We will be in NY four full days. I thought we'd just do the hop on/hop off. Is this doable with a toddler? Any advice on sites/activiteis she will enjoy? I want to make this trip as safe and comfortable as possible for my toddler. My kid's potty trained - are the public restrooms clean in most places and can i just go in buildings and use them? A website recommended we use Starbucks loos all the time.

Also, any recommendations for kid friendly restaurants for most of our meals. Finally, hubby and I would like a special meal once -any suggestions for this as well?

Thanks.

Restrooms can be a bit tricky but these always work for me. When you find one, go whether you have to or not. Good restrooms; Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Department stores, and hotel lobbies. Skip the bathrooms in Penn Station and fast food restaurants. I haven't found many office buildings that have lobbies with bathrooms. Also, access is restricted in many buildings.

Zizz, I haven't been on the bus tour myself but imagine it would be fine with your toddler assuming you have a collapsible stroller.

For activities, there are lots of previous threads here on what to do with kids in NYC. Try typing NYC AND children. If the weather is decent I'd certainly suggest the zoo and the carousel in Central Park. GoTravel's advice on restrooms is great. My top choices are department stores & hotel lobbies.

For restaurants, again do a search here. Try typing restaurants with kids AND NYC.

For your special meal you need to tell us budget, type of food and neighborhood. There are thousands of choices. You can also do a search for that here by typing NYC AND romantic restaurant. There is currently a very long thread going about Tavern on the Green which is a famous restaurant situated in Central Park. It's often selected as a place to celebrate special occasions. If you'd like some place with a high up city view, there are 3 restaurants in the Times Square area, Foleys Fish House, in the Renaissance Hotel, The View in the Marriott and Above in the Hilton. That should give you a good start.

Thanks mclaurie and gotravel. We just bought a collapsible stroller but I guess we shouldn't even try going to the top part of the double decker bus. We are planning to take the all loops tour with the citypass. Would the citypass be worth it though? I'm having second thoughts because it appears that some tours do not accept very young children - like the UN tour. Any other tours I should be aware of?

There is a new post here asking about "unsafe areas" in NY. The few replies gave none. Is this true? Unfortunately, I had booked a Times Square hotel before I found this place. Would it really be that bad for my toddler? I am getting really worried. Can we walk around the area at night?

As for the special restaurant/meal, I don't really have a budget because I don't have any clue on the average cost of meals in NY. I was going to post a message on that issue. What should I expect on budget, moderate and pricey meals? On the special meal, should I be booking now? I seem to get the message that special restaurants are booked a month in advance. I've searched this board and now have a few ideas on MUSTS for our day-to-day meals: Virgil's; bagel (where?); Katz; Stardust; Gray's Papaya hotdog; and John's Pizzeria.

Thanks again for all the help.

I don't see any problems staying in the Times Square area unless you would rather be in a more residential locale outside Midtown. Times Square is very safe and you will see police every couple of blocks. The area stays busy 24/7.

As far as crime, it is the safest large city in the world. Only so-so area that comes to mind would be the Port Authority bus station. Just follow common sense approach to traveling and you will be fine.

As far as the cost of dining out is concerned, there are some great threads on this subject. Over generalized, Midtown is costly whereas East Village area ethnic restaurants are an excellent value. By expensive an example would be you could easily pay $100 for lunch for two without alcohol.

Times Square area will be perfectly safe. Which hotel have you picked? The only problem you may have is the streets/sidewalks get very crowded, particularly just before & after theater so you might be fighting pedestrian traffic with a stroller. Evening shows start at 8pm & let out between 10-11pm. Some theaters have started doing Tues nite 7pm shows. Mon night many theaters are closed. Wed. & Sat matinees are at 2pm & Sun matinees at 3. You can definitely walk around at night but stay on streets where there are lots of people. That's true for anywhere in the city. There are previous threads about safety in the city you might want to read.

Times Square is a great area to find lots of different restaurants at all price ranges. 46th st between 8th & 9th ave is called restaurant row-literally one rest. after the other at all price points. Joe Allen's is a popular place good for burgers & other basic American fare (they have a decent chilli & I love their La Scala salad which is a chopped salad with chick peas & various meat). You can also just go to the bar for a drink. Prices are moderate to cheap. Orso, which is just next door & owned by the same people, is a very popular Italian & might be an option for your special meal if you want to stay in the neighborhood. It's more expensive but doesn't have to be outrageous if you have pasta as a main course. It's very difficult to get a reservation there before & after theater but if you went while the theater is playing (ie go at 8pm)you'd have a much better shot.

Reservations for your special dinner really depend on when you're coming (can't remember) & which you pick. The "hot" trendy restaurants tend to get booked far in advance as do the "celebrate an occassion" places.

But the other thing you could do is eat early. Most good restaurants don't get busy til 8pm if they're not in the theater district. If you're willing to go at 6-6:30 you could probably get in most places but the ambiance won't be quite the same. Also, some of the pricier restaurants do pre-theater prix fixe dinners (even if they're not in the theater area) that can be a bargain.

It's hard to give accurate price info because a lot depends on whether you have 1, 2 or 3 courses & how much you drink. Alcohol can double the cost of a meal, tax is over 8% & tip is 15-20% here! BTW, many New Yorkers double the tax to figure out a tip. A basic coffee shop/diner place with just a sandwich/burger & a soft drink is about $10-12/person.

There's also lots of ethnic places both in Times Square & elsewhere that are often the best bargains. There's a cuban rest. I like called Victor's Cafe on 52 betw Broadway & 8th ave. There's a Brazilian, Cabana Carioca, on 45th betw 6th & 7th that's good value. Ruby Foo's on Broadway & 45th is Chinese and Japanese-big, noisy & fun. There's a chain of sandwich shops called Cosi that are good-but no wait staff-you order at the counter & take the food yourself. There's 1 at Broasway & 51. I think they serve breakfast too. Another excellent sandwich place is Amy's Bread on 9th betw 46-47st but most people get take away although there are some seats.

Since you mentioned Krispy Kreme, there's a place called the Cupcake Cafe on 9th ave & 39th that's supposed to have fabulous cupcakes. This area is NOT very nice but in daylight might be worth a try.

Can't think of the best bagel place in the Times Square area. Ess-a-bagel on 3rd ave betw 50-51 is considered by many to be the best bagels. H & M is another famous bagel place with sevral locations.

For a fun experience, go to Zabars on Broadway & 80th st (upper west side). It's a gourmet food shop with amazing "stuff". zabars.com

The airline package gives us the following choices: Marriott Marquis; Hilton Times Square and Doubletree. The package is quite cheap - airfare plus 2 nights accomodation included. The extension rate per night, however, adds up to USD350 thereabouts inclg taxes. Internet rates at my time of booking was more or less the same. Now I see it's USD20 cheaper per night. I've never used these websites for booking before and I wonder if I should go ahead and book there or just maintain my booking with the travel agent.

On another topic - is there anything for us to see in harlem? The Rockefeller Center and NBC Studios Tour does not allow children below 6. Does that mean, we can't go inside with my toddler?

The children's museum of Manhattan on in the W. 80s would be fun for a toddler. ALso the many playgrounds in central park (and the many other smaller parks). For lunch or brunch on the weekends go to America on 18th st (between 5th av and b'way). It's very toddler friendly and they usually have strolling magicians and balloon animal makers.

Many Manhattan restaurants are not really toddler friendly (man don't even have highchairs or booster seats). COffee shops, delis, chinese and Italian (not high end) tend to be fairly kid friendly.

You might want to use the message boards here:

http://newyork.urbanbaby.com

They have restaurant suggestions here:

http://newyork.urbanbaby.com/communi...tout_main.html

Zizz, all the hotels you mention as part of your package are very nice. But if you mean adding additional nights at any of them comes to $350/night, that's A LOT! If it's total for 2 more nights ($175/night including tax) I think it's fair. Remember hotel tax is about 13.5%. Since you say the package is cheap, I suppose you could try to figure out what the average cost/night would be for 4 nights if you can. BTW, the Doubletree is an all suites hotel which might be nice with the baby. The Hilton gets very good reviews I think on tripadvisor.

As to Harlem, do a text search here for Harlem AND sights to see weblinks & whether it interests you. Many Europeans like going there. The Jumal mansion is supposed to be nice. Some people like going to Harlem for a gospel Sunday brunch.

Mclaurie, what's the full name of the bagel place? I cannot seem to find H & M when I looked it up at Citysearch.

Yes, our extended rate per night adds up to USD350 inclusive of the tax already. The 2 night stay which comes with the airfare package is almost fee if I consider the cost of a ticket alone from here. However, as I've said, the extension rates are extremely steep. I wanted to cancel it and book via internet which was USD33 cheaper per night but I was just told that I'd be charged one night's stay.

Sorry Zizz. The bagel place is H & H. I got it confused with the clothing store H & M.

NYC with a toddler means IMO Central Park. Excellent playgrounds, merry-go-round, places to let the child run and play. Met museum has a free children's storytime every afternoon. For a special meal go early when the service is better and the restaurant will be happy to see a toddler. For my grandchildren, I take them to bathrooms in only the most expensive hotels. There the bathrooms are clean.