiders tour at the Tenement Museum and loved it. They tell you the actual story of a family that lived there, and you get to see their historical records and how they probably lived - not easy! Also loved the Greenwich Village food tour - got to sample lots of yummy bites from different restaurants and walk around a beautiful area. I think she would also love going to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate - it's famous and in a lot of movies and tv shows if she likes that sort of thing.

wow, volcanogirl, the frozen hot chocolate sounds like right up her alley - she's a hot-chocolate-a-holic! But excuse the ignorance - while she for sure knows what frozen hot chocolate is, I have no clue! What is it?!

ggreen - Your suggestions sound fantastic - my daughter also LOVES shopping, even if just window, as most teen girls do! I will have to find some more reasonably-priced clothing stores for her. Any ideas?

If she loves hot chocolate and can stand having it hot in August, and you walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, try the wicked hot chocolate at Jacques Torres - yum.

sf7303 - I'm positive she would be able to stand having a hot chocolate in hot August weather - she's literally addicted! What a great suggestion - thanks! I remember reading about a great ice cream place near the Brooklyn Bridge, but I don't remember where I read it - have you any idea of which it is? It's supposed to be famous and one of the best.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, I think.

t, this is what it looks like. Huge and yummy and covered with whipped cream.

http://www.serendipity3.com/main.htm

My DDs first trip to NYC when she was 13. The highlights were Broadway show (Hairspray), shopping on 5th Ave (well, mostly window), walking Central Park, frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity (watch the movie before you go) Century 21, wakling Greenwich Village, and sitting outside eating And people watching. I would not do a tour.

9 years later, she is now a resident and just graduated from college! Be forewarned! :)

There's always a long line for Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, right on the wharf under the Brooklyn Bridge. Jacques Torres also makes ice cream - really decadent, rich stuff.

If you don't make it to Brooklyn (though I hope you do!), Jacques Torres also has a shop on Hudson Street in the West Village; his candies are sold in Chelsea Market... And if you decide you can't live without it once you've tried it, the shops sell tins of both his regular and justifiably famous Wicked hot chocolate to make at home!
mrchocolate.com

Since it will be August, you'll need to taste-test lots of frozen treats! Look for Il Labortorio del Gelato shops; the NYC branch of Italy's Grom gelateria; and the roaming trucks of Van Leeuwen and also the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (like a Mr. Softee soft-serv but way better). Plenty of Asian-style frozen yogurt around too, both on trucks and in the plentiful Red Mango and Pinkberry shops.

If you want to taste-test hot chocolate and its cold cousin, check out the shops of Vosges and Maribelle in SoHo. Both have gorgeous interiors with a *very* different look and feel each to the other.

Serendipity is famous and a very popular stop for people visiting the city. Be prepared for a wait for your table, even if you have a reservation...

// Phew! Dunno if you'll even fit in your clothes after all that!! To be honest, I don't particularly have good teen shopping recommendations. But if you do walk down Fifth Avenue as sf suggested, you'll reach a large H&M on the west side of the avenue a few blocks before Rockefeller Center. Between Rock Center and Central Park, there's a string of stores - everything from A|X to Abercrombie & Fitch.

Also, there's a stretch of Fifth Avenue from about 15th to 23rd Street with a ton of stores: Banana Republic, J Crew, Esprit, Anthropologie, Sephora... and on and on. Celebrate your purchases by grazing in Eataly at 23rd Street afterwards. ;)

If your daughter is really into fashion, you might be interested in the show at the Costume Institute at the Met (up through 19 August): http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/lis...-conversations

sf7303- thanks for the name.

volcanogirl - omg, thanks for the picture. SHE IS GOING TO FAINT!!! We're definitely doing that.

Austin - I hear you. My daughter, not living in the US, never having been to NYC, has already decided she's going to Columbia!! I think this trip is probably going to put a stamp on that....

ggreen- unbelievable. It sounds like we could spend an entire week just dining on divine sweets. I think you're right about limited shopping time! But will definitely check out your suggestions as our hotel is around 5th Avenue, so it sounds like it'll be convenient. Thanks for all the time you spent writing! Just checked out the Met link - totally up her alley. She's just going to faint all-around I think!