New York, New York: 10 Top Indoor Activities

New York City has a thousand attractions, but perfect weather is not among them. Some days, particularly when it’s cold, snowy or rainy, you’ll want to spend a few hours indoors. Fortunately, there are countless fun adventures to share inside. Here are 10 wonderful ways to pass time whether or not the weather cooperates.

The Times Square neighborhood is ground zero for family-friendly fun activities with a plethora of intriguing venues that entice folks inside. Selfie-lovers flock to Madame Tussauds to photo bomb favorite A-list celebrities. Plus, the Latin experience, “Sabor Latino” turns up the heat.

At Gulliver’s Gate, also in Times Square, visitors are amazed at the technologically advanced, interactive miniature experience that illustrates the streets and neighborhoods of New York City. The extravaganza gives children a sense of one world and encourages traveling the Earth to see sites in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Europe in incredibly well-crafted and precisely detailed miniature. High-tech 3D printing offers visitors the chance to see themselves and companions in 1:87 scale. Boys and girls love the new HO scale model railroad, a 475-foot main line exhibit with more than 10,000 vehicles, many of which operate. An exciting option is that visitors can be scanned to make a figure that will be to the exhibit.

Ripley’s Believe it or Not is a Times Square venue where family members who accept the unusual and delight in surprise appreciate the one-of-a-kind artifacts. There’s an entire baseball exhibit. Adventurous young people enjoy exploring the eerie tunnel that’s the Black Hole, dodging laser beams and looking at beyond-the-ordinary bodies, including a shrunken head, a huge body or a strange animal.

After philanthropists saved the USS Intrepid from the impending scrap heap in 1976, it journeyed to New York City. By 1982, The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum was established; the National Historic Landmark showcases exhibits both inside and on deck. This maritime-museum on the Hudson covers history since World War I and displays the Enterprise, the space shuttle; Growler, the submarine; and dozens of important, restored aircraft.

MOMA, New York © Julia161 | Dreamstime.com

On upper Fifth Avenue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is both a major city destination and an absolutely fabulous rainy-day retreat with its own restaurant. My theory is to introduce youngsters to museums gingerly, stay 60–75 minutes helping them to find their wow and leave while they still want to see more (so they want to come back). If you don’t know now, you’ll learn whether your child will be enthralled meandering through the Arms and Armor room or the Egyptian Wing, discovering ancient Greek statues or Tiffany stained-glass windows. Some youngsters love the furnished palace rooms and my favorite space is the Lehman Collection and the rooms with 19th- and early 20th-century European Art. (You may be surprised to learn your children already recognize Renoir, Van Gogh or Monet!)

On the Lower East Side, the guided tour of the Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard St. is compelling no matter where you currently live or where your family originates. Costumed “residents” representing immigrants from various countries describe their daily lives in this recreation of a typical tenement building in different decades from the mid 19th to the early 20^th century. The Under One Roof tour at 103 Orchard St. features the stories of immigrants in the decades after World War II.

Serendipity III is a charming East Side recreation of an old-fashioned sweet shop, complete with stained-glass, lamp-shaded chandeliers and either hot (or frozen) chocolate, depending upon the weather. The food menu features hamburgers, chicken, shrimp-stuffed avocado and lemon sole, plus desserts made from the best international ingredients, including Tahitian vanilla beans, Caribbean chocolate, Madagascar vanilla and Armagnac from France. The boutique menu offers almost as many items to purchase to take home as the food menu has to deliver to the tables.

If you are traveling with a 6-year old-princess or celebrating her birthday, consider staying at the pink-and-black Eloise at The Plaza suite, decorated by renown designer Betsey Johnson. The suite features a king-sized bed with custom Eloise-themed bedding, dolls, her name in neon and, of course, Kay Thompson’s book. Alternately, be sure to book Afternoon Tea in The Palm Court and shop in the boutique for Eloise goodies.

If you didn’t reserve tickets for a Broadway show in advance, head to TKTS for an afternoon matinee or evening performance. Same day, discounted tickets are sold in Times Square, at Lincoln Center and the South Street Seaport.

CityPass is a one-price, multiday voucher which gives discounted entry into a number of special sights, including the Met and Natural History museums, Intrepid, Empire State and Circle Line or Hornblower boat tours around Manhattan.