12 Rochester, NY Things to Do & Eat With Kids & Teens, Rochester, New York

College visits brought us to Rochester, NY. for a 3-day weekend. But it was somewhat opportunistic on my part because I’d been wanting to check out this city in Upstate New York for some time.

While we found activities that our teen enjoyed, it’s really a great city to visit with school-age kids. On the Autumn holiday weekend we visited, our hotel was full of families that had come for the Strong Museum of Play and the plethora of good, casual, kid-friendly restaurants around town.

I’ve always thought of Hampton Inn as Hiltons’ no-frills budget brand. But this hotel was bright and stylish. It’s taken inspiration for some of its design elements, like round rocking chairs in the lobby, from the museum. It works. The effect is playful and modern rather than childish.

We had a standard twin room with a large desk and comfortable chair, which suited our needs. There are also family rooms with bunk beds if you need more space.

There’s a good-sized pool, which was busy in the late afternoon, when people were coming back from the museum. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).