Ready for a visit New Orleans but not sure it would be a family friendly trip? Not so fast – there are plenty of kid friendly activities in the Big Easy! Here’s how to fill 3 days in New Orleans with kids!
This is Day 2 of our kid friendly three days in New Orleans itinerary. If you missed Day 1 – see it here!
Is it bad that we’ve only been back from New Orleans for a couple weeks and I’m already plotting our next trip? #itsmyfavorite
I am getting a bit of a fix though reliving the trip through these posts, so thanks for allowing me to do that, y’all. 💜
Day two highlights included the one-of-a-kind cemeteries you can only see in NOLA, Mardi Gras fun and some of the most delicious Italian food I’ve ever had – yep, Italian in New Orleans!
Background information if you haven’t read the Day 1 itinerary:
We have one kid and at the time of this trip, she was seven. She’d been on multiple trips before this one and is a great little traveler. New Orleans is a walking city, so if your kid(s) isn’t up for some walking, I wouldn’t recommend this trip. Of course, if you have kids that are younger or older or have more than one kid, you can change this itinerary up to best fit your needs.
And as I also said before, this trip itinerary includes things that kids and adults will both enjoy!
What to Do in New Orleans with Kids
See Day 1 Things to Do in New Orleans with Kids HERE!
Day 2 – Cemetery Tour, Hop On/Off Bus, and Mardi Gras World
7:00 am CST
Wake up and get ready.
7:30 / 7:45am-ish
Breakfast at Cafe du Monde in the French Market.
Yes, breakfast at Cafe du Monde again. Why? Cafe du Monde. duh.
You can of course opt to go have breakfast elsewhere – I hear there are some fabulous brunch spots in NOLA, but Cafe du Monde was just always easiest and convenient for us. And beignets. We can’t get enough beignets.
8:45am CST
Head to the Gray Line Tour Lighthouse Office to take a cemetery tour!
9:00am CST
Cemetery and Voodoo Tour
Whether you’re into cemeteries, ghosts, and voodoo or not, you have to take a stroll through one of New Orleans’ Cities of Dead.
We did the Cemetery and Voodoo Tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 via Gray Line New Orleans.
St. Louis No. 1 is one of the oldest cemeteries in New Orleans and is actually closed to the public. You can only get in if you are with a tour group or have family buried there.
There is nothing else on earth like a New Orleans cemetery. They are fascinating, beautiful and full of history.
The cemeteries in New Orleans are one of the first things that I fell in love with there.
There are many highlights in St. Louis No. 1 to see and learn about, one among them being the tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen.
If you can only tour one cemetery while you’re here, make it this one.
I will say, the Circus wasn’t as into the cemetery tour as I thought she’d be. She liked seeing it, but it was hot and gets even hotter in the cemetery with it being enclosed by concrete walls. So that’s something to keep in mind if you want to do the cemetery tour with kids.
11am CST
Cemetery Tour Ends. Head to the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Station.
For the rest of this day, until it was time to head to dinner, our crew did the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus tour around the city. We walked to Stop #5 to get our tickets and board the bus.
I know – it’s super touristy, but if you’ve never been in New Orleans before, it is a really great way to get an overview of the city and an idea of the city layout.
Since it is a hop on – hop off style tour, you can choose to get off and on at any of the tour stops. You can opt to buy single day passes or multiple day passes. This is helpful if you want to just ride and get your bearings on the first day, then use your ticket the next day to take advantage of the hopping on and off and visiting sites along the route.
There are 19 stops along the route. You can see them all here, but below are some of our picks for family friendly stops!
- Stop #1: Jackson Square
– Cafe du Monde
– St. Louis Cathedral
– The Presbytere – amazing Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina exhibits. - Stop #2: French Market
– Shopping, food vendors - Stop #4: Treme
– Backstreet Cultural Museum – we did not get to visit this, but it’s definitely on my list for next time. I think the kid would have loved seeing all the Mardi Gras Indian memorabilia. - Stop #7: Riverfront
Again, two more places we didn’t get to see, but kids would love!
– Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium
– Audubon Aquarium - Stops #11 – #13: Garden District and Magazine Street
– There are loads of fantastic little shops and places to eat along Magazine Street. There are also gorgeous houses to take in as well. We all enjoyed strolling down Magazine. A couple of our favorite shops along Magazine are Nola Couture (their candles smell divine!) and Fluerty Girl. - Stop #16: Mardi Gras World
Mardi Gras World is a must for kids – they will love it!
This is literally where Mardi Gras comes to life!
Mardi Gras World is where most all the floats for Mardi Gras are made. It is so cool to be up close and personal with these beauties.
The Circus loved learning about how all the floats and characters are made and then walking around and seeing them.
There are also great little photo ops as well. 😉
After leaving here, all I heard from the kid for the rest of the trip was when are we going to Mardi Gras?! One day kid, one day.
6pm CST
Dinner at Irene’s.
Oh Irene’s. We love you so! You might not think Italian when you think New Orleans food, but Irene’s will change your frame of mind! You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu and be sure to save room for their cheesecake – to die for! This is a nice restaurant, so make sure your kid(s) is up to being on their best behavior here. Reservations are also recommended.
See Day One’s Itinerary HERE!
See Day Three’s Itinerary HERE!
Feel free to add any kid friendly things to do in New Orleans in the comments!
Ready for more adventure?
Jimmy Carter Sunday school – take a trip down to Georgia and attend former President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school service!
Disney World Tips for the Average Family – for those of us who aren’t super hardcore all things Disney. 😉
A Weekend in Nashville – the birthplace of country music and so much more!
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Brigitte says
St. Louis #1 is EASILY one of my favorite things to see in NOLA. I would actually see it multiple times, that would be an “every time I’m in New Orleans” stop. I love the history, the ‘family’ graves, the beautiful monuments. Mardi Gras world sounds awesome, that’s on my must see list for next time! 🙂
Jenna says
Same here, girl – it’s a must every time! You have to go to Mardi Gras world sometime – it’s amazing!
Susan the Farm Quilter says
How many times have you been to Mardi Gras?? At what age would you deem it appropriate for the Circus?? Looks like you had a great time!!
Jenna says
We did have a great time! So, I’ve never been, but we talked to some locals there about it and they all said it was fine for kids during the couple of weeks before Fat Tuesday. There are still parades during that time and they are kid appropriate. 🙂