We just returned from a three day trip to New York City's Upper West Side and had a great time! This trip it was me, my husband, and our 6 year old daughter. We traveled on Amtrak from DC to NYC. Upon arrival in NY we took the subway uptown and found a place to eat. The Manhattan Diner received good reviews online so we had lunch there. I didn't think it was anything special but it was fine for a quick lunch on the way to the hotel. When we arrived at the Lucerne Hotel we were very pleased that it lived up to its excellent reviews and we were relieved that the place I had chosen turned out to be a great choice. Easy access to the Natural History museum, restaurants, and subway. The Deluxe Double Double room was spacious enough for two adults and a child to move around without bumping into each other all the time. The room seemed luxurious and the shower was great.

After checking in at the hotel we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and took a walk through Central Park. Our destination was the Central Park Zoo but it isn't easy to find. We did a lot of extra walking before finding the entrance hidden under the 66th Street traverse and by then it was only 30 minutes until closing time. So we didn't end up visiting the zoo but the park itself was very busy and the walk made for a nice afternoon. Being the first day of spring and beautiful warm weather, the park was filled with people lounging, playing frisbee, and walking. There were several musicians around, as well as some jugglers and other entertainment. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Please note, however, that walking the 66th Street traverse is not the way to go - better to walk through the park as we learned the hard way. 66th street there has a sidewalk but really is mostly for cars, not pedestrians.

We met a friend for dinner at Big Nick's Burger and Pizza joint. I had read many great reviews of Nick's so wanted to give it a try. I was surprised at how small the place was! It's just two tiny aisles of tables, although there was seating outside in front. The service was just okay but the food was good. I'm not sure why Big Nick's is so popular since neither the service, food, nor atmosphere was all that great, but had I not read the glowing reviews I would have thought it was fine. If I were in town, I would eat there again but my expectations would be different.

The next day we set out for a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry, based on recommendations from people here on Fodor's. First we stopped in at Zabar's Cafe, which was fun. It's a tiny place and the one long table that everyone shares made it easy to eavesdrop on the other people there. I felt like I got a peek (and listen) at how the locals live, which was fun for me. The food was good, too.

Took the subway to the end of the line and rode the ferry across to Staten Island and back. The ferry is free so it's a nice way to get a view of the Manhattan skyline and a far away view of the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful day and our 6 year old enjoyed the ferry ride and seeing the SoL.

After the ferry ride we took the subway back uptown but due to work on some of the stations on the uptown side we had to get off at Times Square instead of 59th street as we'd hoped. Still, that turned out just fine since our daughter enjoyed the walk among all the lighted billboards and all the activity. The streets weren't too busy so it was a nice walk. We were headed for Angelo's Pizza on 57th Street on our way to FAO Schwarz but ended up stopping in at Famous Original Ray's Pizza on 7th Street on our way uptown. I chose it because I thought it was supposed to be one of those great local places I'd read about. We had slices and thought it was good and were happy with it but as I read the reviews now they don't seem that great. I don't know if I was thinking of somewhere else or if people just disagree about how they like their pizza but regardless, we were happy with it.

After lunch we walked the rest of the way to FAO Schwarz, which did not disappoint. Our daughter had a great time looking at everything and, of course, playing on the giant piano. We were fortunate that the place wasn't too busy so she was able to spend a fair amount of time on it without it being too crowded. I'll admit that I enjoyed the store visit as well. It wasn't quite as over the top as I expected but it was still a lot of fun and we enjoyed seeing how much our daughter enjoyed it. Sad as it may sound with all the culture in NYC but it was one of our favorite stops (well, maybe not my husband's - ha!). But for a family group I guess that's to be expected.

We headed back to the Lucerne to rest a while (all that walking!!). While my husband and daughter rested I went to check out the Levain Bakery I had read so many good things about. It's a tiny place but even at 4:30pm on a Sunday there was a line out the door. I was a bit taken aback that a single cookie cost $4 but I figured all these people in line must know something, so I gave it a try. Selection was very limited so late in the day but the chocolate-peanut butter chip cookie was the size of a muffin top and DELICIOUS! Even my husband had to admit after trying it that if you're going to pay $4 for a cookie, this is the one to get. So while it was expensive, I didn't feel too guilty about spending that much for one cookie. Yum!

We chose Lansky's for dinner. It was a bit further than I would have preferred to walk after the past two days but it was worth it. This was the one restaurant where I wasn't disappointed at all. The other places were fine, but Lansky's lived up to its reviews. The food, service, and atmosphere were nice and we definitely would recommend it to others. The cheesecake was excellent as well. Worth the extra walking.

The next day our luck of beautiful spring weather came to an end with a slightly cooler rainy day but that was okay since we were planning to visit the American Museum of Natural History anyway. We went to Cafe Eighty Two for breakfast on the way. I hadn't heard of it in my admittedly obsessive research, but it was raining so we popped in. The prices and food were good so although after later on reading just average reviews of it, our experience was good.

Our tour of the museum was only for a couple of hours since we had to catch the train back to DC later but we enjoyed it. Our daughter really liked the space center and the mammals and dinosaurs exhibits. It was fun to watch her excitedly go from one display to another. She seemed to enjoy the museum even more than the toy store, which made me happy.

After the museum we checked out of the hotel and picked up some bagels at the famous H&H Bagels to take home. I'm not sure why I think of it as "famous" except that I'd heard of it from Seinfeld. Still, it seems to be a favorite of the locals. I haven't tried the bagels yet so I can't comment on them. That was our last stop before taking the subway back to Penn Station and heading for home.

All in all, it was a nice weekend trip for our whole family. NYC involves a LOT of walking and we were happy that our daughter's complaints were minimal. We had a longer list of sights to see but simply getting to places takes some time so we just enjoyed what we could without getting stressed about seeing everything.

Thanks for reading and for all the advice I received here on the forum!

Nice report.

Nick's is more of a neighborhood place that's been around for a long time, I think since the 1960s.

There's a good story/legend around the Famous Rays, Ray's Original, Ray's pizza, etc naming-none of it has to do with the quality of the pizza.

Thanks for the trip report, Traveler.

I am wondering how long one should allott for the Staten Island ferry ride- would you say 1/2 a day? A whole day?

Boots08 - the Staten Island Ferry is a 5 mile, 25 minute ride. So if you go over and then come right back it'll be about an hour. From what I read there isn't a lot of touristy things to do on the island so most visitors just take it from Manhattan to Staten Island and then get right on and return to Manhattan.
http://www.siferry.com/

Wow, it's a shorter jaunt than I thought. I also thought there might be line ups to factor in. Thanks, Traveler.

Very good report -- thanks!

One thing to note about most all of the classic NYC pizza spots (Grimaldi's, Totonno's, John's, Lombardi's, Nick's) -- they don't sell slices, just whole pies only. So Famous Ray's was likely one of your better options if you didn't want a whole pie.

Dear Traveler A

Where did you read great things about Angelos's, Big Nick's and Lansky's?

I looked at a bunch of food and travel websites like Citysearch,, Trip Advisor, Let's Go, Yelp, and Menupages to figure out what was supposed to be good. I also found some from the Google maps website and got recommendations here on Fodors. Naturally, not everyone agreed but after looking at so many different sites I felt I had a decent consensus. I wish we could have tried more places but our time was limited. We weren't looking for fancy food and tried to stay at the low end of the price range while still finding good places.

I looked at a bunch of food and travel websites like Citysearch, Trip Advisor, Let's Go, Yelp, and Menupages to figure out what was supposed to be good. I also found some from the Google maps website and got recommendations here on Fodors. Naturally, not everyone agreed but after looking at so many different sites I felt I had a decent consensus. I wish we could have tried more places but our time was limited. We weren't looking for fancy food and tried to stay at the low end of the price range while still finding good places.

I do not like any of the on-line restaurant sites. Only about half of the people know what they are talking about and Yelp is the worst of the worst.

Sorry, you did eat at better places. Next time.

thanks for a nice report. sounds like it was a fun weekend!