New York City Trip for Ages 13-17

The trip opens with the flight from Paris, possibly with a stopover, and the following days work through the city. The Statue of Liberty is reached by the Staten Island crossing, which gives the view of it from the Hudson; Ellis Island and its immigration museum, Wall Street and the Charging Bull, and Ground Zero follow. The group walks across Brooklyn Bridge — the oldest and longest suspension bridge in the city — into Brooklyn, and takes a guided walk through its street art. There is time in Central Park, on Fifth Avenue, on the High Line, and on the cable car over the East River to Roosevelt Island, eighty metres above the water. Times Square, the observatory on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building and the American Museum of Natural History are all on the programme, along with Harlem and a gospel service depending on the day, Little Italy and Chinatown, SoHo and Greenwich, a baseball, basketball or hockey game, a night tour by limousine and the Halloween parade through Manhattan. The last day leaves room for shopping before the night flight home.

It's a fixed all-in package per participant. The package covers the return flight from Paris with Air France-KLM, American Airlines, British Airways or Aer Lingus — a stopover in London, Amsterdam or Dublin is possible — travel from the chosen French departure city, the hotel, meals, the guided programme and entries, and the supervising team. Insurance, assistance, repatriation and medical costs are covered in full, and telephone assistance is available around the clock. A valid passport, an exit authorisation for the minor with a copy of the signing parent's identity document, a copy of the family record book, the vaccination record, a health information form and an ESTA travel authorisation are all required.

The group stays in a well-placed three-star hotel close to the subway, with rooms of two to six beds and a private bathroom in each room. The hotel has a large common room used for breakfast and for games, with a pool table and a big screen with a games console.

Meals are part of the fixed package.

The days are spent on the guided circuit of the city. Evenings at the hotel are used to go back over the day in pictures, and the common room with its pool table and games console is open to the group. A baseball, basketball or hockey game, a night tour by limousine and the Halloween parade are part of the programme.

A three-star hotel in Manhattan close to a subway station, with a capacity of three hundred, rooms of two to six beds each with a private bathroom, and a large common room with a pool table and a big screen with a games console.

The group is around twenty-five participants, with a minimum of twelve for the departure to run. It is led by an experienced BAFD-qualified director who specialises in touring trips, with a team of qualified counsellors at one BAFA-qualified counsellor per ten young people and a welfare assistant holding first-aid certification. An independent teacher gives an English level test during the trip.