The Bronx has a famous zoo and a famous garden, then a long list of places that don't get the credit: free galleries, a poet's cottage, a beach and a tiny nautical museum. Twelve of them, with the subway stop and the price checked.
The best things to do in the Bronx with kids are the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, which sit side by side in Bronx Park. For a second day, try Wave Hill in Riverdale (free on Thursdays), the free Bronx Museum on the Grand Concourse, or the City Island Nautical Museum, where under 12s are free.
There are two obvious things to do in the Bronx with kids, a zoo and a botanical garden, and they sit next door to each other. Stop there and you've had a good day. Go on and you find a free museum on the Grand Concourse, a poet's cottage, a beach on Long Island Sound, a tiny nautical museum on City Island and an enormous park most of New York has never visited. This guide covers 12 places, with the subway stop, the price and the stroller situation checked on each one's own pages in early October 2026.
The Bronx is the only borough on the mainland, so it has real hills, and a good chunk of the subway runs up on tracks above the street, so you see the place on the way. It also means long walks from some stations. I've said so each time, because "it's just ten minutes" is the most dangerous sentence in parenting.
My Bronx rule: book the zoo for a weekday if you can. A weekend zoo line looks short from the sidewalk and isn't.
Elevators break and stations change. Before you rely on any accessible station below, check the MTA's live elevator status. Where I say a station is accessible, the MTA's own list says so.
See also Our subway-with-a-stroller page explains how to plan around stations without elevators. →
The big one, and it's big: more than 10,000 animals, per Mommy Poppins' Bronx list, and a map you'll need. The zoo's admission this fall starts at $28.95 for adults and $27.70 for ages 3 to 12, with under 3s free. The price flexes: cheaper at quiet times, dearer at busy ones. The zoo lists its Star Attractions as included: the Bug Carousel, Butterfly Garden, Children's Zoo, Congo Gorilla Forest, Jungleworld, Nature Trek, Wild Asia Monorail and Zoo Shuttle. A cheaper limited ticket leaves them out, at $7 extra each. Check which are running before you pay.
The Southern Boulevard Gate at 182nd Street is the most level part of the park, according to the zoo. Boo at the Zoo is on this fall, with animal chats and a hay bale adventure course, included with admission. Stroller rental is offered, but the zoo's own pages disagree by a dollar or two on the price, and some exhibits require you to park the stroller outside. Bring a stroller you don't mind leaving.
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250 acres next door to the zoo. The All-Garden Pass is $35 for adults on weekdays and $39 on weekends, with children 2 to 12 at $15 and $17, and under 2s free. That is not cheap. If you live in the city, the Grounds Access Pass (adult $15, child $4, bought on site with proof of residency) is a lot kinder, and, per NYBG, Wednesdays are free for New York City residents all day and for everyone from 10am to 11am.
The Everett Children's Adventure Garden has a wooden tree top walk and "Early Fall Wonders" at select times, with Dig! Plant! Grow! sessions too. NYBG's pass page says it's included with the Grounds Access Pass, so check what your ticket covers. Día de los Muertos runs October 3 to November 2, with a parade on Sunday, November 1 at 2pm. Flower Power ends October 18.
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A public garden and cultural center above the Hudson, with the Palisades across the water. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5:30pm, with the last entry 30 minutes before closing. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors, $4 for ages 6 and up. It is free all day on Thursdays. (It's not an adrenaline place. Bring a ball and let the lawns do the work.)
Getting there is part of the plan. On Thursday to Sunday a free Wave Hill shuttle meets the Metro-North Hudson Line at Riverdale station and the 1 train at 242nd Street. On other days, the Riverdale walk uphill is about 15 minutes.
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The Bronx's first dedicated children's museum, which opened on December 3, 2022 in a 1925 powerhouse on the Harlem River in Mill Pond Park, at 725 Exterior Street. When it opened its exhibits were The Waterways, The Woods and The Nest, plus Sonia's Corner, a nod to two Bronx-born Sonias, Sonia Manzano and Sonia Sotomayor. That's all I can verify today: the pages I could read didn't show current hours or prices, so check its site before you set off.
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Free for everyone, always. It's a contemporary art museum at 1040 Grand Concourse, open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Here's the catch for this month: the galleries closed September 7 for an exhibition changeover, and fall shows open on October 9, including Saya Woolfalk: The WoodsWoman Method (to March 28, 2027). The North Wing stays open on regular hours, and the South Wing is being renovated. Family art activities are listed on the home page, but without dates.
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The small 19th-century cottage on the Grand Concourse where Edgar Allan Poe lived at the end of his life. For a kid who likes a creepy story this is a tiny, quick, slightly eerie visit. Open Saturdays 10am to 4pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm, with a suggested donation of $3 for children and seniors and $5 for adults. No one is turned away, and you can reserve online or walk up.
The address is 2640 Grand Concourse, next to a small park. It is not a place for a toddler to run around.
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Run by the Bronx County Historical Society at 3266 Bainbridge Avenue, with the same hours and donation as the Poe Cottage: Saturdays 10am to 4pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm. The current exhibit is The Bronx: Crucible of Liberty, covering 1600 to 1850. It's a quick, quiet stop that makes sense if you're already going to the Poe Cottage. I'd say it suits kids from about eight; younger ones will want to touch things.
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A covered Italian market that Mayor La Guardia championed, with about nine restaurants, five pastry shops, four butchers, two pasta makers and six bread stores, according to its own website, so a hungry child will have opinions. It's free to walk in. The site doesn't give hours or an address on the page I read, so check. The market's own site suggests pairing it with the zoo or the garden, both nearby.
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The northeast Bronx is the one corner you can't do without a plan, because the 6 train stops well short of the water. Pelham Bay Park, NYC Parks says, is the city's largest park property, with a 13 mile saltwater shoreline on Long Island Sound. Plan a bus, a taxi or a car.
The Bronx's beach, a crescent of sand on Long Island Sound, with the park's trails behind it. NYC Parks lifeguards work from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, so in October there are none. Don't swim, and keep children away from the water line. It's a place for a windy walk, a kite and a thermos. A beach picnic works if you pick a dry day and wear a coat.
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Reopened on August 9, 2024 after a renovation that began in 2018, the Bronx Times reported. It's an accessible center with wildlife displays and marine creatures from Long Island Sound, and a base for Urban Park Rangers programs for families. It's near section two of the beach and overlooks the Hunter Island and Twin Islands trails. The hours weren't listed anywhere I could read, so call 718-885-3466 before you head out.
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A Greek Revival mansion from 1836 with a freestanding spiral staircase, in the park at 895 Shore Road. It's open Wednesday and Saturday to Sunday, 12pm to 4pm, with guided tours at 12:15, 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15pm, and walk-ins welcome. Adults are $15, and seniors and students $12. The listing I found doesn't give a child price, so ask.
There's a terraced garden and a Children's Organic Garden on the grounds, which are the better bet for small children than the mansion tour.
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A small museum at 190 Fordham Street, open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 4pm. Adults pay $10 and children under 12 get in free, which is a bargain. The season ends on the last weekend of October, so there are only a few weekends left this year.
City Island is a short bus ride over a bridge into a very different Bronx, with seafood restaurants and ice cream shops, per Mommy Poppins. I haven't checked any menus, so I won't recommend one.
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For under 5s: the Bronx Zoo on a weekday, with a stroller you're willing to leave outside some exhibits. For 5 to 8: the zoo or the botanical garden's children's garden, then City Island on a weekend if you can. For older kids with a taste for history, the Poe Cottage and the Museum of Bronx History on the same Saturday. If it's pouring, the Bronx Museum is free and dry from October 9.
See also Queens is the next borough east: a corner-by-corner guide. →
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The Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden are the headline acts. Wave Hill, the free Bronx Museum, the Bronx Children's Museum, Orchard Beach and the City Island Nautical Museum are good for a second day.
Admission starts at $28.95 for adults and $27.70 for ages 3 to 12, and under 3s are free, with flexible pricing by date. Until October 31 it closes at 5pm on weekdays and 5:30pm on weekends, and from November 1 it closes at 4:30pm daily. Last entry is 45 minutes before closing.
On Wednesdays it's free for New York City residents all day, and free for everyone from 10am to 11am, according to NYBG. Otherwise the All-Garden Pass costs $35 for adults and $15 for ages 2 to 12 on weekdays, rising to $39 and $17 on weekends.
The Bronx Museum is always free, Wave Hill is free on Thursdays, and Orchard Beach is free to visit. The City Island Nautical Museum is free for under 12s, and the Poe Cottage and the Museum of Bronx History run on suggested donations.
Yes, take the 1 train to Van Cortlandt Park-242 St, then the free Wave Hill shuttle, which runs hourly Thursday to Sunday. Metro-North's Hudson Line to Riverdale also works, with the shuttle or a 15 minute uphill walk.
No. NYC Parks lifeguards work from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, so there are none in October. Stay out of the water and keep children back from the edge.
The Bronx Museum is free and indoors, with new shows from October 9. The Bronx Children's Museum is indoors too, though you should check its current hours.
Facts checked against 22 pages on Monday, October 5, 2026. Opening times and prices change, so confirm with the venue.
