rvtripwith4

We are going to be traveling by RV from Florida to New York this summer and will have 2 kids (12 & 10) and 2 dogs. We have all traveled before in an RV and it was the best vacation ever! Our dogs are part of our family and we can not leave them behind for 2 weeks so we take them with I have been researching RV campgrounds around New York City, since we do want to see the city for the 1st time, but have read conflicting stories about whether there are any SAFE campgrounds with in public transportation to the city. Any help would be appreciated. We have 7 full days available? Do we need all 7 to see New York City or is there other places you would recommend? We are open to all suggestions. Thanks for you help in advance!

nytraveler

I hate to be discouraging but I think you have a couple of problems. The only RV park I know near NYC is in New Jersey - near Liberty State park (Liberty Harbor RC Park). I beleive the cost starts at about $75 per night plus tax. There is public transit into the city butyou need to check hours and schedules and not cheap (there is info on the website). Also - not sure they will allow you to leave the dogs locked in your RV (and how hot will it get?) for entire days.

And you can't bring dogs into NYC. They are not allowed on public transit, in stores, restaurants, or public buildings. I think you would have to try to find a doggie day care - but not sure where they are in NJ. You can definitely find them in Manhattan - but don't know how you would get the dogs there. (You can;t bring RVs into Manhattan - there is simply no place to put them.)

I know someone asked a question like this some time ago and was told that there are some campgrounds in NY State Parks upstate - but then I think you would be even further from the city - and would have to find taxis or similar to get from the park to the nearest railroad station. So I'm not sure how viable those choices are.

Floridafran

Haven't taken our RV up that way, yet. But I have found the forums on the following RV specific sites to be very helpful. Lots of friendly people who are Rvers and go pretty much everywhere. On each site you can search the forums for info as well as post questions (once you join, which is free) about pretty much anything.

www.rv.net
www.Irv2.com
www.rvforum.net

As for leaving your dogs in the RV while you sightsee. We travel with 4 cats, which is easier than traveling with dogs since they don't need to be walked. We know several people, however, who do travel with dogs. Most RV campgrounds will let you leave your pets during the day. However, they won't tolerate noisy pets. If you know your dogs are barkers, you'll have to figure out how to minimize that. Also, only you know how long your dogs can last before they need a potty break. No RV park I know of will allow you to leave your pets outside while you're away. Some do have kennels or pet-sitting facilities, but they're rare.

Even more important is being certain that your campsite has a reliable source of electricity for running the air conditioner. It's amazing how quickly an RV heats up with the AC off. Our coach has an emergency battery-powered vent fan which opens automatically and turns on if the temperature exceeds our preset point. We also leave our contact information with the office so they can call us if there's a power outage or other emergency. That same info is on a card on our RV door. Should we get such a call, we can tell them where we have a door key hidden so they could rescue our cats. As you said, they're family and we can't leave them behind for weeks at a time when we travel, so we do everything we can to ensure their safety when we're away from the RV.

Good luck and have fun.

VRTravel

I don't know if you necessarily need 7 days to see NYC. You definitely need time to see the Empire State Building, ride the ferry to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, there are many museums which the kids might love, I loved walking the Brooklyn Bridge. You can always see central park, the lights in the city at night, Grand Central station, Times Square etc. There is so much to do but NYC can be seen 4-5 days and with younger kids that's a lot of walking so you could even go to the city 2/3 days and then visit some cool things outside of NY for the rest of the time.
If you are driving from FL like you said, there are also so many great cities you will be passing by which you should see. There is an app (or you can look at it online) called On The Way App that shows you what great things are along the way of your trip. Good luck hope it is fun!

nytraveler

Sorry the Stautue of Liberty is closed for renovations until the end of the year and the ESB has lines that can be hours long. there are a ton of things to see in NYC fo r kids that age:

Top of the rock
Staten island ferry (free) Central Park (zoo, carousel and boating on the lake)
Museum of Nat'l History (all kids love this - esp the dinos - but gems/minerals and human evolution are great too)
The Met (check out the departments - there is something fro everyone from Egyptian dept/Temple of Dendur to arms & armor and the Costume Institute
Ellis Island Immigration Museum is brilliant if you can get ferry tickets (from the National Park Service web site)
Consideri visiting the Intrepid plus space shuttle
You must take th kids to at least one show
Consider a boat tour - perhaps the Beast jet boat


Whatever you do, do NOT pay for the HoHo bus - very expensive and close to useless - you spend most of your time sitting in traffic. Once in the city the subway is you friend - get a map and study it before you go. Or walk shorter distances.

rvtripwith4

Yes, we plan on having full hookups at the site so the air will be on during the day when we are gone. They are used to be homing during they day while we are at work. Thank you all for your helpful advice.