Things to do in New Orleans with toddlers
Having a child does not mean you should stop traveling. We have been to a few countries and cities with our kid, and we always love taking him along for the ride with us. Here are a few suggestions on things to do in New Orleans with toddlers (or babies).
Special thank you to New Orleans & Company for helping to arrange this trip. If you have spare time and have questions about your trip, head on over to the official Visitor Center at 339 Decatur Street. The lovely staff there can help answer any questions you may have about your itinerary, and you can pick up some local souvenirs and tips along the way.
This post is part of our New Orleans and Louisiana series. Here are a few related posts:
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Hours: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesday to Saturday 9:30 AM to 4 PM, Sunday 11:30 AM to 4 PM (Central Time)
Address: 15 Henry Thomas Dr, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $18 each for adults and children over 12 months old.
We have covered the Louisiana Children’s Museum in more detail in our complete guide to New Orleans City Park. The museum is in a two-story building and has plenty of activities that the children can do. All of them are hands-on. You can pretend to be in a grocery store with them and they have a say on what they buy. You can also use the water features on the second floor to stop the flow of the water. The children love the museum so much that they tend to spend hours in it.
I feel this is the best place to take your young children if you are in the New Orleans area. The museum is full of activities for them to do and the indoor-outdoor area changes the scenery up a bit. On certain weeks, they have extra activities and events that the parents and children can both love.
Hours: Every day from 11 am–6 pm
Address: 7 Victory Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70124
Cost: Adults/Seniors – $15; Children under 36” – Free; Children over 36” – 25
After you’re done with the Louisiana Children’s Museum, you can head to the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park a quick walk (or drive) away in City Park. This small amusement park has lots of kiddie rides that the children will love.
Hours: Closed Mondays. Sundays, Tuesdays to Thursdays 10 AM to 4:30 PM. Friday & Saturday 10 AM to 3:30 PM.
Address: 5 Victory Ave, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $6 per person, free for children under 36”
Another City Park attraction that we have covered in our Complete Guide to New Orleans City Park post. Storyland Amusement Park is also a notable place to bring your kids to. They call it an amusement park, but it’s more of a character-themed play area. There are characters from fairy tales, which highlight some of the play areas that children can play in. Want to get up close to the “Old Woman Who Lived on A Shoe?” Go ahead. Want to get inside a whale’s mouth? Sure, why not? This attraction may be more suited to families with little children. The play area may not attract the tweens or older kids and they can get bored easily.
Hours: St Charles Streetcar – 24/7; Canal St Streetcar from 5:15 am to 3:00 am
Cost: $1.25 a ride or $3 for an unlimited transportation day pass
Our boy loves buses, trains, boats, and pretty much anything moving on the ground. Riding the streetcars of New Orleans is a treat for the little ones. They can look out at the window at houses, other cars, and establishments. You can ride the streetcar from your accommodation in Canal St or within the French Quarter area if you are on your way to the Louisiana Children’s Museum.
Streetcars run fairly often, so you won’t have to worry about public transportation if your destination is close enough to a stop. With a day pass, you just need to pay once and keep scanning the ticket whenever you board.
Hours: Open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM
Address: 6500 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $60 for the Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium, $50 for any 2 attractions, $30 for just Audubon Zoo
The Audubon Zoo is in Audubon Park, a bit further away from the city. You can ride the St Charles streetcar to Audubon Park and walk to the zoo. Alternatively, you can catch the #32 bus from the New Orleans Main Library/Tulane University area and the final stop is the zoo. The Audubon Zoo is big, but you can walk around all the areas with your child. Bring your stroller though, as it is a lot of walking for the littles. There’s a tram you can ride for an extra $5 per person. You are free to ride the tram as many times as you want around the zoo until they close.
There are two gift shops in the zoo. One by the main entrance (the bigger one), and one by the Louisiana Swamp area. There are different things available in each gift shop. There may be discounted items in one shop but not the other. If you want to buy a souvenir for your child (or yourself), best to check out both shops.
Like the gift shop, there are also 2 restaurants/cafes in the zoo. The better one is by the Swamp, called the Cypress Knee Café. You can have Louisiana fare while also giving the usual kid menu item to your child. The other restaurant by the front door called the Zoofari Café, has typical fare like burgers, pizzas, and quick eats.
The Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium are all owned by the same company, so you can opt to get a combination ticket for all 3 to save a bit of money. Depending on where you are
Hours: Daily from 10 AM to 5 PM
Address: 1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $60 for the Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium, $50 for any 2 attractions, $30 for just Audubon Insectarium
If your child likes insects or bugs, the Insectarium could be a good place for them to visit. Otherwise, if you are on a tight budget, I would say skip the insectarium. While there are so many different types of insects in the insectarium that you won’t commonly find anywhere else, if your child fears them, it may be worth skipping. I have seen a few girls who are crying when their parents ask them to look at some creepy crawlies. Understandable though. However, the highlight of the Insectarium is the huge butterfly garden. You can see the butterfly garden as you enter the building to the aquarium and insectarium from the ground floor. There are so many butterflies flying around or just hanging out in the branches! Each one is hatched from the insectarium, so no butterflies had been taken away from their natural habitat to create this attraction.
There’s also a beehive within the insectarium which leads straight out to the garden below. You can see the garden and walk alongside it, but I did not get to see the bees up close from that angle. You can even try to eat some bugs in Bug Appetit, as well as touch some insects when there is an educational session going on.
The Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium are all owned by the same company, so you can opt to get a combination ticket for all 3 to save a bit of money. However, you’ll need to travel a bit out of the city to get to the Audubon Zoo, which is accessible by the Saint Charles streetcar to Audubon Park. Because of the renovation that finished in June 2023, the Insectarium looks completely new and up to date. The Butterfly Garden is a completely new addition!
Hours: Daily from 10 AM to 5 PM
Address: 1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $60 for the Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium, $50 for any 2 attractions, $30 for just Audubon Aquarium
The Audubon Aquarium is an indoor aquarium that houses mostly fish. The biggest tank has sharks and there’s a sting-ray tank where you can reach in and try to touch them. The sting rays in this aquarium are a bit skittish as compared to the other places we’ve been to, and the sank is deeper, so watch over your young children closely. The shark tank is cool, it spans two floors and has Mayan statues dotted along the tank. There’s even an albino alligator, as well as a rescued owl within the premises of the aquarium. Expect to spend at least an hour in the aquarium, maybe more if you intend to stay and look at the animals longer.
The Audubon Zoo, Insectarium, and Aquarium are all owned by the same company, so you can opt to get a combination ticket for all 3 to save a bit of money. The Insectarium and Aquarium have been opened in June 2023 after a big renovation that caused the insectarium and aquarium to close for 8 months. When I visited in September of 2023, everything still felt brand new! If you have been to the Audubon Aquarium before the renovation, here’s a reason why you should come back and experience the attraction again!
Hours: 6:15 am to 8:45 pm Sundays to Thursdays; 6:15 am to 10:45 pm Fridays & Saturdays
Cost: FREE
This free ferry takes you from the building in front of the Audubon Aquarium to Algiers Point Ferry Terminal. The other side of the river has a different vantage point of the New Orleans French Quarter and CBD area and is an underrated historic neighborhood. You can choose to walk around the neighborhood to explore the streetscape or you can just turn around and catch the next ferry ride back to Canal Street.
If your child likes riding boats and ferries, then this short ferry ride may make their day as you cross to the other side of the Mississippi and see views of Vue Orleans and parts of the French Quarter. Then they can then ride back! Overall, it takes around 30 minutes from boarding to reach the other side of the ferry terminal.
Hours: 6 AM to 9:45 PM Daily
Address: 3000 Downs Blvd, Metairie, LA 70003
Cost: FREE
Lafreniere Park is technically not part of New Orleans, but its proximity to the airport makes it a great place to stop and kill some time if your accommodation is close to the airport. There’s a big playground in the park, a boardwalk you can walk in to see some wildlife, and generally a big open space for the children to run around and enjoy.
The boardwalk is a highlight for me since I managed to see a nutria swimming by, as well as turtles, ducks, geese, and fish. Did I mention that the park is free? Parking is free and plentiful, and the activities are also free! You can rideshare here from the airport if you don’t have a car, but the park is big so expect to do a lot of walking if you want to explore everything.
Hours: Saturdays 11 AM to 3 PM
Address: 2020 Fourth Street, Kenner, LA 70062
Cost: The Science Museum is free with a Planetarium ticket purchase. The planetarium is $5 per show
The City of New Orleans does not have its own Science Museum and Planetarium, but Rivertown (a 5-minute drive from the airport) does! If you arrive on a weekend, you’ll get to watch a few shows on the planetarium as well as see the Space Shuttle Museum and the Science Center. We wrote a dedicated post about Rivertown in a separate post. You can head over there to get more details about the planetarium, science center, and what it has to offer (as well as see more photos!)
New Orleans Airport gets busy. If you have TSA Precheck and a long layover of 4+ hours on a Saturday, this may be a good spot to go.
We bring our car seat everywhere just because we want our child to be comfortable whenever we travel. It may be a hassle having to lug the child seat around while trying to sightsee, but we usually put it on the stroller when our child chooses to walk. Alternatively, if our child is sitting in the stroller, we put the car seat on our back and tote it around like a backpack.
The activities here are just an idea of the things that you can do in New Orleans with toddlers (or babies). If you feel that we missed out on a few spots that should have been added to the list, feel free to let us know by commenting below and we’ll look (and maybe add it to the list). Hopefully, this post has helped you plan your trip to New Orleans with your little one. Happy exploring!
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