New Orleans with Kids

August 15, 2018 7:21 PM

My wife and I are taking our three year old and our 6 month old Baby to New Orleans for this weekend. We want to do some activities / tours to see the city. We are especially interested in short bus/walking tours that are fun & interesting for adults but could keep our 3 year old entertained enough to not drive everyone else crazy. Kid-friendly Foodie and/or ghost tours would be amazing. There’s several websites that list kid tours but they are hard to differentiate. I’m hoping for some first hand recommendations. Any suggestions or tips on NOLA with kids in general?
posted by ZackTM to Travel & Transportation around New Orleans, LA (6 answers total)

City Park is amazing and has a great amount of activities for the kids including the amusement park, and a scavenger hunt. You can also use the streetcar (Canal line with the red cars) to get there from downtown. It also has the train that is great for the little ones as is the carousel.

The Audubon Zoo has the Cool Zoo which is a great water park (not big, but well done). The zoo is in Uptown so it also gets you out of the downtown. You can take the St. Charles street car up (the green ones) there and get off at Tulane University - but you will still have a fair hike through Audubon Park. Other option is to drive up St. Charles (aka the Avenue) and then cut over to Magazine which has the entrance to the zoo.

Most of the ghost tours are held at night and are geared towards adults (seriously questionable content for a 3 year old).
posted by tafetta, darling! at 8:54 PM on August 15, 2018

The Audubon Zoo is great. The Audubon Aquarium is also great (and air conditioned!).
posted by radioamy at 10:32 PM on August 15, 2018

When you go to City Park have breakfast at Morning Call. Very chill, yummy beignets, good sausage, they are super sweet to kids
posted by sestaaak at 6:00 AM on August 16, 2018

Not sure where you're from, but please be aware that it's going to be so, SO, hot. The Algiers ferry is cheap, fun for kids, and has the best view of the city. Ditto the streetcar. Highly recommend maximizing indoor activities like the Aquarium. Did I mention it's going to be hot as the devil's underpants? Not to be underestimated for making very crabby be-bes.
posted by SinAesthetic at 7:08 AM on August 16, 2018

The St. Charles Line Streetcar
posted by sharks don't eat potatoes at 11:33 AM on August 16, 2018

The Audubon Experience tickets (Zoo+Aquarium+Theater+Insectarium) are for $45 per adult, $35 per kid (2-12). Kids under 2 get in free. It's the best value, and you have 30 days to use all of your tickets. You don't have to go to all of the things in the same day.
The Insectarium and Butterfly Garden is fairly small and good for little kids who like bugs.
The Aquarium is large and takes up a whole day in itself. There is a large screen theater in the aquarium accessed from a side entrance that shows nature documentaries. Right now they have one about dinosaurs.
The Zoo is large and mostly outdoors, so make sure you bring sun protection and keep an eye on the weather. The Cool Zoo has been mentioned, but also of note is the Audubon Park right in front of the Zoo. It is a beautiful park with a two mile walking path and enormous live oaks, ducks and geese, and beautiful statues and fountains.

Take the streetcar during off-peak hours, your kids will love it! Peak times are around lunchtime, and around 5-7.

Bring comfortable shoes.
posted by domo at 11:33 AM on August 17, 2018