You’re going where with the kids?? When you think of New Orleans, images of semi-clad individuals, Mardi Gras beads and hurricane glasses come to mind. I have to admit, having visited as a university student myself, I thought I knew what to expect so I was a little apprehensive about what family-oriented activities we could find to fill four full days in “N’awlins”. And would they be appropriate? Sure there are the Dixie bands and the riverboats, but people don’t often associate New Orleans with family-friendly vacations– especially ones with three young kids in tow.
Surprisingly New Orleans is a perfect family destination. It is filled with endless attractions from museums and kid-friendly venues to historical sites offering mythical lore. There are incredible live music performances from every genre, world-class chefs and the best ‘home-cookin’ you’ll find anywhere in the world.
As if the old world charm weren’t enough, we found that there were way too many things to do in the limited time we had to spend. Our days were a mixed bag of fun and entertaining attractions as well as ample educational experiences that proved that kids of all ages (read: grownups) could learn a thing or two. But we also discovered that this was a city with not only a heart but a soul! You can feel the pulse of life on the streets, it’s contagious and it lasts all day and all night. Young and old, suits or sandals, tourist or otherwise, once you’re out, you can’t help but start grooving to the music whether you’re standing at a street crossing or you’re walking up to an impromptu street jam.
What brought us to New Orleans was actually my cousin’s wedding in Lafayette, Louisiana but flying into and out of New Orleans proved too much of a tease. How could we NOT visit New Orleans, especially when my husband had never been there before? But we soon discovered that planning a trip with a family of five is hard enough (since any family with more than four members is classified as a “large” family in travel circles which often requires completely different accommodation, travel and booking considerations and disproportionate costs) but imagine traveling with an entourage of 11 including my mother and my sister’s family of five!
The challenge was daunting but exciting. How could we see, do and taste all that New Orleans had to offer on a reasonable budget and what options did we have? With that in mind we were on the chase for the BEST of New Orleans. Here’s what you must see, must do and must eat (my favorite)…plus tips and tricks to help us “large” families find ways to make travel affordable, exciting and manageable! As you read through this list you can see that we tried to find free or low-cost ways to ‘do’ the city, such as a free ferry or nominal street car ride, and substituted those funds for the worth-every-penny Aquarium, Insectarium and Ghost tours.
Must Do:
- Audubon Aquarium & Insectarium: Definitely worth the time and doable in a day. We had two very rainy days and these were a life-saver. Completely fun, educational and interactive. Audubon Special Experience pass available that includes the Zoo and Imax3D.
- A Streetcar Named Desire : The inspiration behind the story! Tour around town in stylish and stylized trolleys/streetcars for $1.25 (only 40 cents for seniors) that travel through the main streets of New Orleans.
- The Algiers Ferry: Make it a sunset cruise on this free ferry that takes you to Algiers Island and back. The half hour round trip was enough for us to enjoy a view of the city from the water. You can take a bike or car onto the ferry as well to tour the island.
- Haunted or Voodoo Tour: Our awesome tour guide Karen was a real paranormal investigator with an in-depth knowledge of the history, architecture and genealogy of the city. Her personal stories and life-long experience with the city make this a fabulous two-for-one deal. http://www.tourneworleans.com/
- Café au Monde: Just because it’s the thing to do and the beignettes are so yummy, try three warm beignettes and all the icing sugar you can handle for $2.94.
- The French Market: This free open-air market has a bit of everything and everyone, you could hope to see and experience in “NOLA”.
- Picnic in the park: Not really in the tour books but there are beautiful parks and parkettes throughout. We lunched on a park bench and enjoyed the manicured beauty. Lunch Take-out from an expensive restaurant is a lot cheaper and saved our costs all around. Try K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen.
- Museums – too many to name but all with a vibrant energy that kept the kids engaged. Some free attractions include the St. Louis Cathedral. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/city-guides/free-new-orleans-traveler/ & http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/arts/museums/
- Jackson Square – for impromptu Dixie bands, jazz, buskers and artists, along with horse and carriage rides. Enough to see and do as your shop and admire the architecture. Tarot card readers galore that will barter for a good deal if you want to have a reading for fun.
- Create your own scavenger hunt: With so much to see and do there are lots of travel itineraries available at: http://www.neworleansonline.com. We found that despite the heat (and with large water bottles in tow) the kids were awed by the buildings and architecture. In order to sustain their interest we would have them look for places or landmarks using “eye spy” or images from the many tourist books and brochures around.
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Stay tuned for next week’s segment of We+Three where Rania Walker, our travel writer discusses The Big Easy’s list of Must-Eats for Families!
babe, it's cafe du monde. appreciate your article pointing out how family friendly new orleans is. next time you are in town (and i know there will be one), make sure you venture outside the norm for a swamp tour. the plantations are also great. and the food just gets better the further from the FQ you go (hospitality and kindness to families does too)! enjoy!!!
You are so correct j jordan thank you for noting it for me – major typo on my part – how can you ever forget cafe du monde
Thanks for sharing your experience!! Another Must do, especially if you have kids, is the children's museum which is close to the aquarium, and the Audubon zoo of New Orleans!
Good article pointing out some flaws in some people's preconceived notions of New Orleans. I would add the warning that if you have kids, stay away from Bourbon Street. I don't know how many times I've seen people walking along between strip joints and dirty bars with a stroller and wondered what in the world they were thinking.
Oh, and FYI… Algiers isn't an island. It's just an area on the other side of the river.
@jjordan… I was hoping you might be able to give more insight to the swamp tours and plantations… all of our family would love this. We are a family of four from canada, and are looking forward to coming in October. It is funny how my husband found this, because we weren't going to take the kids haha but it is awesome that we can now. Any other ideas you have (like where to stay) would be greatly appreciated.
I'm sold! Great tips Rania. Definitely going to recommend this to my friends who have families.
Algiers isn't an Island, just a part of the city on the other side of the river.
Sounds very enticing. We will definitely add New Orleans to our list of places we must visit. Thanks for all the tips!