I joined this forum last year and was chuffed to bits with the repies I got to a few queries...not least getting my head around the subway lines map. (I'll be needing some revision no doubt).

Anyway, after a successful trip with 24 students age 15-18 last February, we're booked again for days in February 2013.

I've got a fair idea of the schedule so I am not really looking for the "big" recommendations, rather something a little different. So here's two to start with...

What would people say would be the best way to fill three hours on an afternoon and not pay an entrance fee to anywhere. (We are already visiting Central Park, the 911 Memorial and doing The Staten Island Ferry.) Last year we walked The High Line but it was wet and perhaps not as inspiring as it might be in summer. However, Greenwich is pretty cool and we thought of perhaps allowing a free hour or two there. Last time we had to head back to the hotel but the shops looked appealing to the kids. Not sure if there's two hours there though?

And for number two, is there anything free and/or cheap on an evening? Last year the students happily passed an hour or so around Times Square both nights but I'm keen to add something in. A show is probably too much but it's pretty hard to find "activities" for teens.

Open to all ideas, grateful for any responses.

My name is Kennedy Moore founder of Ask a New Yorker. First off when in Feb are you visiting? Sounds like your on a tight budget.But one idea would be to capture the kids and the city with a photography tour. Two groups of 12 Check out phototrektours.com I'm also a photographer with Phototrek Perhaps we could work somethng out. Sorry for the shamless plug
Another idea there's always cool art. The gallery district in Chelsea in my opinion is amazing with over 200 galleries of the most avant garde, way out there creative cutting edge work. Kids might dig that. Free evening stuff? Pick up a copy of Time Out as soon as you arrive. There will be lisitng for free things to do. The Staten Island Ferry is always a good one which is free. Great views of the harbor and Lady Liberty which takes about 1 1/2 hrs.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2012 06:03AM by askanewyorker.

I wish you a lot of luck! How did you make out last year for restaurants for your group? Aside from national chains and fast-food outlets, it's difficult to just walk into a place with that large a group.

Similarly, while there are cute little shops and great art galleries throughout the Village and Chelsea, most will not look kindly on a big group of kids entering at the same time.

What about putting together a photo scavenger hunt for your group? Will you have enough adults to break up the group into smaller teams?

You can't do better than getting Kennedy as your guide, it'll be the highlight of your trip!

Thanks for those two replies. We're visiting Feb 19-23. Same week as last year.

Kennedy, thanks for the phototrek tip. This year I'm afraid it would be beyond our budget. The excursions / visits we are paying is nudging the overall cost price perilously close to the £1000 barrier mark that I simply cannot break...so your website prices are well beyond us this time. Nevertheless, I would definitely bear it in mind for the future if we get there in 2013!

Chelsea is a great tip - I will look into it. It's not an area I've really go to know on my previous visits.

Time Out is also a useful tip, thanks. The risk-assessment (a massive document you have to do for school trips in the UK) tends to frown on doing too much improvised stuff i.e. almost every minute needs to be planned out. However, there is room for some last-minute calls so that might help.

Oracle - hello again! Last year we ended up doing Bubba Grump - Hard Rock - Planet Hollywood on each night. Of those Bubba Grump was easily the best and made us feel welcome as customers rather than a school party hidden in a mass seating area away from the main restaurant (Hard Rock and PH). Probably do Bubba Grump again - the kids loved it. Planet Hollywood closed and Hard Rock was a worse experience than our school canteen so we'll be going elsewhere.


We did really well for breakfasts just around the area near the hotel - just let the students find their own place and it was fine. Same story at lunch down in Greenwich and up on the right of Central Park.

I will definitely look into Chelsea more. The size of the group will hopefully not be too much of an issue - there are only 20 students this time and they soon seem to dissipate into smaller groups - they all have their own interest areas. Their age means it's not a problem giving them free time in one hour blocks. Last visit we had nothing but positive vibes wherever we went - our kids are used to wandering Manchester and Liverpool here in the UK so they don't tend to stand out or look too tourtisty and they are fairly streetwise.

Evenings still an issue though. Post 8pm it is either coffee shops or nothing - at least based on experience. Even just a cafe with some live music would sort us out for an hour or so.

Thanks to you both.