Economist Writing Every Day

Two years ago, when we still had a preschooler, I wrote “See New York City for Free.” In the spirit of Do Less for Preschool, we did not actually go into the city. We looked at the Manhattan skyline from Liberty State Park in New Jersey (free parking). The park has points of interest. I do not believe my kids would have benefitted from an expensive trip into NYC, in 2022 (which isn’t to say that parents should rule it out if they are primarily going for themselves). Remember that a 4-year-old enjoys poking a bucket of rain water about as much as a trip to Disneyworld. Sticking to the nap schedule is probably better for everyone than doing a forced march through fancy landmarks in any weather, for preschool kids.

Now in 2024, we have graduated to actually going into the city (for now, assume the constraint of spending our nights in New Jersey, you guys). I’ll describe two low-budget day trips that will tire but not exhaust school-age kids.

On the first day, we used NJ Transit trains to get to New York Penn Station. Since my kids do mostly cars and suburbs, the train itself was fun. On weekends and holidays, kids ride free on NJ Transit. From there, we walked all the way to Central Park, which took us through Time Square. You call this “urban hiking” now (previously known as walking). We stopped into a few stores along the way. I’ve taught my kids to “window shop” in a store, meaning they are warned ahead of time that we are not buying anything. We spent money on food and drinks, but it would have been possible to pack in a lot more food if desired. Once we had walked all the way to the upper east side (about 3 miles), we took a taxi back to the train station.

On the second day, we avoided high parking fees once again by departing on the ferry from the New Jersey terminal to see the Statue of Liberty. There were plenty of families with preschool kids or babies, by the way. Strollers are allowed on the ferries, just not inside the pedestal or statue. The ferry ticket includes access to all of the indoor museums and audio tours. If you want to be allowed to walk up the stairs into the crown of the statue, be aware that you need to book those tickets many months in advance. If you just want to take the ferry to the island, then you don’t have to plan so far ahead.

These plans rely heavily on being outside, so rain would pose a problem. There are plenty of places to escape the rain, but it would not be nearly as fun/cheap.

If you are road tripping anywhere with kids, read Zach on long family car trips. I’ll add that you can fill up a large insulated thermos of ice from the hotel and bring it along to provision drinks from cans throughout the day.

Pictured: Central Park, view from Statue of the Statue, view from the Statue of the city