Louis Armstrong Park. New Orleans. All photography is ours.
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Louisiana with Kids
If you’re planning Louisiana with kids, give New Orleans three days. This was an easy road trip for us and a lot of fun. Eat gumbo and fried chicken, book a food tour and a cemetery tour, catch a ranger’s jazz program in the French Quarter, and get out of the city for the swamp. We drove down from Oklahoma in December 2025 and did exactly that.
New Orleans is the draw, but having a car let us eat in other neighborhoods and see the rest of the state on the way. That’s the Louisiana experience we were looking for and think you’ll love too.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited December 2025
Best months
October–April
National parks
0 + 5 NPS sites
Fly into
MSY
How long
3 days for New Orleans, 5 with the drive
Book ahead
New Orleans hotels for Mardi Gras and festivals · Cemetery, food, and music tours · Willie Mae’s gets a line
We drove down from Oklahoma and stopped first at Cane River Creole National Historical Park outside Natchitoches. Then we spent three nights in New Orleans. We walked the French Quarter and saw both park visitor centers. Preservation Hall got two of our nights, and the Sugar Bowl parade rolled through while we were in town.
The eating was the point, though, and the restaurants are below. Keep reading for more essential Louisiana.
Your Louisiana guide
Enjoy exploring Louisiana with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three Louisiana road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Louisiana
Why we love Louisiana
We think you’ll love it too.
Louisiana is where we’d send a family that wants to eat their way through a trip. There’s gumbo, beignets, po’boys, and fried chicken at Willie Mae’s, with a brass band somewhere in the background. The history is right there too, from the plantations on the Cane River to the swamp where Jean Lafitte’s privateers hid out. Cajun country west of the city is still on our list. Scroll down for the Louisiana essentials.
The French Quarter AftT Visit
The French Quarter has Jackson Square, the cathedral, beignets at Café du Monde, and street musicians on every corner. Walk it in the morning with kids, before Bourbon Street wakes up. The riverfront and the streetcar are right there.
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve AftT Visit
The park has six units around the delta. We did two: the French Quarter visitor center and the Barataria Preserve, with boardwalk trails through the swamp and alligators in the water, half an hour south of the city. The Chalmette Battlefield, where Andrew Jackson beat the British in 1815, is the one we’d add next.
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park AftT Visit
This is a visitor center in the French Quarter where rangers who are also musicians tell the story of jazz with live performances. It’s free, and it’s one of the most unusual NPS sites in the country.
Cane River Creole National Historical Park AftT Visit
The park covers two cotton plantations near Natchitoches. We toured Oakland, with the outbuildings, the store, and the quarters preserved as they were. It’s a quieter, more honest look at plantation life than the big-house tours. The visitor center is in the old train depot in town. It’s four hours north of New Orleans.
And the rest we’d cross the bayou for
Willie Mae’s Scotch House AftT Visit
The fried chicken in Tremé that Carrie and Andrew named their favorite bite anywhere. Expect a line. Go for lunch.
Preservation Hall AftT Visit
Preservation Hall has traditional jazz in a tiny room on St. Peter Street. The 45 minute sets come with no drinks and no frills, just the band a few feet away. We bought tickets for two different nights. Kids are welcome, and shows sell out, so book before you go.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant AftT Visit
Dooky Chase’s is Leah Chase’s Creole landmark in Tremé, a few blocks from Willie Mae’s. We went for the fried chicken and gumbo, and the cocktails were great for the grown-ups. Reservations help.
The Sugar Bowl parade AftT Visit
This is the New Year’s Eve parade through the Quarter with marching bands from both schools, floats, and beads, the week before the game. We caught it on our trip, and it’s a free taste of Mardi Gras for kids who come in December.
The French Quarter food walking tour AftT Visit
A late-morning walk through the Quarter with a tasting at each stop, and it covers lunch. We booked the small-group version through Viator. Boudin balls, a muffuletta, gumbo, and pralines were the standouts, and it’s a good way to try things kids might not order on their own.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 AftT Visit
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest cemetery in the city, with the above-ground tombs and Marie Laveau’s grave. You can only go in with a licensed guide, so we booked the official walking tour, about an hour and a half on a morning.
A New Orleans music tour AftT Visit
An afternoon walking tour through the places where jazz started, from Congo Square to the clubs. We did it on our last full day, and it pairs well with the Jazz park visitor center.
The ghost, crime, voodoo, and vampire tour AftT Visit
This is the after-dark walk through the Quarter’s darker stories. The one we booked was adults-only, so it’s a parents’ night out or one for older teens on a family trip. Plenty of family versions run earlier in the evening.
Natchitoches AftT Visit
Natchitoches is the oldest town in the Louisiana Purchase, with a brick-paved riverfront and meat pies. We stopped at the park visitor center in the old train depot. The Christmas lights festival runs through December.
Magnolia Plantation
It’s the other half of Cane River Creole NHP, a few miles south of Oakland. We did Oakland and ran out of day, so Magnolia is next time.
Audubon Zoo and Aquarium
The zoo is uptown in Audubon Park and the aquarium is on the riverfront downtown. A combo ticket covers both, plus the insectarium.
The National WWII Museum
Regularly ranked one of the best museums in the country, in the Warehouse District. Plan a full day for older kids.
The St. Charles streetcar
This is the oldest continuously running streetcar line in the world, and it rolls through the Garden District to Audubon Park. It’s cheap, slow, and a ride kids ask to repeat.
Avery Island
Avery Island has the Tabasco factory tour and the Jungle Gardens, two hours west of New Orleans in Cajun country. It’s on our list.
Lafayette and Cajun country
This is the place for boudin, zydeco, and the Vermilionville living history village. The Prairie Acadian and Wetlands Acadian cultural centers are Jean Lafitte units out here.
Poverty Point National Monument
Poverty Point is a 3,400 year old earthwork complex in the northeast corner of the state, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We haven’t been yet.
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Routes
Three Louisiana road trip itineraries
New Orleans anchors all three. The first is the drive we did from the north, with stops. See all the best stops on a map.
Start
Natchitoches and the Cane River
Visit Oakland Plantation and the park visitor center in the old depot downtown. In December the lights are on along the river.
Then head to
New Orleans
It’s three nights here, two at the Hyatt Centric French Quarter and one at the Kimpton. That covers the French Quarter, both park visitor centers, Willie Mae’s, four walking tours, and a different neighborhood for dinner every night.
Finish
Barataria Preserve
The swamp boardwalks 30 minutes south of the city. The Chalmette Battlefield is 20 minutes east if you have another half day.
Home base
The French Quarter or the CBD
Walk to Jackson Square, the riverfront, and the streetcar. Points hotels cluster on Canal Street.
Then head to
Uptown
Ride the St. Charles streetcar to the Garden District and Audubon Zoo.
Add on
A swamp tour
Boat tours leave from the west bank and Slidell. Alligators are a near guarantee in warm months.
Start
Lafayette
Lafayette has Vermilionville, boudin from a gas station, and the Acadian cultural center.
Then head to
Avery Island
Tabasco and the Jungle Gardens are an hour south.
Finish
New Orleans
It’s two hours east on I-10, across the Atchafalaya basin on the long bridge.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We went in December, which was mild and busy with holiday lights. Spring and fall are the best weather. Summer is hot and humid and hurricane season runs through November, so watch the forecast. Mardi Gras is a different trip entirely.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
March – April
It’s warm, not yet hot, and it’s festival season. French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest fill the hotels, so book early.
May – September
It’s hot and humid, with afternoon storms. That’s fine for museums and the aquarium, but tough for walking the Quarter at noon.
October – December
This is when we went. You get cooler air and holiday decorations in the Quarter, the Natchitoches lights festival if you time it, and the Sugar Bowl parade on New Year’s Eve. It’s our pick for a family trip.
January – February
Mild, but it’s Mardi Gras season. Parades every weekend, and the city is packed the week before Fat Tuesday.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Louisiana adventure
New Orleans has the hotels, and the location you pick decides how much you walk versus drive.
New Orleans
The French Quarter and Canal Street
We split three nights between the Hyatt Centric French Quarter, right on the edge of the Quarter, and the Kimpton. Both put the cathedral, the riverfront, and the park visitor centers within a walk, and both took the car, which matters when you drive in.
- Hyatt Centric French Quarter on Hyatt points, where we stayed two nights
- Kimpton Hotel Fontenot for the last night
- Parking is expensive, so check the hotel rate
Uptown
The Garden District
The Garden District has bed and breakfasts in old mansions along the streetcar line. It’s calmer than the Quarter and the streetcar takes you downtown in 20 minutes.
- B&Bs on St. Charles Avenue
- Walk to Magazine Street for dinner
- Audubon Park and the zoo at the end of the line
North Louisiana
Natchitoches
This is where we stopped on the way down, though we didn’t sleep here. There are bed and breakfasts on the river and chain hotels on the highway, with Oakland Plantation 20 minutes south.
- Downtown for the riverfront and the lights
- Highway hotels on points
- Four hours to New Orleans
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Louisiana
Yes, if you plan it around food and daytime. We walked the French Quarter in the mornings, did the Jazz park visitor center, and booked a cemetery tour, a food tour, and a music tour, one for each day. Bourbon Street got a quick look. The streetcar, the aquarium, and the zoo are all easy with kids. We stayed three nights and drove, which let us eat in other neighborhoods.
Start with gumbo, which Cadence ordered everywhere we went. Then there’s the fried chicken at Willie Mae’s in Tremé, which Carrie and Andrew call their favorite bite anywhere. Round it out with beignets at Café du Monde, a po’boy, and red beans and rice on a Monday. The food tour added boudin balls, a muffuletta, and pralines to the list, and Dooky Chase’s does fried chicken and gumbo in the same neighborhood as Willie Mae’s. Clancy’s uptown is the turtle soup stop, and Sucré is the ice cream stop. Most of it is kid-friendly, and the portions are big enough to share.
For us it was, because we drove down from Oklahoma and used it to get out of the city. The Barataria swamp and the Cane River plantations both need a car. Inside the Quarter you’ll walk and ride the streetcar, and hotel parking is pricey, so plan for that.
It’s six sites around south Louisiana under one name. We did the French Quarter visitor center downtown and the Barataria Preserve, with boardwalk trails through the swamp. The Chalmette Battlefield, where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815, is 20 minutes east, and three Acadian cultural centers are out in Cajun country.
The best time is October through April. We went in December and the weather was mild, with holiday decorations in the Quarter. Spring has the big festivals. Summer is hot and humid and hurricane season runs into November. Mardi Gras is late winter and books up a year ahead.
It doesn’t have a national park, but it has five National Park Service sites. We’ve been to Jean Lafitte, New Orleans Jazz, and Cane River Creole on our December 2025 trip, and to Vicksburg years earlier. Poverty Point National Monument is the one we’re missing. Our Louisiana national parks guide has all five.
Map
Essential Louisiana, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
Florida with Kids
Florida has theme parks, beaches, and the Dry Tortugas. Oh, and don’t forget the key lime pie.
