LittleDickensD

I'll be on a cross-country trip with my kids & father in April and since I've never been to New Orleans, I'd love to plan 2 days in the city with my kids (boys, ages 5 & 8). We are traveling with a travel trailer, so we'd camp outside the city, but do have truck to detach and drive in (or better yet take public transit). I'd also consider a hotel room in the city for one night.

I know it's a terribly short trip, but I'd love any advice on the best things to see with kids in the city, or even as we pass through LA (from MS to TX). We have a couple more days we can take, so we don't mind meadering a bit.

Thanks so much!

november_moon

I don't have any advice for the logistics of camping outside NO, but for your question about other things to see when you pass through LA - a few years ago we spent a few days in the New Iberia, St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge area and really liked it. The area is pretty outdoorsy, so I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of places to camp. There are some neat small towns there, the Tabasco Factory and Jungle Gardens, boat tours on Lake Martin, and a bunch of other stuff. It would probably be a fun place for kids the ages of your sons.

Another idea - north of New Orleans, almost to Baton Rouge is a place called Aligator Bayou. The people there are great - naturalists who have a big refuge for gators that have been found too close to civilization (like in people's swimming pools). They support the refuge by having tourists come to visit. They also do boat trips out through the swamp. There are also turtles and other animals. I bet the kids would love it. When we were there, it stormed like crazy, so we didn't get to do the boat trip, but even still we had a great time.

Ackislander

My first thought was, "What would kids do in New Orleans?" but a visit to Jackson Square and a discussion there of how Andrew Jackson and the pirate Jean Lafitte chased out the British would be fun. Then a ride on the trolley out to Audobon Park would be fun. They could run around a little bit out there, and there used to be a zoo, but I don't know how it survived the hurricane.

LittleDickensD

Well, they do love cities. Just for the simplicity of walking around in them (we are from a fairly rural area). So a good walking tour would be great. Jackson Square sounds promising. So does the Alligator Bayou and the Tabasco Factory. I wish my husband could be there for the latter, he practically lives on the stuff.

november_moon

I've always thought cities were fun too. When I was a kid, I loved going to SF. I know what you mean about them liking to just wander around. I grew up in a smallish town, so cities were a change of pace - I loved to see how much was packed into small spaces.

Thinking of Jackson Square - there are always phycics and generally other street performers around. That would probably be entertaining for the kids. Also on Jackson Square is the 1850 House, which is a historic townhouse that you can tour. It doesn't take very long and is a great way to see how people lived. The Herman-Grimmer house (I think I spelled it right) isn't far and they also have tours you can take - this one has a good kitchen and courtyard set up. Neat for kids to see what life was like before the modern conviniences in a way that they can totally relate to.

If you stick around into the evening, Preservation Hall has jazz - nothing is served there, just music, so I don't think there is any kind of age limit.

Riding the streetcar is lots of fun, of course. You could also do a boat ride on the river. There is a ferry that goes across to Algiers that is free to pedestrians - the ride out and back gives you a good view of the river and the city - or you could take a tour boat. There is a boat that goes back and forth to Audubon Park - it wasn't running when we were there, so double check - but you could take the streetcar out to Audubon park and the boat back to the French Quarter.

For walking tours, I'd probably go with a self-guided tour - Frommers has good ones on their web site and in their guidebooks. A guided tour tends to be a lot of standing around and listening and not as much walking - might lose the kids' interest. But a self-guided tour would give you more flexibility and you can wander off the route if something looks interesting.

There are carriage rides you can take - I bet the kids would have fun with that. They can be a little pricey, but if you choose a larger carriage to share with others, it is more affordable.