Dispatch · Bergen County

Family Day Trips in Bergen County

Two of the biggest malls in the country, a real river park system, suburbs dense enough for walkable downtowns, and a tunnel to Manhattan when you've had enough of either. Bergen does indoor and outdoor well.

Bergen has two distinct family-day flavors. The mall-anchor flavor (Garden State Plaza, Riverside Square, Bergen Town Center) is what you reach for on a rainy day or with a kid who needs walls and air conditioning. The outdoor flavor (Van Saun Park, Saddle River County Park, the Palisades) gets you under trees with a playground nearby. Both pair cleanly with the county\'s very deep bench of family restaurants.

When the planner sees "Bergen" plus an indoor preference, it leans toward the mall-tenant venues and skips driving between them (the same-mall walk shortcut handles it). When it sees an outdoor preference it routes toward Van Saun, Saddle River, or one of the Palisades overlooks.

More field entries coming soon.

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Pro tip when prompting: name Paramus, Hackensack, or Englewood directly if you want to anchor on that town\'s restaurants. Bergen is dense enough that a county-wide pick can land far from your preferred lunch.

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Field notes on Bergen County

What's the best park in Bergen County for young kids?

Van Saun County Park in Paramus has a zoo, a carousel, fishing pond, and big shaded playgrounds, the canonical Bergen kid day. Saddle River County Park's bike paths and the Englewood / Tenafly portions of the Palisades round out the close-to-NYC outdoor options.

What indoor anchors work for a Bergen family day?

Garden State Plaza is the densest cluster of kid activities under one roof in the county (Legoland Discovery, Color Factory, the food court). American Dream in Meadowlands is technically next door in Bergen too. The planner treats either as one stop and skips the parking-lot driving.

How close is Bergen County to NYC?

Most Bergen family destinations are 20 to 40 minutes from the GW Bridge or Lincoln Tunnel without traffic. The Palisades-side towns (Fort Lee, Cliffside Park, Edgewater) are essentially adjacent to the Bronx and Manhattan.

Where do you eat with kids in Bergen?

Paramus and Hackensack have the most family-restaurant volume; Englewood, Ridgewood, and Fort Lee have walkable downtowns. The planner picks based on cuisine and proximity to your activity, and respects allergies if you mention them.