Family Travel to New Orleans
Family friendly New Orleans
Highlighting a heritage that blends American Indian, Spanish, French, English and African cultures, New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras parades, plantations and world-class jazz. Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the “Big Easy” is now an evolving city of recovery and rebirth. Bourbon Street might be the most publicized attraction in this popular vacation spot, but family vacationers have discovered New Orleans’ bounty of kid-sized adventures. Paths along New Orleans’ Riverwalk and streetcars on Canal Street are filled with stroller-pushing families, enjoying this unique mixture of Creole hospitality and energetic activities.
Grab your kids, pack your suitcases and lace up your sneakers and begin your discovery of this historic city.
Here are 6 fun, educational and budget-friendly places to get started.
Animals, Birds, Bugs & Sea Life
New Orleans’ Audubon Zoo is one of the top five zoos and aquariums in the country. It’s easy to get to by bus, boat or streetcar. It showcases more than 2,000 animals in their natural habitat settings, including a white alligator in the Louisiana Swamp exhibit.
The Insectarium, a museum dedicated to the largest group of living things on the planet, provides up-close insect encounters with some pesky (and at one time, lethal) mosquitoes, enormous cockroaches, amorous and ubiquitous love bugs. There are fun bug animation shows and stately butterflies fluttering by in a serene Japanese garden.
Learn more about life under the sea, at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, where you’ll see the largest collection of sharks and jellyfish. Touch cow-nose rays and even help feed them during scheduled feeding times. Check out Adventure Island, an action-packed interactive play zone designed to give pirates and adventurers of all ages a day of fun and learning.
Stroll through Audubon Park, an urban oasis in Uptown New Orleans that stretches from St. Charles Avenue to the Mississippi River. Enjoy the 1.8-mile paved jogging path that winds through the beautiful landscape. Stop by Ochsner Island, more commonly known as Bird Island, at the center of Audubon Park Lagoon where you’ll see one of the most prominent rookeries in the region. The natural phenomenon of numerous species of wading birds can be seen up close, including double-crested cormorants, anhingas and a variety of egrets and herons.
Museums
The Louisiana Children’s Museum is 30,000 square feet of hands-on fun. Children love piloting a towboat down the Mighty Mississippi or shopping in a pint-size Winn-Dixie grocery store. You can hoist yourself up a wall, trap your shadow or stand inside a gigantic bubble. There’s a special space designated for littler ones to climb, crawl, hide and explore.
The National World War II Museum stores a powerhouse of moving personal stories, rare artifacts and interactive displays that aid in understanding WWII. It is located in the same city where Andrew Higgins built the landing craft used in the amphibious invasions that helped win the war for the Allies. Adults and teens will learn from a new 4D film “Beyond All Boundaries.” The Stage Door Canteen presents weekly ‘40s entertainment, including the live show “Let Freedom Swing.” Kids love having their meal in a cool tin lunch box at the American Sector restaurant.
Even though many people don’t think of Mardi Gras as a family event, St. Charles Avenue is well known as being a very family-friendly Mardi Gras parade route. At Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World, learn the history of Mardi Gras and see how floats are made.
Riverboats, Ferries, Streetcars & Trolleys
New Orleans sits on the banks of the Mississippi River where several riverboats are docked near the foot of Canal Street. A family favorite is the John James Audubon that goes from the Aquarium of the Americas to the Audubon Zoo and back. You can get a combination ticket for all three attractions and make a whole day of it. The Natchez is a real steamboat that offers Jazz diner cruises. Take the free Canal Street ferry across the river to historic Algiers. Along the way, you’ll see some of breathtaking vistas of the New Orleans skyline. Wander through the elegant Garden District via a historic streetcar or stroll through Jackson Square to see artists painting and displaying their work along the iron fence.
Swamp & Bayou Tours
Children and teens love just about anything creepy. And there’s nothing creepier than the Spanish moss-laden Cypress trunks, thick marsh reeds and brackish watery avenues of the Louisiana bayou. Swamp tours travel through Jean Lafitte National Historical Park-Barataria Preserve and give an exciting, adventure-filled way to meet some of south Louisiana’s wildflowers like the giant blue iris or native fauna like the American alligators, nutria, tree frogs, turtles and fish.
Plantations & Historic Homes
Historic home tours give an up-close look into the glory days of the Old South where you can step back in time to the days of hoop skirts, magnolias and the southern hospitality of the 1800s. Houmas House Plantation & Gardens in nearby Darrow offer a unique antebellum experience. This crown jewel of Louisiana’s River Road was originally owned by the indigenous Houmas Indians, who were given a land grant to occupy the fertile plain between the Mississippi and Lake Maurepas to the north. The estate features antiques, Louisiana artwork, lush gardens, ponds and stately oaks. At St. Joseph Plantation in Vacherie tour a Creole sugar plantation and learn about early life on the plantation, explore original slave cabins, a detached kitchen, a blacksmith’s shop and a schoolhouse. 
Festivals & Events
Most everyone is familiar with Mardi Gras-New Orleans style, but that’s not the only special event the city is famous for its festivals. In fact, there are more than 30 festivals and events planned this year, many of which are geared toward families. The French Quarter Festival, in early April, is a uniquely New Orleans event know for its designated kids area, fine food, music and fun celebration of life in the French Quarter. Early August the Satchmo SummerFest celebrates New Orleans’ native son, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, at this free festival featuring live music, second line parades, a jazz Mass at St. Augustine Church and Satchmo’s birthday party. The Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival & Holiday Bazaar, Mid December, celebrates the history of Faubourg Treme as a hotbed of New Orleans musical and culinary culture.
Best Time to Visit
Although New Orleans is open for vacationers year-round, springtime--especially April and May--is one of the best times to visit, according to Jennifer Lotz, of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have temperate weather and the flowers are in full bloom.”
Fabulous Food
New Orleans is world renown for its spectacular cuisine. Don’t miss treating the family to powdered-sugar dusted beignets at Cafe Du Monde. For a delicious a bowl of gumbo, Lotz suggests the Gumbo Shop. “Next to my mom’s, it’s probably the best.” As for Po-boys, “Mother’s Restaurant and Johnny’s Po-Boys are always top choices,” she added. For something a little fancier, check out Breakfast at Brennan’s (originators of Bananas Foster).
For a complete calendar of events, hotel information, discounts, maps and more, visit neworleanscvb.com.
Claire Yezbak Fadden, an award-winning freelance writer, is still dusting powdered sugar off her pants from indulging in too many delicious beignets.
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