10 Things to Do in New Orleans with Kids

There are thousands of things to see and do in New Orleans no matter what your age or interests. The city's long history has given it an identity that captivates even the most reserved visitor.

The list below can help you properly balance your children's entertainment with the other activities that the city's nightlife and culture can offer you as an adult.

Stretching along the banks of the Mississippi River is the Audubon Aquarium, one of the largest aquariums in North America. Inside are approximately 15,000 creatures representing a wide diversity of 600 marine species.

The breadth of marine ecosystems preserved and displayed here is also quite impressive. For example, you can walk through a tunnel of Caribbean corals so breathtakingly beautiful that it would only be available to you if you were diving underwater in a real context.

Endangered white crocodiles are also among the repertoire of animals you can meet if you visit the Audubon Aquarium. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that brings you long-lasting good luck according to the mystical beliefs of the Cajun culture.

Touching baby sharks, seeing anacondas and observing poison dart frogs are other activities that characterise a visit to this entertaining aquarium. So it's a plan that can easily take up half your day.

Opening hours can change, but it is usually open from Tuesday to Sunday with permanent closure on Mondays for maintenance.

It's located at the beginning of Canal Street, so it's a good thing to do in the morning before hopping on some of New Orleans' best tour buses that will take you to other nearby parts of Downtown and the French Quarter of the city.

Details of interest:

• Address: 1 Canal St, Woldenberg Park,
• Price: about $30 to $25 per adult, children and seniors pay 10% less. Weekend tickets are more expensive.
• Duration: it all depends on the speed of the visitor, but on average it can take about 3 to 4 hours if you participate in all the aquarium exhibits.
• Opening hours: 10:00 to 17:00, every day of the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

On the other side of the city, in Uptown at the southern end of Audubon Park, is the Audubon Zoo.

This is an equally interesting plan to do with children in New Orleans as it allows them to run, play and be entertained while learning about the animal diversity of our planet.

Leopards, orangutans and white lizards are among the stars, along with elephants, giraffes and a host of other reptiles native to Louisiana's swampy ecosystems.

Within the zoo itself is a children's attraction called Cool Zoo. It's basically a water park where they can cool off in small fountains and slides for an additional fee that varies seasonally.

Just across the street from the zoo are the Audubon Park golf courses. These can keep you and your family entertained for the rest of your afternoon, with free access if you want to walk around them.

Details of interest:

• Address: 6500 Magazine St, Audubon Park
• Price: Tickets are approximately $25 per adult and children pay 10% less along with seniors.
• Duration: it is an entertaining museum, but it is not that big and therefore about 2 hours is enough to go through it in its entirety.
• Opening hours: every day (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays), from 10:00 to 17:00 hours.

World War II was a traumatic episode for all the countries involved in the conflict. It is therefore logical that there should be a national museum within the United States dedicated to this period of its history, and it is located in the city of New Orleans.

It is an entertaining option to visit with children because of the fact that all kinds of machinery and tools used at that time for the defence of the free world are on display. The little ones at home love to see this kind of artefacts, such as aeroplanes or tanks.

This World War II Museum in New Orleans is open almost every day of the year so you can visit with your children when you are in town.

Plus, it's right between Magazine and Camp Streets in the heart of the Warehouse District. In other words, it's in a very touristy section of downtown.

It tends to close at 5pm and so it is advisable to look for alternative plans in the nearby perimeter. A couple of blocks away is Lafayette Square, which offers a place to relax and watch the sun set over the city skyline.

In addition, New Orleans' Art District is located along Magazine Street and other nearby streets. So strolling around to check out some of the galleries while you grab an ice cream or lemonade is another great way to welcome the evening with the kids.

Details of interest:

• Address: 945 Magazine St
• Price: Tickets cost about 28 euros per person if you buy them online. It is preferable that you do so on a website that offers free cancellation of your reservation.
• Duration: It is not common to spend more than 3.5 hours touring this museum. In fact, you can usually see all the exhibits in a maximum of 2 hours.
• Opening hours: from 9:00 to 17:00

Speaking of museums, to the north of the city, in the City Park, is the Louisiana Childrens Museum.

Like the other children's museums in the rest of the country, it's a fun activity to visit with children as young as 12 months to well into their pre-teen years, i.e. 13 years old.

Educational exhibits on the history of the region, games with animators and childcare specialists or climbing walls to entertain the older children in the house. These are some of the attractions you can enjoy with your little ones if you decide to visit this museum during your visit to New Orleans.

Near the Childrens Museum you'll also find some of the other major establishments in the gigantic City Park, which is curiously similar in shape and size to New York's Central Park.

The New Orleans Museum of Arts is one such place and the city's botanical garden is the other. Together they can make a full afternoon's entertainment for you and your children without the need to walk too far and without having to stay in the same section of the city all the time.

Interesting details

• Address: 15 Henry Thomas Dr
• Price: Tickets are relatively inexpensive, usually costing around $16 for both adults and children, as long as they are over 12 months old. Babies under the age of one year are free.
• Duration: 3 hours is usually more than enough time to entertain the little ones at this museum.
• Opening hours: Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 16:30. On Sundays it opens later until 11:30 am.

Jamnola is a permanent display of multimedia material that spans across 12 different rooms for visitors to marvel at the art on display.

The inspiration for these fun compositions stems from the food, culture and music of this quirky city, making it a convenient stop if you're looking for things to do with kids in New Orleans.

I guarantee you 'll leave this place with plenty of pictures worthy of a social media post.

Children under the age of 16 are also not allowed without adult supervision. Don't overstay your evening as Jamnola closes its doors at 8pm, leaving you free for the rest of the evening to explore the streets of the French Quarter which is just a short walk southwest.

Details of interest:

• Address: 2832 Royal St
• Price: Tickets are around US$29 for adults, US$20 for children between 3 and 12 years old. Children under that age are completely free.
• Duration: It's a relatively short activity and it's not likely to take more than 45 minutes to tour and photograph all the exhibits available.

Children have an amazing capacity to be amazed by anything that is new to them in their environment. That's why a ride on the city's tram is a great way to round out a day when you've planned a tour of New Orleans' French Quarter.

Another reason that makes it an interesting plan is the fact that this transport is the oldest tram in the world that still operates today. So by riding as a passenger you are participating in a historic landmark that is still in daily use by locals and tourists alike.

There is a line that runs right in front of the Mississippi River and another that runs north-south along Canal Street. Which is convenient considering most of your tourist stops are in this area of the city.

As for the cost of a tour, you'll be surprised to know that you'll only pay about $1.25 per trip. You can also purchase a Jazzy Pass which gives you unlimited rides for 1, 2, 3 or 31 days for a fare proportional to your tram usage on those respective dates.

City Park offers other children's entertainment alternatives for your visit to New Orleans with the Carousel Garden and Storyland sculptures.

Both are great options for things to do and see in a New Orleans summer because of the fact that this park has plenty of shade to escape the sun while the kids play freely in a safe, nature-filled space.

In the case of Storyland, you'll find a beautiful theme park with 26 permanent exhibits featuring life-size fairytale characters.

Fire trucks, Captain Hook's ship and the whale from Pinocchio's fairy tale are some of the scenes present on the route of this attraction, located very close to the city's Botanical Gardens.

Carousel Gardens is the other main children's attraction in the City Park and consists of a small amusement park with children's roller coasters and other machinery that has been in continuous operation since 1906.

This makes it one of the oldest public spaces of its kind in the United States and one of the few remaining urban parks of its kind in the country.

At least when it's not the Christmas season, in which case it's a great winter night out in New Orleans.

Interesting details

• Price: Keep in mind that admission to these attractions is not free, as the admission ticket is $5 per person.
• Duration: Closing time is set between 5 and 6 pm every day of the week and you can spend about 3 to 4 hours between the two children's attractions.

The city's football team is the New Orleans Saints, and the NFL preseason, regular season and postseason take place during three quarters of the year.

So if there's a game scheduled for the week of your visit to the city, it 's a great idea to bring the kids along to experience the best of American sports passion in a venue as impressive as the New Orleans Superdome.

There are no guarantees as to how much you might pay for tickets, as prices are always adjusted according to the relevance of the game. What I can assure you is that this is a fun activity for any child, as the stadiums are filled with a festive atmosphere that gives them the opportunity to drink as many sodas as they want along with a typical American Hotdog.

My recommendation is not to worry about paying for front row seats if the kids don't understand the sport. Chances are they will be more interested in experiencing the mysticism of the surreal moment of attending a stadium like the Superdome and being able to share it with you.

Children should be indulged in their tastes to encourage the free development of their personalities and it is no secret that many are interested in spooky things.

New Orleans is the perfect place for your kids if this appeals to them, as it has one of the few vampire shops on the planet.

It's located in the French Quarter just down the street from Bourbon Street and sells all sorts of gadgets that a real vampire would use to camouflage themselves in society.

At the other end of the block, the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum is also a good place to learn about the identity of voodoo spiritualism in the culture of this part of the country.

So booking a ghost tour of New Orleans can be a convenient way to please your children and entertain the family in an unconventional way.

And to take it to the next level, there are also cemetery tours in the city that mix terrifying stories with a genuine admiration for the architectural beauty of these places.

Although it's a good alternative for older children, it's still a tricky plan for younger, more impressionable kids.

Details of interest

• Address and opening hours: Vampyre's Shop is at 709 St Ann St and is open from 10am to 9pm daily.
• Price: Admission to the shop is free, but in general, ghost or vampire tours of the city that include a guided visit to the shop cost around 28-30 euros per person.
• Duration: Tours usually last 2 to 3 hours at the most and the individual visit to the shop lasts no more than about 20 minutes on the schedule.

Jackson Square is an epicentre of tourist activity in the French Quarter at all times of the year. December and February are important months for this beautiful square because of the arrival of Christmas carolers or the Mardi Gras celebrations.

So on your visit to New Orleans you can't skip this corner of the city if you're looking for entertainment for the younger members of the group.

Throughout the year there are fortune tellers and tarot readers who offer fortune telling and personal fortune telling to interested tourists. Clearly, this is a shocking and very interesting moment for the mind of a curious child who is amazed by all the new things around him.

At the same time, the square is also often filled with trumpet and saxophone players who, for a few dollars, offer those present a small concert of free and experimental jazz. This is also an experience that can move an impressionable child as well as an adult of your age.

You can take advantage of the fact that most guided tours of New Orleans pass through this square so you don't have to readjust your itinerary. This means that two of your plans can be realised in the same day, simultaneously.