Must see places in new orleans

[belle22]

Two dats in New Orleans what must see places traveling with 12 and 9 year old

 

[DisneySaintsFan]

Some of my kids favorites include the Aquarium, Zoo, Bug museum, Mardi Gras museum, Cafe du Monde and a ride on a street car along St. Charles Ave.

 

[Osugal9]

I second cafe du monde. While a little expensive we really enjoyed the carriage tours that you can pick up in jackson square.

 

[richierich2323]

Cafe Du Monde
Aquarium
New Orleans Cematery
National WW II Museum

If your with an older crowd Bourbon Street is a must.

 

[perditax]

Bourbon Street is wall to wall drunk tourists and souvenir shops. Even for adults, I'd say get a look at it so you can say you've seen it, then go to Frenchmen St. instead for the live music.

 

[DisMom829]

To add to the above, the Insectarium is on Canal. Tickets can be purchased as a package with the Aquarium & Zoo. My kids are in the same age range, we love the ambiance & atmosphere of the city. If you stay near Canal you can ride the streetcar down to the zoo and either walk thru Audubon Park to the zoo or catch the complimentary shuttle to the zoo. My kids love eating at Camellia Grill in the Quarter, it is a true old diner style setting. The food is amazing. WW2 museum is also great if your group isinterested in history. Jackson square is beautiful in daylight and at night. We travel there frequently. About a year or so ago, I wanted to see where Marie Laveau's gravesite was, there was a truly amazing groundskeeper there that gave us a guide of the cemetery, of course we tipped him at the end. It was so nice to get a more one-on-one tour. Enjoy the trip, the city is so amazing.

 

[minnie45]

I just spent Friday In New Orleans with my daughter and her BFF ages 10 and 11. (shopping mostly) I'd second everything above and add New Orleans City Park. www.neworleanscitypark.com We are also doing a trip this April to the Aquarium, Insectarium, and IMax theater. http://www.auduboninstitute.org/insectarium

 

[The Dirty Steve]

Food...I can never go to New Orleans without a visit to Mothers. Be ready for a wait, as the line will be out the door. But I can assure you it is some of the best food you will every eat. Try the Famous Ferdi Special here! Another favorite that is hard to pass up is a place called Parkway Bakery. Stellar seafood PoBoys!!!

Attractions...The old Federal Reserve used to do tours. Not sure if they still do but it was a good one.

 

[FFMickey]

Beignets from Cafe du Monde. Po'boys from Parkway Bakery. The cemeteries are a bit creepy, but fascinating. We liked walking around the French Quarter, but Bourbon Street is definitely not family oriented. I didn't have a chance to go to the aquarium, but the Louisiana State Museum is great. We went through the Katrina exhibit and looked at their Mardi Gras displays. We only had a day there, so there are more to see.

 

[Gracie09]

Skip the Camilla grill in the quarter and ride the st Charles street car uptown and go to the original up there. Also Frankie and Johnny's uptown. If the crawfish are in season well worth it. Tulane and the park are worth a walk around.

 

[xlsm]

We had our honeymoon in New Orleans and we love the city! With kids, I second the zoo/aquarium ideas. Also take them through the French Quarter, skipping Bourbon Street (it smells horrible...like vomit and regret). We did a great tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1 with French Quarter Phantoms tours. Our guide was amazing. Spend some time in the garden district, ride the street car, and hit up Magazine St. City Park is beautiful too. The whole place is just magical, and if you know the history, endlessly fascinating.

Oh, and while Cafe DuMonde is iconic, we prefer beignets from Cafe Beignet on Royal.

Have a fun trip!!

 

[dpswift]

We did a cemetery tour and a ghost tour. We had a great time. cafe Du Monde is a must.

 

[mjallemand]

Croissant D'Or Patisserie is our favorite breakfast spot in the French Quarter: http://www.croissantdornola.com/

Outside of the Quarter, check out Riccabono's Panola St. Cafe. http://panolastreetcafe.com/

 

[princesspwrhr]

I'm really not sure that a 12 and 9 yo would care for the aquarium & zoo to be honest. We went when my oldest was 2 and they were great (so was the children's museum). We went again last year and the girls were 16, 10, 9. My friend and her 3 girls (16, 11, 5) were with us. Only the 5 year old liked the Aquarium, the rest of us thought it was really disappointing. The zoo isn't bad, but it's not great either, especially if you have zoos near your home or you go in the summer when the animals hide all day.(Who can blame them?) There is also a splash zone that costs extra. My then 9 year old was the only one who enjoyed the Insectarium. So before you pay the money, think about the personalities of your kids and do a virtual tour online.

Experiencing the crowd and the atmosphere of the original Cafe du Monde is great (cash only), I do recommend it at least once, but there's another one not far down in the Riverwalk "outlet" mall when you want more.

The French marketplace is fun to walk around and look at things, Jackson Square has a lot of artists on the weekends, Royal Street has some great art stores and beautiful architecture. Take the trolley car out to the garden district, Lafayette Cemetery is one of the safer ones to walk around- in the day light, and do stay together. You can buy day passes for the trolley- $3 per person per day.

We had a really enjoyable day at City Park, but it is definitely easier to get to if you have a car.

Mardi Gras World is a fun tour, a bit pricey, but it's neat to see all of the floats in the works, have a bit of sugar drenched King cake and learn about the Krews.

We also did a tour with this woman http://www.frenchquartourkids.com/ and I thought it was very well done. She had several ages of kids in our group, but she managed well. It was well paced with the sitting and the walking. There was one time I thought she got a bit long winded, but it was good information and the group didn't seem to squirrely, so it was probably just me. I definitely recommend her if you have time.