Off the Beaten Path in New Orleans: 9 Places You Can't Miss
If you are looking to experience The Big Easy without the hustle and bustle of the usual tourist attractions, you need to go off the beaten path in New Orleans. The Crescent City has SO much more than what the guidebooks tell you...if you know where to look.
So, once you've had your fill of Cafe du Monde beignets (and other essential New Orleans kids activities), lace up your walking shoes to find these hidden treasures in the Crescent City.
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Exploring Off the Beaten Path New Orleans
Ogden Museum of Art
Whether you visit a city for the first or fortieth time, museums are a great way to understand local culture, art and history.
Head to a lesser known gem in the New Orleans museum scene: The Ogden Museum of Art. The Ogden Museum is home to the largest and most comprehensive collections of Southern art in the country.
Located in the trendy Warehouse District, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art was the first museum in Louisiana given Affiliate of Smithsonian Institute designation.
While you might be thinking, “I’d never take my kids to an art museum!” let me assure you that these are not kid-free places. My kids love talking about what they see, recreating the artwork (to hilarious ends), and giggling over the sheer number of fat baby angels in classic art.
The Ogden Museum has a variety of ways that all patrons can experience the exhibits here. In 2022, the museum is offering Baby Artsplay, a series designed to help caregivers use art in early childhood development. Ask at the front desk for one of the free scavenger hunts to win a prize!
Phone: (504) 539-9650
Address: 925 Camp Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
Hours: 10 AM-5 PM daily (closed Mardi Gras Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s)
Admission: $13.50/adult, $11/seniors, $6.75/kids 5-17. free under 5
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Mardi Gras World Behind the Scenes
Recommending Mardi Gras isn’t quite off the beaten path New Orleans.
Recommending a behind the scenes tour of the most phenomenal Mardi Gras museum is!
Mardi Gras World is everything Mardi Gras packed into a huge warehouse. On the self-guided tour, you’ll be able to see incredible floats from past parades, learn about the process of designing these moving works of art, and how the float artists interpret tradition for each of the Krewes each year.
If you have artsy kids, they will LOVE this place.
As a bonus, the tour comes with free pick up from anywhere in downtown New Orleans. If you’d rather drive, the warehouse is outside of the typical tourist locations in the Central Business District. It’s possible to walk here from the French Quarter, but, trust me, you’ll be glad of the A/C in the free bus. Each of you will also get a string of beads, and a slice of king cake. It’s all the fun of Mardi Gras without the crowds—and a side of history!
Laissez le bon temps rouler!
Check availability for your Mardi Gras World tour here:
Phone: (504) 361-7821
Address: 1380 Port of Orleans Place, New Orleans, Louisiana
Hours: 9 AM-5 PM daily (Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Mardi Gras Day, Thanksgiving and Easter)
New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
If anyone else remembers the Kate Hudson movie The Skeleton Key, you’ll recall that 1) it was partially set in New Orleans, and 2) there was a big discussion on voodoo vs. hoodoo in the movie. If you’re like me, and love to parse fact from fiction, this museum is a great place to spend an hour or two.
The museum has a self-guided tour that will allow you and your family to wander through some fascinating artifacts from New Orleans’ history—there are plenty of skeletons and mask here to scare little ones, but older kids will be mesmerized.
The helpful exhibits demystify this spiritual and cultural component of New Orleans that has often been misunderstood. At its core, New Orleans Voodoo is a unique mixture of Catholicism, West African spirituality, and the related Voudou (from Haiti). What is fascinating about the Voodoo Museum is that the materials presented can’t be untangled from the history of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the enslaved people who created and practiced their rituals here.
In short, this is the most interesting and unusual history museum you’ll ever visit, so make this a priority on your New Orleans itinerary.
If your kids are hardy and eager for more, the museum also offers more expensive walking tours to Marie Laveau’s house and Congo Square.
Phone: (504) 680-0128
Address: 724 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
Hours: 10 AM-6 PM daily
Admission: $10/adults, $8/seniors, military and children
New Orleans School of Cooking
New Orleans IS good food. Seriously! If you come to the Crescent City and don’t fall in love with at least a few new foods, I think your taste buds might not be working correctly.
To get to the heart of New Orleans food, it’s best to go straight to the source: the New Orleans School of Cooking, where your family can watch a live cooking demonstration of some Louisiana classics before tucking into sample the recipes (only 18 and up are allowed in the hands-on classes). Kids of all ages are welcome to attend the demonstrations and tastings, and even picky eaters might be willing to try something new after watching the fun, live cooking show.
My children love to help out in the kitchen, and they’ve got enough basic skills to put together simple recipes on their own. Give your kids more confidence in prepping their own food while introducing them to Creole cooking.
The New Orleans-inspired menu for each class is clearly posted on the school’s website, so you can pick the day and time that will work best for your family’s palettes.
Check availability for the New Orleans cooking class below:
Dauphine Orleans Hotel
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Whenever I travel, I seek out history and education for my family wherever I can find it--even in my hotels. If you like to rest your head in historic hotels, too, you won't be disappointed in New Orleans. Instead of making reservations at the more famous Hotel Monteleone, try on the Dauphine Orleans hotel for size. The hotel is located in what was once a 19th century townhome, so it feels cozy.
We stayed here on our most recent visit to New Orleans, and it comes highly recommended. It is found on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter, which we loved as it was close to everything without being directly in the action. In general, Dauphine Street is one of my favorite parts of the French Quarter as it has the same feel as nearby Bourbon Street without the crowds.
Dating to 1821, the hotel has everything that you’ll need to explore New Orleans with your family. We loved the courtyard saltwater pool for those hot, summer days, and the wide, fluffy poolside chairs for when mom wants to read for a minute. It was also fun to take an early evening swim while listening to the chatter and music coming from the on-site lounge, May Bailey’s.
As a fun historical note, May Bailey’s used to be a key venue in the NOLA red light district (May Bailey being the proprietor). There’s even a red light above the bar as a quirky reference to her brothel, and a rumored ghost who hangs around the place.
New Orleans City Park
Found in the Mid-City neighborhood, New Orleans City Park is an oasis in otherwise bustling city. Over 150 years old and consisting of 1,300 acres, City Park is one of the largest public parks in the country. It’s twice of the size of Central Park!
A family visiting New Orleans can enjoy an entire day rambling through City Park if you need a break between all of the other sightseeing on your agenda.
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Take a gondola ride in the park to start your day off: it’s Venice, but Big Easy-style!
After that experience, your family will be flush with options in this 1300 acre outdoor space. Carousel Gardens has 18 different attractions for kids including a Tilt-a-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, small rollercoaster, and train. I’d say that Carousel Gardens is best for kids 3-11 as there are minimum height requirements for the majority of the ride (starting at 36”).
Storyland is great for an even bigger age range (babies-preteen) as there are more than a dozen play areas, each themed around a classic story like Pinocchio or Peter Pan.
The Couterie Forest is filled with native wildlife for your kids to learn about. I’d recommend the shorter Scout Island Trail loop since you’re going to be doing a lot of walking elsewhere in the park on this day of your vacation.
There’s still SO much more to do here! City Park is also the location for the New Orleans Art Museum and New Orleans Children’s Museum. You can play putt-putt, run around on multiple playgrounds, go birding in the City Park Birding Corridor, and complete a round of disc golf.
Grab a New Orleans-style shaved ice (called a Snoball) to help cool down after the fun. There’s a stand on the south side of the park near City Putt.
Address: 1 Palm Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana
Admission: free to enter the park, separate admission for individual attractions
Frenchmen Street
If you are visiting the Big Easy and Bourbon Street feels too busy, there are other thoroughfares to enjoy the city’s ubiquitous music and delicious food.
Most locals don’t traverse Bourbon Street regularly, but Frenchman Street is another story. Located in the Marigny district, Frenchmen Street is home to some of the city’s favorite music venues like The Blue Nile, The Spotted Cat and The Maison.
If you’re visiting with your family in the evening and don’t want to go into any of the bars or music halls, you’ll be able to enjoy the crowds and the impromptu buskers on the sidewalks.
During the day, there’s plenty to do here: stop at eat at Dat Dog Frenchmen, a colorful restaurant with kid-pleasing hot dogs and toppings.
Your kids will love to stop at Washington Square, a large park with a great playground right on Frenchmen Street.
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The Haunted Hotel
I was a creepy kid who started collecting ghost story collections when I was 7. If you have an equally creepy kid, you need to book a room at the Haunted Hotel, which is not shy about its claim to fame.
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According to the owners, the name isn’t a gimmick—they really do have sightings of strange things on the property, plus there are several unsolved murders associated this area. It is located on the same block as the Lalaurie Mansion, so might explain a few of the ghosts hanging around.
This is definitely the bolder choice for accommodations in New Orleans: many hotels (including my other recommended hotel, the Dauphine Orleans, above), but none are as particularly bold in their branding and execution as the Haunted Hotel is. Still, that’s all part of the fun for anyone who likes a little chill with their bedtime story.
In any case, if your kids are old enough to go on a haunted NOLA tour, but want more opportunity to get creeped out, this might be a fun (terrifying?) night on your family vacation!
World War II Museum
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Located next to the Pontchatrain Expressway on Magazine Street, this museum covers all aspects of the global conflict that defined the Greatest Generation. The large campus contains 6 different areas to help visitors better understand everything from the vehicles used in the European theatre to the immersive exhibits on Tokyo and the Pacific theatre.
PIN ME!
The museum curators have done an amazing job making the years between 1939 and 1945 come alive again through oral interviews, videos, photos, yearbooks, and more.
I did my master’s thesis on the role of literature in World War II, so this museum is the kind of place that I could pretty much move into.
For the most part, kids of all ages will be okay here, but you should use your best judgment.
While nothing about the war is covered up or glossed over, the museum doesn’t include as much intense material as what you’ll find in, say, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. (another phenomenally done museum, but I don’t know if my empath self could handle another walk through).
My 8-year-old is obsessed with World War II, and she is a great age to ask thoughtful questions about what she’s seeing without the World War II museum being overwhelming.
If you get hungry during your visit, I recommend the Jeri Nims Soda Shop on campus.
Order up a milkshake and enjoy the old fashioned feel of a 1940s diner.
Check availability of the World War II Museum by clicking the calendar below:
Phone: (504) 528-1944
Address: 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
Hours: 9 AM-5 PM
Admission: $29.50/adult; $25.50/seniors; $18/college students, active military, kids K-12th grades; World War II veterans free
I love New Orleans since there's always more to see and do than I can fit into one trip. Guess I need to head back soon to discover more hidden gems!
If you haven't been and want more suggestions on what to experience in the Big Easy, check out my guide to the city's literary history and 8 essential New Orleans kids activities.
Have you visited New Orleans? What was your favorite thing to see or do?
