New Orleans

[drcmk]

I'm considering New Orleans for a family vacation this summer. Has anyone vacationed there and do you have any advice for me? What are some budget friendly, family friendly things to do? My kids are young teenagers.

 

[rvchat]

in May. IT'S VERY VERY HOT. I mean hotter, IMO, than Florida because in Florida we're always in a pool or at the beach.

Was not the case in New Orleans. But I still loved it. HAVE FUN

 

[Dominus]

We actually break up out trips to wdw with a stay in NOLA on the way or the way back. The trolleys are cool and cheap. The riverfront and st. charles lines are the best. The haunted history tours are cool, and you can get coupons for them, although you can get all the information from the web and books and do a "self tour". The voodoo museum is cool and cheap. The national D-day museum is cool, not overly expensive. You can walk around and see the historical sites, like Jackson Square and the Old Mint. The French Market is free, unless you see something you want. If you have a car, you can drive out and see what's still jacked up from Katrina (a bit somber, but kids need to see real life stuff sometimes). The St. Louis Cemetary #1 (where Marie Laveaux is buried and where they filmed part of Easy Rider. The voodoo shops are free to enter. You can find the addresses of celebrity homes online (if you're into that kinda thing, I'm not). You can drive across the Pontchitrain (sp?) freeway. There's tons of stuff to do. It's not all cheap, but none of it is overly expensive. NOLA makes their money on drinks, food, and some gaming. There's the aquarium of the americas. River boats. If you drive, remember to stop at the visitor's center at the LA border and pick up all the maps, literature and coupon books, you can save tons of money. If you have any questions, pm me. We go to NOLA at least once a year. It's a great city.

 

[Dominus]

in May. IT'S VERY VERY HOT. I mean hotter, IMO, than Florida because in Florida we're always in a pool or at the beach.

Was not the case in New Orleans. But I still loved it. HAVE FUN

It doesn't seem too hot when you're coming from Houston heat. lol

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

My dd will most likely be competing in the Junior Olympics in New Orleans at the end of July, so we will probably be visiting as a family, as well. OP...the week of July 27 will probably be very crowded, based on the number of events competing!

I look forward to reading some of these ideas, as well.

Has anyone done a swamp tour? We stopped in New Orleans overnight last summer, but didn't have time to sight see. My ds enjoyed seeing the swamps and found all the brochures for the swamp tours. I'd hate to waste money if they aren't that good.

The voodoo museum, ghost tours and cemetary tours would be great for teens. Any of the hotels would have info about these, and I'm sure you can find info online beforehand!

 

[wgwtgb]

Not sure if you are up for a little drive, but I think Zam's Swamp Tours is great! If you watch Wife Swap, and did a few years ago, the couple that owns the place were on it. They are down home good hearted cajuns!!!!

 

[DaParkers]

I've never vacationed in New Orleans, but I do live here. The ferry between the east and west bank is free. It gives a unique perspective of the city. The ride takes about 30 minutes roundtrip. I would keep the kids off Bourbon St., but most of the rest of the French Quarter is ok for them. Go to the French Market, Jackson Square, and the Riverwalk mall. If you stay at a hotel on Canal St. or in the quarter, all of those things are in walking distance. We have an aquarium on the river also. There are all sorts of tours like cemetery and plantation tours, but I don't know how much they cost. I would definitely ride the streetcar down St. Charles, hop off at one of the restaurants like The New Orleans and Seafood Co., hop back on and continue your ride. The streetcar is about $2, I think. Lol! I live here but don't know the cost of many things. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.
P.S. Try to do these things during daylight as it is not the safest place at night.

 

[DaParkers]

You also go to the National WWII museum or catch a streetcar and go to city park where the Museum of Art is. The best snowballs in the city (Pandoras) are close by too. You might want to check out Groupon also.

 

[3boys4me]

P.S. Try to do these things during daylight as it is not the safest place at night.

This is great advice.

 

[cajunmommy]

Thinking of where my boys have had field trips....

The Audubon trifecta - Zoo, Aquarium + IMAX, & Insectarium. You can typically get package ticket deals. AAA offers discounts as well.

The WWII museum is wonderful. They have a 4D movie experience that's very well done. Tom Hanks was very involved in it's production.

Mardi Gras World (in it's new home in a HUGE warehouse just upriver from the Morial Convention center) would be a fun time as well.

There's also a State Museum in the Cabildo (or is it the Presbytere?) that has cool exhibits on Mardi Gras history plus other rotating exhibits. These buildings flank St. Louis Cathedral.

Did anybody mention beignets & cafe au lait at the Cafe du Monde? It's a must do!

 

[cmanuel]

May, to me, is not a bad time to go. It is still cool (if your from down south). My children really enjoyed it. We stayed near the casino's so we could see it all. Actually we used our DVC points to get a place, it was great!

 

[w0rM]

Don't forget the food! New Orleans has the best food on the planet! Do some searching on the web and you'll find a wide variety of world class restaurants all over downtown and uptown New Orleans.

 

[JMERLINO]

You have to visit downtown for the experience. Make sure you go at night but if you have kids you need to be careful it can get pretty crowded and wild.

 

[jsmla]

How about a cooking class? We did this one with my DD's class:

http://www.neworleansschoolofcooking.com/classes.html

Jennifer

 

[Planogirl]

P.S. Try to do these things during daylight as it is not the safest place at night.

How is the crime situation there nowadays? I understood that it was very bad after Katrina but there were plans in place to clean things up?

 

[JMERLINO]

I was just there weeks ago and it is no different than it was during katrina you just have to be aware of your surroundings. It is getting back to where it was years ago.

 

[lunalibre]

We went to NO last summer without the kids, but we'd love to go back and bring them with us. We went last June, and it was HOT. I grew up in Houston, I've spent plenty of time in Florida, but there was a heat wave going on at the time and the heat index was around 110 the entire time we were there. BE PREPARED TO SWEAT!!! Drink tons of water!

You said you have teenagers. Do y'all like jazz music, or at least live music? To us, that's a must-do. Preservation Hall is where Harry Connick Jr. got his start in the music business. They don't serve food or drinks (though you can bring in your own bottles of water), and we saw very young children there. AMAZING music! But....NO AIR CONDITIONING.

I know we also saw kids at Palm Court Cafe. It's a restaurant that also has live jazz music.

The ghost tours/Haunted History tours are fun, and teens would probably really enjoy those. We went on two different tours by Bloody Mary, and those were fun.

Definitely go to Cafe Du Monde and get beignets! You can either wait and sit in the cafe (good for people watching), or go to a walk-up window and buy your food to go. We always got ours to go, then sat in the park across the street to people-watch. Be sure to shake up the beignets in the bag so they get good and coated with powdered sugar! Yum!

Central Grocery (half a block from Cafe Du Monde and across the street) is the birthplace of the muffaleta. I can't stand olives, and I STILL loved this sandwich. Good food and cheap.

If you can afford it, try to splurge on one meal there. Go for lunch if you need to cut costs further. Whatever you do, there's no excuse for eating bad food in NO!

A word about safety...

We are friends with two couples who grew up in NO, and all of them said just to be very careful at night. They said the Quarter is safe enough, but as soon as you get to the edge -- take a taxi back to your hotel, even if it's only a couple of blocks away. Now, we were staying just outside the Quarter, so we weren't driving around. We saw big parking lots on the south edge of the quarter, near the Aquarium, and those were probably safe enough to walk to until...I dunno, maybe 11:30 or midnight? The more respectable-seeming places that focused on live music seemed to shut down around 11, so that's when we decided to leave each night. Also, our friends told us that after 11pm or so, Bourbon St. was the safest way to walk to the edge of the quarter.

I know a lot of people won't take kids on Bourbon street -- for good reason. However, with it being NO, you never know when you might see something...inappropriate. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'd take my kids down Bourbon St. at night *if* it's the safest way to get back to the hotel. I'd just tell my kids that they'd likely see all manner of inappropriate and/or stupid behaviour, that even adults can behave worse than kids sometimes, and they were to stay with us, eyes forward, and just KEEP MOVING. Hmmm, it could be a teachable moment even: "See kids? Getting drunk makes you look really stupid! Why would anyone ever want to do that???"

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[NotUrsula]

A word about safety...

We are friends with two couples who grew up in NO, and all of them said just to be very careful at night. They said the Quarter is safe enough, but as soon as you get to the edge -- take a taxi back to your hotel, even if it's only a couple of blocks away. Now, we were staying just outside the Quarter, so we weren't driving around. We saw big parking lots on the south edge of the quarter, near the Aquarium, and those were probably safe enough to walk to until...I dunno, maybe 11:30 or midnight? The more respectable-seeming places that focused on live music seemed to shut down around 11, so that's when we decided to leave each night. Also, our friends told us that after 11pm or so, Bourbon St. was the safest way to walk to the edge of the quarter.

I know a lot of people won't take kids on Bourbon street -- for good reason. However, with it being NO, you never know when you might see something...inappropriate. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'd take my kids down Bourbon St. at night *if* it's the safest way to get back to the hotel. I'd just tell my kids that they'd likely see all manner of inappropriate and/or stupid behaviour, that even adults can behave worse than kids sometimes, and they were to stay with us, eyes forward, and just KEEP MOVING. Hmmm, it could be a teachable moment even: "See kids? Getting drunk makes you look really stupid! Why would anyone ever want to do that???"

The thing about safety for tourists in NOLA is that tourists are the city's bread and butter, and because of this, police presence is concentrated on those places where tourists are expected to be. Therefore, the safest place in the city is the heart of the Quarter hotel zone. The Warehouse District near the Convention Center follows a close second. (Street criminals know that the tourists have money, and are not averse to preying upon them, but for the most part they try to stick to car breakins and occasional run-by purse snatchings in the most heavily policed areas, because actually rolling a tourist in the hotel zone of the Quarter draws down the wrath of NOPD in very unpleasant ways. They tend not to risk it in any location where there is more than a 50/50 chance of getting caught. Of course, if you deliberately do something to make yourself a target, such as flashing lots of cash, then all bets are off.)

The time that you need to be most on your guard is when you venture into untouristed areas, including residential areas, and that is particularly true at night. A cop friend of mine once told me that the most commonly mugged tourists in NOLA are people who have walked out of Uptown bars after a few too many, and camera buffs who are wandering around in unsafe places with their eyes glued to the camera instead of the street.

 

[DaParkers]

I was just there weeks ago and it is no different than it was during katrina you just have to be aware of your surroundings. It is getting back to where it was years ago.

Please elaborate.

 

[DaParkers]

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'd take my kids down Bourbon St. at night *if* it's the safest way to get back to the hotel. I'd just tell my kids that they'd likely see all manner of inappropriate and/or stupid behaviour, that even adults can behave worse than kids sometimes, and they were to stay with us, eyes forward, and just KEEP MOVING. Hmmm, it could be a teachable moment even: "See kids? Getting drunk makes you look really stupid!

I suggested not bringing the kids down Bourbon because of the nudity. Also, we've had a person shot in the head and 4 other people murdered in the Quarter since June. 1 was a marine and 1 was an off duty cop. 2 of the murders and the shooting were on Bourbon St. While I agree that there is a more concentrated police presence on Bourbon, I'm not too sure that it's the safest. More police because more criminals. I live here and refuse to go in the Quarter at night. I just want the OP to be safe.