UPDATED November 2022: The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx is one of the best winter break activities in NYC that you can do indoors with your children. Tickets are on sale now for this year’s show, which runs from Nov. 19, 2021, to Jan. 16, 2022. Admission is limited so don’t wait to buy tickets. Here’s a review one of our members did of a past year’s show (most of which still holds true).

The annual train show is one of my 4.5-year-old son’s favorite things to see, and this is his third year in a row attending. The show combines major “attractions,” model trains and model architecture, with the buildings of New York City, complete with bridges, made out of plants (remember, this is the Botanical Gardens).

The Holiday Train Show was about the same as previous years, with a few new buildings but younger children are unlikely to remember what they saw the previous time.

Building highlights among the 175 featured include Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building, the Apollo Theater, and the Brooklyn Bridge. They even have the Little Red Lighthouse to complement the George Washington Bridge. The trains are all large-scale and extremely cool. The kids like to get close-up (unfortunately, there is very little you can actually touch) and it’s also fun to watch the trains go overhead across the bridges.

The Holiday Train Show can get very crowded, especially during peak season, which is why I suggest getting tickets for the start of the day Tickets are timed, which means you can’t enter until the time on your pre-purchased ticket, but once you are in, you can stay in as long as you like.

The exhibit is one big loop, and you can go around the loop as fast or as slow as you like, but as one dad pointed out, you might have to deal with a “codger bottleneck” or a pack of school kids. Security prefers that you not go the wrong way on the path. My daughter (15 months), enjoyed walking through, so I stayed at her pace anyway. A couple of the dads made two loops because their kids were napping during the first go round

The Holiday Train Show is a little pricey but it’s a good chance to do an activity you can only do in the winter here in NYC. Strollers aren’t allowed, as there is no room, so bring a carrier if your child doesn’t walk. However, there is stroller parking for those parents that do bring their strollers. I drove up to the New York Botanical Gardens with a friend, which is the easiest way to get there, but parking is expensive if you don’t have a Wildlife Conservation Society membership. Metro-North is also a fast option, and is right across the street. To get there via the subway requires a bus or a schlep as well.

All in all, The Holiday Train Show at New York Botanical Gardens is a fun experience, if not a little redundant for me on my third trip. Fortunately, the kids loved it and that’s what matters!

— Josh Kross

NYC Holiday Train Show info

• Location: New York Botanical Gardens, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY
• Hours: Generally, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday and Monday federal holidays.
• Tickets: $20 to $35, children under 2 get in free. Timed entry. Buy in advance. Buy tickets.

Photo: © hitman1234 /  Adobe Stock.

With the holiday season upon us and winter break from school near, we asked a few of our dads for suggestions on what to do with their children in and around NYC during this time of the year. Here are some of their suggestions, and if you want more check out our summary of fun winter activities for kids.

MTA Holiday Nostalgia Rides

The MTA is continuing its annual tradition of Holiday Nostalgia Rides on vintage trains. Having grown up in the city, I always think this means the cars will be covered in graffiti and I’ll be mugged by a guy named Fleabag Jimmy, but no! Vintage subway cars from the 1930s will roll out along the A, C, D and F lines on Sunday afternoons during the holidays. My 5-year-old daughter loves going on these cars at the Transit Museum and it’ll be great for her to see them in action as we schlep around the city doing our Christmas shopping. Rumor has it that the MTA’s infrastructure is also from the 1930s, but you already knew that.

— Peter Duffy

Skating and window shopping

We love to ice skate during this time of year and are fortunate to be near so many thrilling ice rinks in NYC. Our favorite is Wollman Rink in the middle of Central Park with its expansive ice rink, sweet skyline views, and warm hot chocolate when you’re ready for a break. We also love Bryant Park’s Ice Skating Rink because of its convenient location and if you own your own skates, it’s free admission.  Plus, the surrounding Winter Village is fun to walk around before or after our family skate.

Another favorite winter break tradition is doing a Department Store Window Walking Tour. First, we get large cups of hot chocolate. Then, we stroll from Barneys to Bergdorf Goodman to Saks. Saks has an amazing and free light show on their building that’s entertaining for the kids. It’s also right next to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree so that’s a mandatory stop on our tour as well. This year we plan to make a pit stop in FAO Schwartz now that our favorite toy store has reopened in a new location at Rock Center.

— Lance Somerfeld

Gingerbread Lane

Every year during the holiday season, we go to the New York Hall of Science to see Gingerbread Lane. It is the biggest collection of gingerbread houses. Sometimes you can even meet the baker who created all of these gingerbread houses and have a talk with him.

— Larry Interrante

Other suggestions:

• The annual Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx
• Winter ONEderland  at One World Observatory
• Radio City Christmas Spectacular