You’re taking your kids to New Orleans???
That is a question I got when I announced our fall travel plans.
Yes, yes we did, and it was awesome. There’s a ton of stuff to do in New Orleans as a family while still having good time as adults.
Of course it is a different experience than when I went there 4 times in my college era, but at this point in my life that is OK!! I would not likely take them in the spring closer to Mardi Gras.
First of all, we took the Amtrak train called The City of New Orleans, and if you can get yourself to Chicago to do this, I highly recommend it. If you are traveling from this area to NOLA this is better than driving or flying in my opinion. It gave me lots of time to read a great book.
There is a song about this train by Arto Guthrie:
Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son
I’m the train they call the City Of New Orleans
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
I made my kids listen to this song and sang it several times during the trip, which started to annoy them, but they did like the song. How can you not?
I have taken this Amtrak route to Memphis many times and could write my own song or story about those experiences, but I had never taken it to the end of the line in NOLA. It leaves Chicago at 8 p.m. and arrives in NOLA around 3 p.m. the next day so you have plenty of time to sleep and relax.
Thankfully our train was on time because we didn’t actually stay down there too long, only 2 nights this time.
What We Did in New Orleans with Kids
The first night we ate at Oceana Grill, a casual restaurant that is great for families. We ended up eating here again for breakfast one day and that was also a great and tasty experience.
Then we met up for our Haunted History Ghost Tour (New Orleans is known as one of America’s most haunted cities.) at 8 p.m. My kids are 8 and 10 and it was almost ok for them but perhaps the stories they tell were a bit too scary. I think it depends on your kids. They do have tours that go earlier, like 5 pm and those may be better for younger kids. And my husband caught a ghost in his photo….
Two “ghosts” showed up in this photo…do you see them??
Do you see the face of the man with the mustache near the middle and the black woman in the bottom left?? These people were not in our group. He took this photo (in bursts) looking into Muriel’s window where they serve a dinner to spirits every day (long story they will tell you on the tour). These faces showed up in the middle of the burst of photos. This did not help the fact my kids were already a bit scared from the tour…(For the record I don’t believe in that stuff and am sure there’s a logical explanation…)
But the next day we changed things up and focused on learning about Mardi Gras at Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World. They offer a free shuttle. We all enjoyed seeing the huge floats and how they are made as well as learning about how Mardi Gras parades work, history of the Krewes etc.
Later that day we visited the swamp, an area I never got close to during those 4 college-era visits. On this tour we saw a ton of gators although they feed them so it didn’t seem totally natural. But the swamp is a beautiful area and I’m really glad I saw it. This tour will also pick you up at your hotel.
With the haunted history and swamp tours, they offer several different options so check out the sites to see what may be most interesting and appropriate for your family.
For our second dinner (since we couldn’t really go out to bars dinners were a highlight for us on this trip) we ate at Brennen’s. This place is fancier than I realized it was but although we were totally underdressed and with kids they made us feel completely welcome and appropriate. This was a first class experience, and we even saw a wedding parade go by outside the restaurant. Thanks to the host for telling us to go outside to see! I wanted to eat here since we ate at one of its affiliates at Disney.
The next morning we walked to see Jackson Square (I never even made it here in college) and to try the beignets at Café Du Monde. The line to sit at one of their tables was already super long so we opted for the “to go” line (cash only) and took our beignets and coffee across the street to eat in Jackson Square. I would sit at a table given the opportunity, but this was also a nice experience. I admit I was skeptical, how can these beignets and coffee be that good? They were. We now get the coffee shipped to us because we were looking for an affordable coffee we could agree on. You can also order the beignet mix online; we haven’t tried it at home yet. (Click the photos to purchase on Amazon.)
During our downtime, we hit the rooftop pool at Hotel Monteleone. We actually stayed at Bienville House but they are owned by the same people so we had access to the rooftop pool. I liked both of these hotels a lot; the locations are awesome. The pool at Monteleone is nicer and sunnier (and serves drinks) so I may opt to stay there in the future but if Bienville is less expensive I would certainly stay there again as well. They are only a couple of blocks apart.
My refreshing drink on the rooftop of Hotel Monteleone.
I am so excited to go back yet there are so many other places to go…
If you enjoyed this post you may want to check out my previous posts on our epic West Coast vacation also with kids. But we travel in a way that everyone has fun! If you have any questions just let me know; I’m happy to help. What have you done in New Orleans with kids?
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