New York is the ultimate city break destination as far as millions of tourists are concerned. There's fantastic shopping, wonderful restaurants, bars, theatres, museums and world famous landmarks. In the winter you can go skating in Central Park, in the summer you can hire a boat and go rowing on the lake. And all year round there's a great zoo. But like all great cities, accommodation is expensive in New York. If you're after a family holiday in the Big Apple, you'll be wanting to rent an apartment, and not just because it'll be just like Friends.

Regardless of your family's interests, you will have no trouble filling a week's holiday in New York. The Empire State Building, the United Nations, Central Park with its wonderful zoo, Time Square and its various shops, the bright lights of Broadway and dozens of museums and art galleries. If you get even slightly bored, you can wander around Central Park looking for locations for famous scenes from films, and if you wander a little further you'll usually bump into a film crew. If you're interested in money saving, take care with sights such as the Statue of Liberty. You can spend a lot of money on a boat trip past the statue, but given that boats no longer land on Liberty Island, you might as well just take the Staten Island Ferry. It's free and you still get a great view. While looking at Liberty Island, many tourists will now also take in a trip to Ground Zero to pay their respects at the former World Trade Centre.

New York accommodation ranges hugely in price, largely depending on location. It's possible to rent an apartment that will sleep a family of four in Brooklyn for around £600 a week. Apartments in Manhattan itself are a bit more expensive, as you might expect, but you should be able to find yourself a fully-equipped apartment for just under £1,000 even in desirable locations such as the Upper West Side. As well as saving money on hotel bills, you will not feel tied to a hotel restaurant for breakfasts - breakfast in New York is one of the great dining events, and you should experience it in as many restaurants, diners and delis as possible! And your kids will be the envy of all their classmates when they tell their friends about 'their' Manhattan apartment when they get back to school!