Yorkieabroad

My wife is working up in Pittsburgh for a few weeks, spanning Spring Break, so I'm thinking about going up to see her with the kids for a few days. Thing is, that part of the country has never made it very far up my "to go" list, so at a bit of a loss as to whats there! Any ideas what there is to do with 10, 9 and 6 year olds.
Thinking about a drive up to Niagara - is it worth it this time of year?
Is there any reasonable skiing close by?
Or other outdoorsy stuff?
How about any decent (kid friendly) museums?
Any "must see/do" things to fit in?
Thanks

Bob

I always thought it was a shit hole talking to the missus

But there are some decent eateries and museums apparently.

It's a bit of a hike to Niagara I thought, but if you're up for that, there's also Hershey Park, which is supposed to be quite a fun day out, the theme park type stuff. There's also the Crayola factory which will probably be great fun for your kids for the day and there's also a Sesame street thing too. Those places are probably 2-3 hours away though at a guess.

The mall at the airport is supposed to be pretty cool too.

Yorkieabroad

Yeah, well, I guess my saying it wasn't on my "to go" list was a polite way of saying that.....must be losing my Yorkshire roots

Niagaras about 3 hours I think - was thinking maybe an overnight.

Hershey place - heard about that - have to check it out, and the crayola one, although think we'll pass on Sesame St....

Cheers for that Bob,


Ps - The mall at the airport are you serious? Or is it late where you are?

Bob

Nope. The missus said there's a mall at the airport, which is supposed to be a bit of a highlight...don't know what exactly that says about the place mind, but there you go

If you do the Crayola Place, google out discount codes as you can sometimes find some decent deals if you guy tickets in advance. The same goes for Hershey too, though I think the main place has free entry, but they tack on so many additional costs for the fun stuff that it adds up, but you can sometimes find online package type bundles.

Bomjeito

Umm... Bob must be thinking of Philly, or State of PA. The Crayola factory is in Easton, about 1.5 hrs from Philly or at least five plus hours from Pittsburgh! It's okay to visit IF you are in the area. And your kids gotta love crayons. I've been there.

Hershey is in Hershey, PA which is in Central PA, many hours from Philly to the west and many hours from Pittsburgh to the east. You will not want these types of drives IMHO when so much is nice to do and see in WESTERN PA. Hershey, PA is a whole town now dotted with resorts, and it's nice but would you really want to drive 4 hours for a chocolate factory tour? It's a nice family resort destination so if it is just you and the kids, they may hate you for it, esp. with so many things to do in Pittsburgh and the surrounding closer areas.

I love Pittsburgh. It's one of my favorite US cities.

Niagara Falls is about 4 hours drive. The better side is the Canadian. The NY side is a dingy tourist-trappy souvenir stop. Read online for more opinions before heading out there.

The miniature train village at the Carnegie science center is fun for kids. As it the Mt Washington Incline, where the view of the three rivers and city is lovely.

Go to the Strip district and eat at the original Primanti Brothers.

The Carnegie Natural Science Museum is great for kids too.

The Duck Tours is fun for them as well.

You'll have plenty to do in Pittsgburgh!

Guindalf

Primanti Brothers is a must!

Not sure if the kids would like it, but a tour of Heinz Field is interesting.

Yorkieabroad

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Natural Science museums are always a good bet (especially if its going to be cold!) and seeing a city from the water always gives a interesting perspective.

And for the comment about coupons Bob - I leave that to the wife. Her mission in life is to get places as cheaply as possible - I think she was mob related in a previous life as it often seems like we end up getting paid to go in places!

Bob

That's still day trip territory though :/

But I agree about going to the Canadian side of the Falls as the US side isn't great...it seems everyone says the same

Bob

If you've got a museum pass to a local museum, check to see if they have a reciprocal pass....as I know the one for Boston gets you into Chicago for free and a bunch of other towns.

Amusing thing is, some passes are much better than others as the Ecotarium in Worcester is half the price of the Boston Childrens Museum pass, but can be used for both places, including the kids place in Acton, which is where I found out that you can use the pass in other cities, there's a list somewhere in the small print.

Englishmum

Also if you are in the AAA they often offer discounts to hotels, museums etc. so it may be worthwhile contacting your local AAA branch or calling in at one of their 'travel offices' in PA and asking about discount coupons.

http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/

Duncan Roberts

We were there this weekend. Go to the Pittsburgh kids museum, you can spend the whole day there and kids won't be bored. Take a change of clothes for them (and flip flops if you don't want to use communal ones), there is a floor of water stuff and they will get wet. It's $12 for adults and $11 for kids plus $5 for parking.

Yorkieabroad

Yeah, you see thats the sort of thing I rely on my wife for...
Couple of years back we got Go San Diego cards (or something like that) which were about $25/day, but had Legoland Access included which was about $50 at the time. We went in on consecutive days, and as we went in, we also got a free return pass, which we sold for 25-35 each on ebay when we got home. I'm sure we must have violated some small print somewhere....

Yorkieabroad

Yeah, and they have a mobile app too that pops up any discounts in the area you're in - quite handy

Yorkieabroad

Thats good to know - thanks - what sort of age is it aimed at? The Houston one is aimed at pretty broad range, but some that we've been to are more like toddler play areas. The one in Santa Fe won all sorts of awards, but when we went a couple of years ago, it was a big let down.

Yorkieabroad

Canadian side it is then.

And as an added bonues, we get to tick the box on another country visited!