Things to Do in New Orleans With Kids: 16 Best (2026)

Looking for the best things to do in New Orleans with kids? Good news, behind the Bourbon Street reputation, the Big Easy is a genuinely great family town, gators, beignets, streetcars, and a zoo that will wear the little ones out by lunch.

This is the honest, local grade list, updated for 2026, of the activities that actually work with kids in tow, by age, rain or shine, without a single thing you would have to cover their eyes for. You will discover a city built for curious children, not just stag parties.

One rule up top, do the French Quarter by day, when it is street performers and powdered sugar, keep the crew off Bourbon Street after dark, and you have got a city that loves a curious kid.

See Sharks and Penguins at the Audubon Aquarium

Start with the sure thing, the Audubon Aquarium on the riverfront, where a 60-foot hands on touch pool lets kids pet stingrays and small sharks, penguins waddle around their habitat, and a giant Gulf of Mexico tank swallows the whole room.

It is fully air conditioned, walkable from the French Quarter, and easily a half morning of fun before anyone gets cranky. Families with young kids should arrive at opening, before the touch pool draws a crowd. The connected Insectarium now sits under the same roof, so you can knock out two attractions without stepping back into the heat.

Buy the combo ticket if you are also doing the zoo, the three Audubon attractions are the family backbone of any New Orleans trip, and the bundle beats paying gate price three times.

Meet the Animals at the Audubon Zoo

Uptown, the Audubon Zoo is shady, walkable and genuinely good, with a famous Louisiana Swamp exhibit, alligators, a rare white gator, and a gentle preview of the real bayou you will see on a swamp tour later.

In summer, the Cool Zoo splash park is the move, bring swimsuits and let everyone melt down the slides instead of melting down on you. There is a little train and a carousel too, old fashioned fun the under fives never tire of.

Get there on the St. Charles streetcar for a two for one outing, the ride is half the fun, and you skip the parking headache entirely.

Run Wild at City Park's Storyland and Carousel Gardens

Bigger than Central Park, City Park is the family heart of New Orleans, and Storyland is its crown jewel, a vintage playground of climbable fairy tale sculptures (Pinocchio's whale, Jack's beanstalk) that toddlers absolutely lose their minds over. Big kids love it too.

Next door, the Carousel Gardens amusement park has a century old wooden carousel, one of the last of its kind, plus a little train, a Ferris wheel and gentle rides scaled for the under tens. It is nostalgic fun, tickets are cheap, and the weekday lines are short.

Pack a picnic, rent a bike on the trails, and let the kids play while the moss draped oaks handle the babysitting for an afternoon. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden next door is free and stroller friendly if you need a quiet lap.

Get Hands-On at the Louisiana Children's Museum

Also in City Park, the Louisiana Children's Museum is the rainy day MVP, two airy floors of hands on exhibits, including a "Move With the River" water play area that explains the mighty Mississippi to kids who mostly just want to get their sleeves wet.

There is a pretend French Market with a toy streetcar, an art studio, and a tot only play zone for the under twos. Every interactive exhibit is designed for the under ten set, and it buys you a couple of low stress, screen free hours.

Pair it with Storyland next door and you have got a full City Park day without ever moving the car.

Brave the Bugs at the Audubon Insectarium

The Audubon Insectarium is exactly as gross and great as it sounds, a butterfly garden where wings land on you, a Japanese style bug habitat, and, for the brave, a bug bistro where a chef will absolutely talk your eight year old into eating a seasoned cricket.

It is small, indoors, and a guaranteed hit with the kind of kid who already collects things that crawl. Now housed with the aquarium on the riverfront, it is a tidy add-on rather than a separate trek.

Give it an hour, then dare a parent to try the chocolate "chirp" cookies. Someone always does.

Explore the National WWII Museum

Routinely ranked among the best museums in the country, the National WWII Museum is a surprise hit with older children, immersive galleries, planes hanging overhead, a real submarine experience, and a 4D theater narrated by Tom Hanks.

It leans heavy in places, so it suits tweens and teens more than toddlers. A dog tag that lets each kid follow one real soldier through the World War makes the history personal. Over two or three days in the city, it easily earns half of one.

A short walk from the CBD hotels, it is the historic indoor pick for a hot or rainy New Orleans afternoon, the kind of visit that sparks questions for days about America and the people who lived it.

Gawk at the Giant Floats at Mardi Gras World

You do not have to come during Carnival to see it, Mardi Gras World is the working warehouse where the city's giant parade floats are built, and the scale of the sculptures up close, two story jesters, dragons, kings, is jaw dropping for kids.

You will watch artists sculpt and paint, try on a costume, and get a slice of king cake on the tour, all with zero Bourbon Street chaos. There is a free shuttle from downtown, so you can leave the car at the hotel.

It runs about an hour and a half of pure fun for every age, a must for first timers and the most kid friendly way to "do" Mardi Gras without the crowds or a string of beads to the face.

Ride the St. Charles Streetcar

The cheapest thrill in town is the St. Charles Avenue streetcar, for $1.25 a century old olive green car rattles past Garden District mansions and live oaks, windows down, no screens required.

Ride it Uptown toward the zoo and Audubon Park, let the kids hang an arm out the open window, and call it both transport and an attraction. Bring exact change or a Le Pass on your phone. Drivers do not make change.

A day pass ($3) pays for itself in about two rides, so hop on and off for beignets, the park, and back. It is the rare "attraction" that doubles as your ride home.

Cruise the Mississippi on the Steamboat Natchez

A jazz cruise on the Steamboat Natchez sounds grown up, but kids zero in on the wheezing calliope (a steam powered organ), the giant red paddlewheel churning the river, and the museum quality engine room they can actually poke around.

Do the daytime harbor cruise for the port in full light, you will slide past the working docks, the bridges and the skyline while a narrator points out what is what over live jazz. It is a calm, breezy hour or two with snacks and a real river breeze.

It is the kind of low stakes activity that resets a cranky afternoon, and it is the last authentic steamboat in the city to boot.

Hunt Gators on a New Orleans Swamp Tour

Twenty to forty minutes out of New Orleans, a swamp tour is the day everyone remembers, cypress knees, Spanish moss, and alligators that glide up to the boat like they pay the mortgage on the bayou.

For younger kids pick a covered pontoon boat over a roaring airboat, calmer, quieter, and you will actually hear the guide's stories. Most tours include hotel pickup, so you skip renting a car and sleepy kids can doze on the ride out.

Bring sunscreen, hats, bug spray and a healthy respect for the gators. The guides know exactly how close is too close. It is the wildest thing you will do all trip, in the best way.

Eat (and Wear) Beignets at Café du Monde

No kid leaves New Orleans without beignets at Café du Monde, three hot squares of fried dough under a small avalanche of powdered sugar, best eaten outdoors where the mess is the entire point.

It is open 24 hours and cash is king at the original on Decatur, so come early to dodge the line or late for the empty tables. Order a round, hand out napkins you already know will not be enough, and let the children watch the riverfront mules and street musicians.

Warn them not to inhale near the plate, one good laugh sends the sugar everywhere, and half the fun is the mess. That is your souvenir photo right there.

Wander the French Quarter by Day

By daylight the French Quarter is wholesome fun, living statues and brass bands around Jackson Square, mule drawn carriage rides, and the French Market for a praline, a souvenir mask and a snack.

Let children watch the artists set up along the cathedral fence, toss a tip to a tap dancer, and duck into Pirate's Alley for the pirate lore. Pop into St. Louis Cathedral (free and quick) and let them gawk at the ceiling.

Keep to the busy, well lit blocks and it is wholesome fun for families, as easy to manage as any theme park, with much better food, live music, and no ticket booth. Save Bourbon Street for a curious daytime walk through, nothing more.

Cook Like a Local in a New Orleans Cooking Class

A hands on cooking class, gumbo, jambalaya, or a simple beignet, turns New Orleans food into a souvenir the kids actually keep using at home. Several are explicitly family friendly and feed you what you make at the end.

It is a great plan for a hot or rainy afternoon and a sneaky way to get a picky eater to try something they helped stir. Look for a class that includes a market walk. The good ones send the kids hunting for okra and andouille first.

Book a morning slot so the meal becomes a late lunch and frees the rest of the day. It is hands on fun the whole family can do together, aprons and very serious chef hats included.

Brave a Kid-Friendly Ghost Hunt

New Orleans leans hard into the spooky, and a kid friendly ghost or "haunted history" tour hits the sweet spot for tweens and teens, eerie enough to feel like a dare, tame enough that everyone still sleeps.

Skip the adult pub crawl versions and pick one billed for families, ideally early evening rather than late night. The stories, pirates, voodoo, yellow fever legends, are stranger and the history realer than any theme park haunt.

Little ones who'd rather not can do daytime cemetery or "vampire" walking tours instead, which land as culture with a costume. Either way, you have turned a walk into family fun.

Climb the Walls at a Rainy-Day Backup

When a thunderstorm rolls in, and in a New Orleans summer one will, usually around 3 p.m., an indoor rock climbing gym burns off the energy a museum cannot. It is the classic New Orleans afternoon downpour rescue.

Most gyms have auto belay walls and kids' sessions, so even first timers can scramble safely while the sky empties out. An hour of climbing time resets everyone before dinner.

Between climbing, the aquarium, the Children's Museum and the Insectarium, a rainy day here is no emergency, just a reshuffle. Build your big outdoor outing for the morning and keep an indoor card in your back pocket.

Free Things to Do in New Orleans With Kids

You can fill a whole day on free alone. Jackson Square delivers nonstop street performers and the cathedral. The Mississippi riverfront and the Moon Walk promenade let kids watch ships and steamboats roll by for nothing.

Browse the French Market, chase pigeons in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden at City Park, or catch a library storytime built for toddlers, songs, crafts, the works. Street performers put on a free show, and everything here is open to all ages, none of it costs a dime.

The streetcar is not free, but at $1.25 it is the cheapest paid thrill going. Stack a few of these family friendly activities and you have earned a guilt free splurge on beignets, proof you can love New Orleans on a budget.

Where to Stay in New Orleans With Kids

Base the family in or near the French Quarter or the calmer CBD/Warehouse District, central and walkable, but a few blocks off Bourbon Street so the evenings stay kid paced. A pool earns its keep in a New Orleans summer, and a suite or connecting rooms save everyone's sanity.

The NOPSI Hotel anchors the CBD with a rooftop pool and an easy, calm stroll to the Quarter, a genuine family win after a sweaty zoo morning.

9.2Exceptional

★★★★★

NOPSI Hotel New Orleans

New Orleans, LA· 2,662 reviews

Guests loved: Great location · Friendly staff

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The grand Hotel Monteleone sits right in the Quarter, with a pool, big classic rooms, and the slowly rotating Carousel Bar for the grown ups after bedtime.

9.2Exceptional

★★★★

Hotel Monteleone

New Orleans, LA· 976 reviews

Guests loved: Exceptional service · Great location

See your price

All-in · same for everyone

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For the full area by area breakdown, see our guide to where to stay in New Orleans, or browse the New Orleans hotels hub.

New Orleans Family Travel Tips: Ages, Timing and Bourbon Street

Ages 4 to 12 get the most out of New Orleans, but there is a fit for everyone, toddlers for Storyland, teens for the ghost tours (see the by age picks above). New Orleans has plenty to offer families of every age and budget, but the single most useful habit is pacing, give yourself time for one big outing a day, plus a park or a nap, and you will love the trip more than a forced march every time.

Time it for spring or fall for mild zoo and park weather. Summer is hot and sticky but quieter, with the splash park open. If you are chasing Carnival, choose Family Gras, a free, kid friendly events weekend two weekends before Fat Tuesday, over the adults-first parades the children would rather skip.

For more on staying safe and which blocks to keep to, our guide on whether New Orleans is safe covers the family corridor in detail. For everything beyond the family angle, see our full guide to things to do in New Orleans. Do all that and the only meltdown will be over leaving.

Whatever you book, the room price you see here is the same one everyone else sees, no surveillance pricing, no fake "deal," no fee sprung on the last screen.