Pittsburgh travel with young kids
June 15, 2017 12:44 PM Subscribe
We have two short visits to Pittsburgh planned in the next few weeks. Can you share suggestions for fun things to do? Some restrictions apply.
We're going to be on a road trip with two kids (2 and 6) and we're hoping to stop in Pittsburgh. What would be a good thing to do to help the kids burn some energy? And just for fun?
The children's museum looks nice, but do you think a young toddler would like it? They do LOVE Daniel Tiger and it looks like there's an exhibit there. Also the museum closes at 5 or 6, any ideas what we could do after?
Are there any great parks or public gardens we could visit? Family friendly restaurants? I appreciate your suggestions!
We're going to be on a road trip with two kids (2 and 6) and we're hoping to stop in Pittsburgh. What would be a good thing to do to help the kids burn some energy? And just for fun?
The children's museum looks nice, but do you think a young toddler would like it? They do LOVE Daniel Tiger and it looks like there's an exhibit there. Also the museum closes at 5 or 6, any ideas what we could do after?
Are there any great parks or public gardens we could visit? Family friendly restaurants? I appreciate your suggestions!
The Children's Museum is awesome and there are a lot of parts purpose-built for toddlers. My daughter is 6 and we spent a lot of her toddler years in the Garage and water room. She's since graduated to loving the art room. Just go. Your kids will love it.
Not far from there is North Shore Riverfront park and there is an outdoor fountain the kids can splash in at all hours. The immediate area has a lot of restaurants, especially near the stadiums
Also not far is the National Aviary, which is another favorite in our house. There are three areas where you can hang out in the same room as the birds. You can pay extra to hang out with a penguin.
What days of the week will you be in town? There are a ton of family-friendly restaurants with deals during the week. We like Monday dollar tacos at the Patron Grill and 90 cent slices at Michael's pizza. The Hofbrauhaus has a big outdoor seating area with nice walks nearby. It won't be crowded if you go early enough.
posted by Alison at 1:10 PM on June 15, 2017
Not far from there is North Shore Riverfront park and there is an outdoor fountain the kids can splash in at all hours. The immediate area has a lot of restaurants, especially near the stadiums
Also not far is the National Aviary, which is another favorite in our house. There are three areas where you can hang out in the same room as the birds. You can pay extra to hang out with a penguin.
What days of the week will you be in town? There are a ton of family-friendly restaurants with deals during the week. We like Monday dollar tacos at the Patron Grill and 90 cent slices at Michael's pizza. The Hofbrauhaus has a big outdoor seating area with nice walks nearby. It won't be crowded if you go early enough.
posted by Alison at 1:10 PM on June 15, 2017
My aunt lived in Pittsburgh when I was a child, and I remember riding the incline. I thought it was awesome back then.
posted by poppunkcat at 1:10 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by poppunkcat at 1:10 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Children's Museum is GREAT for that age, though I'm not sure if the Daniel Tiger exhibit is still there, so maybe don't talk that up with your kids beforehand. (Though there is a strong connection between the museum and Fred Rogers and there's Mr. Rogers-abelia all over the place. Also look for some mind-blowing Jim Henson-abelia tucked away under a staircase) The water play area on the top floor is dynamite but your kids will get wet! Bring either swimsuits or a change of clothes. Your 2 year old will love the second floor, which is really especially for babies and toddlers. Your 6 year old might be more interested in the MakeShop area. The Pittsburgh Children's Museum is much heavier on the artsy-fartsy feeling-our-feelings than on the STEM-oriented ain't-the-world-super-awesome.
The Children's Museum is located in the North Shore area, a block away from the National Aviary, if your kids dig birds (it is very extremely cool but my kid hates animals so I never get to go *sad trombone*).
A bit of a walk (15-20 minutes with kids) from those two attractions is the main North Shore riverfront area that has the sports stadiums, the Science Center, and a really lovely promenade and park along the river. A favorite of my son is the Water Steps. You can also find the Fred Rogers memorial here, which has a horrifying statue, but they pipe in sound from the show and it always makes me cry going there. Near the water steps there's a pedestrian walkway attached to the Fort Pitt Bridge that will take you directly to Point State Park where there's lots of space to run around, frequently public events like the Regatta and Arts' Festival (already happened) and the big fountain at the point that kids love to run around and scream. (Hmmm... reading all this we seem to kind of have a thing about water and fountains. Well, there are three rivers, after all!)
At Station Square you can ride the Monongahela Incline. It's very popular with kids because how often do you get to ride a funicular? You can get there via Light Rail from the North Shore, but it's one stop outside of the free fare zone. It's just as easy to walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge from downtown. It's a great thing to do after dinner because as the sun goes down and the lights downtown come on, it's gorgeous up there.
Pittsburgh dining culture is very informal, generally. Like, you have to work to find a place that's super fancy and dress-up and discouraging of children.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:13 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Children's Museum is located in the North Shore area, a block away from the National Aviary, if your kids dig birds (it is very extremely cool but my kid hates animals so I never get to go *sad trombone*).
A bit of a walk (15-20 minutes with kids) from those two attractions is the main North Shore riverfront area that has the sports stadiums, the Science Center, and a really lovely promenade and park along the river. A favorite of my son is the Water Steps. You can also find the Fred Rogers memorial here, which has a horrifying statue, but they pipe in sound from the show and it always makes me cry going there. Near the water steps there's a pedestrian walkway attached to the Fort Pitt Bridge that will take you directly to Point State Park where there's lots of space to run around, frequently public events like the Regatta and Arts' Festival (already happened) and the big fountain at the point that kids love to run around and scream. (Hmmm... reading all this we seem to kind of have a thing about water and fountains. Well, there are three rivers, after all!)
At Station Square you can ride the Monongahela Incline. It's very popular with kids because how often do you get to ride a funicular? You can get there via Light Rail from the North Shore, but it's one stop outside of the free fare zone. It's just as easy to walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge from downtown. It's a great thing to do after dinner because as the sun goes down and the lights downtown come on, it's gorgeous up there.
Pittsburgh dining culture is very informal, generally. Like, you have to work to find a place that's super fancy and dress-up and discouraging of children.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:13 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
We had the membership to the Children's museum when mine was 2 but now she's five and a half, we haven't bothered to renew and go to the Science center instead. There's a good baby room and if you have at least two adults, then it's a great museum for both kids. If the outside part is open, it's awesome. It's definitely worth going if the hours work out for you, but most of what's there is more Mr. Rogers than Daniel Tiger, and my kid didn't care. I thought it was cool to be able to sit on a bench next to Mr. Roger's shoes, though.
Science center is also right there and good for kids. If you have memberships to your home museum, there's a good chance you reciprocate with both. The hours of both museums stink for children.
After the museum closes, there's a nice river walk if your kids aren't the kind to take a header off the path - if they're in that stage of running head first into things, I wouldn't recommend it. There's a statue of Fred Rogers and a fountain, the Water Steps that people play in along the walk toward town. The Water Steps are far enough away from the river I never worried about a two year old taking a dunk.
If they're really obsessed with Daniel Tiger, you should maybe skip Pittsburgh and go to Idlewild and do the Trolley Ride there. If you need food after the park closes (again, terrible hours, usually), there's a fantastic and friendly Hungarian place, Darlington Inn, that looks like nothing from the outside, or Greensburg is an easy 20-30m away.
Pittsburgh's a big town. Do you want to stay on the North Side of town? If you do, Peppi's isn't healthy but it's good and has never said boo about my having a kid there. The outdoor seating is an option if it's nice. If you want to go East or you're coming off the Pike, Udipi cafe is super family friendly. There are literally excellent restaurants all over town.
If you don't need to stay close to the North side, all the spray parks are awesome for both kids. I usually go to the one on Troy Hill, which, bonus, will introduce you to some very quintessential Pittsburgh streets. If the water isn't on, look for the button on a post. (Unless they got smart and put up a sign, that confused a lot of people when it was new.)
The best playgrounds, IMO, are Avonworth Park, Highland park, and Beechwood Farms, none of of which are very close to the North side. All the county parks are nice and have standard playgrounds. North park and South park have pools and north park has a kind-of-splash pad in the pool area. You can rent a paddleboat at North park.
There's a neat water feature downtown in the middle of PPG place (it's the one that looks like a glass castle, easy to find, expensive to park depending on time of week) that the kids can play in.
If you narrow down the areas, we can give you more specific advice. It can take a long time to drive across town, even if it's not a long distance, so it's easier to tailor to an area.
posted by arabelladragon at 1:14 PM on June 15, 2017
Science center is also right there and good for kids. If you have memberships to your home museum, there's a good chance you reciprocate with both. The hours of both museums stink for children.
After the museum closes, there's a nice river walk if your kids aren't the kind to take a header off the path - if they're in that stage of running head first into things, I wouldn't recommend it. There's a statue of Fred Rogers and a fountain, the Water Steps that people play in along the walk toward town. The Water Steps are far enough away from the river I never worried about a two year old taking a dunk.
If they're really obsessed with Daniel Tiger, you should maybe skip Pittsburgh and go to Idlewild and do the Trolley Ride there. If you need food after the park closes (again, terrible hours, usually), there's a fantastic and friendly Hungarian place, Darlington Inn, that looks like nothing from the outside, or Greensburg is an easy 20-30m away.
Pittsburgh's a big town. Do you want to stay on the North Side of town? If you do, Peppi's isn't healthy but it's good and has never said boo about my having a kid there. The outdoor seating is an option if it's nice. If you want to go East or you're coming off the Pike, Udipi cafe is super family friendly. There are literally excellent restaurants all over town.
If you don't need to stay close to the North side, all the spray parks are awesome for both kids. I usually go to the one on Troy Hill, which, bonus, will introduce you to some very quintessential Pittsburgh streets. If the water isn't on, look for the button on a post. (Unless they got smart and put up a sign, that confused a lot of people when it was new.)
The best playgrounds, IMO, are Avonworth Park, Highland park, and Beechwood Farms, none of of which are very close to the North side. All the county parks are nice and have standard playgrounds. North park and South park have pools and north park has a kind-of-splash pad in the pool area. You can rent a paddleboat at North park.
There's a neat water feature downtown in the middle of PPG place (it's the one that looks like a glass castle, easy to find, expensive to park depending on time of week) that the kids can play in.
If you narrow down the areas, we can give you more specific advice. It can take a long time to drive across town, even if it's not a long distance, so it's easier to tailor to an area.
posted by arabelladragon at 1:14 PM on June 15, 2017
The Carnegie Science Center is awesome, but keep in mind that the main building is currently undergoing renovations, so the IMAX is closed and the cafe area will be very tough to navigate!
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is located in the Oakland neighborhood and is wonderful if your kids are into dinosaur bones. The bonus is that you get access to both the Natural History museum and the Museum of Art in the price of admission. The main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is attached and has a great children's section.
Pittsburgh dining culture is very informal, generally. Like, you have to work to find a place that's super fancy and dress-up and discouraging of children.
My spouse and I went to the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto (super formal!) on Mount Washington to celebrate our anniversary this year. There were a TON of kids for a mid-evening seating and the restaurant had a kid's menu! And catered beautifully to the wee set! So if the spirit moves you to dress up and have a fancy dinner with toddlers, I would recommend this place in a heartbeat.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:13 PM on June 15, 2017
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is located in the Oakland neighborhood and is wonderful if your kids are into dinosaur bones. The bonus is that you get access to both the Natural History museum and the Museum of Art in the price of admission. The main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is attached and has a great children's section.
Pittsburgh dining culture is very informal, generally. Like, you have to work to find a place that's super fancy and dress-up and discouraging of children.
My spouse and I went to the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto (super formal!) on Mount Washington to celebrate our anniversary this year. There were a TON of kids for a mid-evening seating and the restaurant had a kid's menu! And catered beautifully to the wee set! So if the spirit moves you to dress up and have a fancy dinner with toddlers, I would recommend this place in a heartbeat.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:13 PM on June 15, 2017
I've always loved the Pittsburgh zoo, and I see kids of all ages there all the time. Tigers! Elephants! Red panda! Monkey house! Often baby animals of some sort!
posted by Meow Face at 9:24 PM on June 15, 2017
posted by Meow Face at 9:24 PM on June 15, 2017
If they're really obsessed with Daniel Tiger, you should maybe skip Pittsburgh and go to Idlewild and do the Trolley Ride there.
Yes, came in to suggest Idlewild. It's like the younger sibling of Kennywood, with the bonus of it being geared more towards younger kids (there's a Storybook Forest section, with nursery rhymes "come to life") and it's also 1) higher elevation and 2) beautifully wooded. So even if it's ungodly hot in Pittsburgh, it's more likely to be a lovely summer day down there. There's also a water park if it is hot.
posted by librarianamy at 5:05 AM on June 16, 2017
Yes, came in to suggest Idlewild. It's like the younger sibling of Kennywood, with the bonus of it being geared more towards younger kids (there's a Storybook Forest section, with nursery rhymes "come to life") and it's also 1) higher elevation and 2) beautifully wooded. So even if it's ungodly hot in Pittsburgh, it's more likely to be a lovely summer day down there. There's also a water park if it is hot.
posted by librarianamy at 5:05 AM on June 16, 2017
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nb: we're members of a local children's museum that gets us reciprocal entry. I think it can get $$ if you're buying passes/not a member.
posted by k5.user at 1:03 PM on June 15, 2017