Philly to the Falls with kids

Less than 3 hours from Philly, a great place to take a load off and begin your vacation for a few nights. We stayed in the neighboring campground, Lake Glory and rented a Cabin for around $124 a night, which sleeps 6 comfortably. Rustic but clean, showers and bathrooms are clean and a short 2 minute walk from the cabins. Great place to roast smores and have a campfire. On an extremely hot and sticky night, you can even rent an A/C for 20$ a night...well worth the money! You can shuttle to Knoebels or drive. Kid will love it! Bring your own linens/towels and if you have extra kids, blow up some air mattresses. For those of you who hate to camp because of the bugs, there were few about and absolutely none in the cabin.

A terrific amusement park with free admission and parking. You can purchase tickets, each ride is between .75 and 1.25 for the most part, rollercoasters a little more. During the week M-F you can purchase all you can ride bracelets for $27 with a coupon you can usually find in surrounding stores or $31 without. Regardless, its a great deal. Food is cheap, games are $1 a piece and there are stores, arcades and every ride imaginable as well as a great little haunted house and lazer tag, which are extra but worth it. I would spend a day or two here, but no more than that is needed unless you spend a day at the pool. The pool admission is $6 which isn't bad, you can add slides per ride or for unlimited for $5-7 depending on age. They have clean locker rooms with showers and lockers for free. A great place to cool off!

Wellsboro, Pa is a quaint little town on the way to NY. A nice little detour with beautiful hikes, waterfalls and scenery. You can do as little or as much as you would like here. I heard the Wellsboro Diner is a terrific place to stop and eat. We thought the Canyon was beautiful but would probably be even more of a sight to see in the fall when the leaves are changing.

Hands down the best attraction at the Falls. Prepare to get soaked! Go here first because you get to keep the water shoes, which are comfortable enough to walk around all day in and will help for when you go on the Maid of the Mist. My kids especially loved the hurricane alley which basically soaks you down to your underwear. Lots of fun! There is some mild climbing up stairs, but the shoe keep you from slipping and its easy enough for most people to do. You also don't have to go all the way up, you can keep away from most of the water if you so choose, but me and my girls loved getting wet especially since it was almost 100 degrees that day! Bring a waterproof camera or else you may damage your camera!

I have taken this from the NY side as well as the Canadian side and they are the same experience. Its short and sweet and gets you up close and personal with both the American and Canadian falls. They give you a blue poncho but you get sprayed pretty good. It's terrific on a hot day. My kids liked it, but after the Cave of the Winds, this was pretty tame. Still a cool experience.

Check out my review in Trip Advisor already posted. Great little gem of an Italian restaurant, more for adults or couples, but my older kids enjoyed the pizza. Its right off of Elmwood Drive which is the main drag through Buffalo.

Terrific stop for some good down south BBQ which you can smell blocks away. The restaurant was terrific with a collection of all sorts of things all over the walls to look at. A great place to snap some pictures. The wait staff was friendly and the food was terrific especially the pork spring rolls! You can add your own hotness of BBQ and even buy some to take home! Definitely worth the stop to Rochester!

Beautiful 1.5 easy walk along the gorge. You can get a shuttle ride for $3 per person to the top and walk down which was easy enough for anyone. Although it states over 800 steps, don't worry, they are only a few at a time and it's not steep. Children could do it easily and safely and there was an older group of 70+ year olds who had no trouble. Probably the most beautiful "hike" you will ever take. There are 19 waterfalls, a few you will get to walk under. Definitely bring a camera!

Only about a 40 minute drive from Watkins Glen, and it is North and to get to Corning, you will have to backtrack a little but this is DEFINITELY worth the trip. Get there early because the swimming hole closes at 7pm sharp when the lifeguard leaves. We hung around later and were kicked out by the Park Ranger who liked to hear his voice a little bit! This is a legal swimming hole, meaning its roped off with a lifeguard and diving board! It was a picturesque sight and the kids loved swimming under the massive waterfall. It is 12+ deep at some points and there is a small beach area for little ones to wade in. Absolutely breathtaking! There is also some other great swimming holes to find, especially near or at Lucifer Falls, which is along a hiking trail that I heard is terrific but we were pressed for time and didn't get to check it out. Would love to hear about it if you do!

My 3 kids (16, 12, 10) loved this place! The museum is known for the "make your own glass" factory and the fact that kids under 19 are free! My husband and I were each $14 but I am not sure you even have to purchase the museum tickets if you are just going for the factory. I would recommend seeing the museum though, it is amazing! The glass making show was incredible, showed how real glass is made. The kids made their own clocks which were shipped to our home together for $18 and were received in less than a week. For around $25 a piece the kids had a 40 minute class to cut and glue the glass that was then put in the kiln overnight. If you stay in town overnight, you can pick it up the next day. If your kids are over 14 they can actually blow their own glass ornament or form their own flower but the classes were booked for hours and weren't available. I would suggest calling ahead and reserving a time. The kids can also etch a glass cup or bowl for as little as $10 that they can take home which was really neat as well. They can make glass jewelry beads, clocks, wind-chimes and if you go near a holiday they have seasonal items to make as well. The kids loved it and the clocks are a beautiful memento from a terrific vacation!