During our vacation(mom/2daughters) we plan to stroll,Soho/Noho/Nolita. Any suggestions on what we shouldn't miss?

Also any tips for touring Greennwich Village/Washington Square area?

We do better by ourselves than w/ a tour.

Do you want to shop, see what the neighborhoods look like, see art ?? The core area you're talking about is walkable. But the charming, low rise, twisty street part of the village is west of Sixth Avenue and Washington Sq Park. The new SoHo is actually the west Chelsea section all the way over by the river, where people wander gallery to gallery on 20th - 25th.
SoHo is more and more about flagship stores (alot of high end to J. Crewish, Anthropologie -- but you could get alot of this at a mall), though there are still some unique shops, NoHo and Nolita will have more small boutique shops. For lunch I still love the Cupping Room on West Broadway and Broome in SoHo (have been eating there off and on since the 80's).
I'd probably start at Wash Sq, head south into SoHo then loop around back -- if you add the other two things I mentioned that's much more than a day. It really depends on what you and your daughters want to see.

At the real estate section of NY Magazine, you'll find blurbs on the various areas. While they're written for prospective renters/buyers, they list the key shops and restaurants. Might be helpful. nymetro.com/realestate

There are lots of self guided walking tours on line too, esp. for the village.
Bleecker St. is a main shopping st. in the village. There are also hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of previous threads here on places to shop, eat and see in the village and Soho if you do a text search. Here's just one
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34883468

we are looking to shop & see the neighborhood. unique & inexpensive shops.NO mall stores. trying to get the feel of nyc.

Unfortunately the "no mall stores" part of soho is long gone, however you get get a feel for it primarily if you walk e/w on Prince/Spring between Broadway and 6th ave. There are little streets off those like Mercer etc. that probably have what you're looking for.

Cross up and over Houston street from Prince and you'll move into the Village/Washington Sq area.

Everybody has mentioned about things to do in Soho, but nobody has mentioned anything about the East Village and Nolita area. Here, you will find some of the best locals restaurants and shops in the city.

Let me start with the shops. At St. Marks (or 8th Street between 3rd Ave and 1st Ave), you will find the bustling locals only nightlife that will not have the glitz of the boutique stores, but are as lively, if not livelier, than Soho – especially during the night. All over lower East Village, especially along 2nd Avenue, you will experience our locals only nightlife and specialty stores. A nice neighborhood to be walking around in,even during the night.

As for restaurants, well, there’s Hearth, Prune, The Tasting Room, Momofoku, Cacio e Pepe, Veiero’s, Five Points, and possibly about 100 others just in the East Village area. Nolita is home to Orchard, Peasant, Inoteca, Il Laboratoio del Gelato, Katz, Clinton Street Baking and other highly-regarded restaurants in the city.

thank you very much, very interesting. that gives me many more options

New York's best pizza is in Nolita .. Lombardi's on Spring Street. Along Mulberry north of Spring you'll find lots of great little boutiques and shops, then turn right on Prince and walk east to the Bowery ... more shops etc.

Enjoy NYC!

A fun place to shop is in Nolita here
http://www.edgeny.com/

There's a flea market in Soho on weekends too at Broadway & Grand St.

EdgeNY is great. Check out Wendel Johnston's blazers. He buys vintage and then tailors them ... zipper instead of buttons .. sews in a hood to make it look like the wearer has a hoodie on underneath, etc. Tres cool.