Reader Reports

Holidays by Destination North America USA General Reader Reports 

New York

"We've just had a great holiday in the States with our 2-year-old - Americans seem very child-friendly.

Although New Yorkers adore children, sightseeing was practically impossible with very young children (eg Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty) however, go to these places early to be first in line.

You can get great deals on hotels, last minute at weekends (when businessmen go home and they can't fill the rooms). Ring Central Reservations tel: 800 356 1123, Central Reservations Service 800 873 4683 or the Hotel Reservations Network tel: 800 96-HOTEL (hotel booking across the country at up to 65% discount).

In American there is always somewhere to eat and always somewhere to go with kids!"
Rachel Crouch
Arminghall, Norfolk

Washington and Boston

We flew to Washington with Virgin Atlantic which was good though very cramped. Alastair (3 1/2) slept most of the way, Amelia (18 months) did not. There was some turbulence and the crew insisted she be strapped into her child seat which was comfortable but restricting and she screamed which meant some odd looks from other passengers, though the crew wouldn't let me take her out.

There were good kiddy packs of toys on the outbound flights and good children's meals though you have to remember to order those in advance.

Washington offers a mass of museums but in August temperatures were in the high 90s and just getting to the National Air and Space Museum from the parking lot we nearly expired. We also made the mistake of going on the weekend when it was mobbed - definitely to be avoided.
There are lots of hands on exhibits, IMAX films and it's both child-friendly and huge. However the cafe is not good and is over-priced.
We gave up on other museums after that but will definitely go back for places like the Smithsonian, National Galleries etc.

It took around six and half hours to drive to Boston. The driving was easy but we did make sure to avoid the rush hours.

In Boston we stayed at the Doubletree Guest Suites (44 Soldiers Field Road, cnr Storrow Drive, tel: 00 1 617 783 0090) which was expensive at US$179 a night for the four of us, but very good. The suite had a bedroom with double bed and second room with sofa pullout bed. There were two TVs, a kitchenette with sink and coffeemaker (nothing for heating food) and there was a table and chairs for eating.

On the 14th floor we had good views over the river and there was parking immediately underneath for US$10 per night (invaluable in Boston).

Cots were free there was a small indoor pool (very crowded), a fitness room, central washing and drying facilities, 24-hour service, a bag of cookies for us on arrival, children's meals and colouring things were provided for them at every meal.

There were two eating places, one in the mezzanine lounge and other in the proper restaurant which had jazz in the evenings.
The only downside was a lack of baby monitoring and babysitting. This second at $30 callout, $9.50 per hour for two children plus a taxi home worked out too expensive for us to try it.
The hotel is central (opposite Harvard) and very busy so you would have to book ahead.

Although a number of the places we wanted to visit were under restoration, we did enjoy the Museum of Childhood right on the wharf and the Harvard Museum of Art.
Rosalind Stewart
Highgate, London

New York and Virginia

Our American dream was a long time brewing. My brother, resident in Brooklyn, New York, was the draw. It was just finding the right time to go with our two children. We'd had a trip to New York and Boston back in 1992 with just one toddler, but now we had two school age children.

We ended up seeking the help of a local, independent travel agent and the web. By this stage we'd decided on a combination of Manhattan and Virginia, with a night or two in Washington in late May.

Things didn't start well with a three-hour power cut and six-hour delay at Heathrow's Terminal Three. I Spy at the Airport kept us busy. We finally arrived at Newark in the small hours and then endured a hot, nerve-wracking drive to Manhattan, marvelling at the amount of traffic around and trying to stop Zoe being sick in the cab. This was extraordinarily difficult with the heat and stop-start traffic queues. When we arrived at our apartment block Zoe threw up in the gutter and we all heaved a sigh of relief.

The apartment was centrally situated near Grand Central Station and abut 20 minutes walk from Central Park.

We dipped into our family guidebook at regular intervals and found several playgrounds in Central Park as a result. Our favourite was the shady rustic playground with an exciting marble slide, cool in the heat.

The weather was oppressively hot so the usual pleasure of striding along the sidewalk as if you're in a film was impractical It forced us out, to Brooklyn to my brother's apartment and local park for football, to the Bronx with a picnic, to see Wave Hill garden, which had space for the children to run around and shade for us adults to lounge around.

Our children Miles (7) and Zoe (4) loved travelling around Manhattan, watching the constant traffic and busy people on the subway. They also obliged the guidebook by liking the Natural History Museum and the World Trade Center Top of the World observation deck. An unscheduled excitement was a fire on a balcony in the hotel opposite. Six huge, noisy fire engines closed the street off and we just couldn't drag ourselves away.

The apartment was clean, and spacious by NY standards, with lots of room for the children to play and a sofabed so huge they could sleep across it with out any problem. The fridge was stocked with milk and bread on our arrival and self catering was easy with so many local shops and delis to choose from.

After four nights we took the train down to Richmond in Virginia, a relaxing six-hour journey with reclining seats and lots of leg room. We were intrigued by the sleeper car to Miami with beds over the seating area and vowed to try it one day.

We claimed our hire car and made our way to Virginia Beach for four nights. Our travel agent had been rather dubious about Virginia Beach, saying it was rather 'lively' which had heightened its attraction. We weren't disappointed and all agree it was our favourite part of the holiday. The beach was huge and sandy, with ospreys dipping in and dolphins swimming by. Bucket and spade shops mingled with ice cream parlours. Our hotel was at the quiet end of the beach, involving a trolley ride to watch all the action, especially in the evening.

The Virginian Marine Science Museum had external viewing platforms and a huge turtle tank. We followed a 'Bald Creek' nature trail. At first glance it was not unlike the Surrey woodland at home, but swamps, snakes and turtles soon made us jump. The Jamestown Settlement, despite being dismissed as 'touristy' in our guidebook was a comprehensive site with an Indian village, an English village and a reconstructed Pilgrim's ship.

We had a condo with kitchen area, sitting area and balcony which once again enabled us to self cater. Although food is cheap in the US, eating out every meal for four people is still expensive. We found that being vegetarian didn't help either.

We drove across Virginia to the Blue Ridge Mountains, via Richmond, where we had a picnic on a verandah of an old railway station, now the Robin Hood Visitor Center.

We stayed the next four nights at the Wintergreen Resort in the mountains, in a two-bedroomed condo, the most luxurious accommodation of the holiday. We were rather alarmed at the large numbers of people wandering around in evening dress until we discovered there was a gala diner that night.

Once they had gone we were virtually alone so made good use of the outdoor and indoor pools, tennis courts and board game collection. Husband Pete even disappeared off for a game of golf. There was a kindergarten, although we didn't feel we needed it.

Although in our planning Wintergreen was going to be a time of relaxation, it ended up being a nightmare, with huge wood ants invading the condo kitchen and bathroom, the cleaner pestering us, and midnight parties in the swimming pool waking us up. The hiking trails around us were tempting, but became an ordeal in the heat.

We were glad to drive away up the Skyline Drive towards Washington. The cool Luray Caves on the way were worth stopping for, not just to escape the heat.

Our last two nights were in Washington DC, staying in Crystal City and travelling 15 minutes on the subway to the museums. Being located so close to each other, and being free, made it easy for us to pace a day with the the children without feeling we had to 'see it all'.

Zoe really enjoyed the Hirshhorn Modern Art Museum and outdoor sculpture - there was an excellent children's trail to follow. There were little wheeled carts in the National Art Gallery so we both had a quiet half hour exploring the treasures in comfort. meanwhile Miles 'did' the Space Museum but was more excited to see an armed policeman on the roof of the White House.

On our final day we went to the Pentagon shopping center before our flight home.
We rented our apartment in New York from Assured Accommodation mail@assurednyc.com.

The Guide we used was Frommer's New York City with Kids, Holly Hughes, Macmillan USA 1999.
Wendy Bryant

New York

Last September I travelled to New York with my 2 years and 9-month-old daughter and my mother-in-law. None of us had been to New York before so there was both sightseeing and shopping to be done.

We travelled with Virgin Atlantic and Steffi was delighted by 'Bugs Life' on the seat-back TV and her goodie bag.

Getting a cab from JFK to Manhattan is painless - guides at the taxi rank give you a leaflet explaining what you can expect and bundle you into a cab. There is a fixed fare of US$30. Cabbies like you to know exactly where your hotel is situated!

We stayed at the Lyden Gardens, www.mesuite.com on E64th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. A friend had recommended it as somewhere she had stayed with a child of similar age. Two large beds, bathroom, sitting area and, most importantly a kitchen, were provided. A 24-hour deli across the road meant we could get milk, bread etc, even after having checked in shortly before midnight.

The hotel is about four blocks (less than 10 minutes' walk) from Bloomingdales (also the nearest subway station) and Central Park. We combined our sightseeing with shopping - an hour in Bloomingdales was followed by some time in FAO Schwarz, followed by food and drink, then Empire State Building, for example. This way we managed to do everything we wanted to in five days. The best value though was the carousel in Central Park at a dollar a ride.

In the evenings we picked up food on the way home, ate in our room and sank into bed to prepare for the next day. (I though this was because I had a child with me but I returned to NYC on a girlie weekend with no kids and we were in bed by 10.30pm, exhausted from our walking and shopping.)

New Yorkers were, without exception, extremely welcoming to Steffi and I wouldn't hesitate to go back with her.
Sue Woollett

Accommodation Tip

When travelling in the United States it is always worth asking for the corporate rate at hotel chains - I was given this tip by NA amercian friend
and we got instant reductions wherever we went, despite having a couple of samll children and a grandmother in tow and not looking in the least like we were travelling on business.
Sarah Jones
Newcastle, England

California Planning

All areas require car rental and a good map. All have many child-friendly things to do and a variety of accommodations, plus the pound is in great shape there.

There are three main areas: Northern California (includes San Francisco, the spectacular North Coast and the popular National Park Yosemite), Southern California/LA region (theme parks & beaches, some pop culture venues such as Hollywood) and Southern California/San Diego region (animal theme parks, more beaches, great ocean swimming).

It's best to give California a good two-week run if you are going to hit all the highlights.

The plane trip from San Francisco to LA is about one hour. From the Los Angeles area to San Diego it is about a three-hour drive, depending on the freeway traffic. The drive between San Francisco and LA takes about 6-7 hours on a very dull road in the central part of the state. Tourists sometimes take two days and drive down the very scenic coast. The train system is worthless in California, as is much of the public transit.
Rachel Kellerman