Are you looking for a family outing while visiting New Orleans? Check out the New Orleans Museum of Art and City Park. We had planned to explore the French Quarter the same day that we visited Chalmette Battlefield, but discovered that a huge festival was going on, so we chose to take a quieter visit to the New Orleans Museum of Art. NOMA and the City Park are well worth a visit, especially for families.
City Park
We arrived about 20 minutes before the museum opened, so we took a walk around the Big Lake part of New Orleans City Park. We saw a few families enjoying renting the paddleboat swans. They also have bicycles to rent.
I didn’t realize that this was just a small part of the park. The South side has a more lakes, putt putt golf, Carousel Amusement Park, Storyland and more. Here is a map of the entire park. So many fun activities to do with children in this area!
Queen Nefartari’s Egypt
We decided to pay extra to see the special Egyptian exhibit. Although I had taught the process of mummification to my world history students, I did not realize that the coffins had three parts: the outer coffin, the inner coffin, and the mummy board.
We enjoyed visiting other sections of the museum as well.
We wanted to leave enough time to visit the battlefield, so we did not visit the free outdoor Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The museum has many events, classes, and camps available as well, so check the calendar before you go. This area is definitely worth a visit if you have children as there are so many varied exhibits and activities between the museum and the park.