New Orleans with Teenagers: 9 Experiences They’ll Actually Think Are Cool
I’ve visited New Orleans with my kid at so many different ages, and this gem of a city just keeps getting better. When he was little, it was all about beignets and street performers. But as my son has gotten older, we’ve found that this city doesn’t just entertain, it intrigues. Visiting New Orleans with teenagers is a trip that leans into history, mystery, music, and food in just the right way to keep tweens and teens hooked.
If your kids are older and you’re looking for experiences to share as a family that they’ll remember and admit were fun, this is the list you have been looking for.
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For the Curiously Quirky Mind
1. New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
I love a good quirky and unexpected museum, and the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum delivers both in abundance, making it a must-do when visiting New Orleans with teenagers. Located in a historic classic Creole townhouse in the French Quarter, this was the original apothecary and residence of Louis J. Dufilho, Jr, the first licensed pharmacist in the US. The museum has preserved countless documents and items used by Dufilho during the 19th Century, and has acquired numerous other historic artifacts related to the practice of medicine into the mid-20th Century.
The museum is the perfect size to keep your older kids engaged and entertained. Some of our favorite items included the old ledgers calling out ailments and prescribed remedies, as well as the treatments and surgical tools for nuanced ailments (hello, leech bloodletting and ether masks). Don’t miss the second floor, which was part of the family’s residence as well as an examination and treatment area for patients, and is included in your entrance fee.
While you can do a self-guided tour, I highly recommend the hour-long guided tour for the additional fee. The guided tour will give you much more context and insight into the life and times of 19th-century medicine, and bring Dufilho’s practice to life. The guides deliver informative, engaging, amusing, and thought-provoking narratives that make 19th-century medicine feel equal parts fascinating and horrifying – exactly the kind of story that sticks with teenagers long after they’ve left the building! Note that these tours are only offered at 10 am Thursday through Sunday and often sell out, so make your reservation in advance.
Bonus Tip: The Pharmacy Museum participates in the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) network. If you already have a valid membership to a NARM museum, you can use it for free entry to The Pharmacy Museum. Savings win!
Graveyards and Voodoo
2. A Little Dark, A Lot Fascinating: Inside the Voodoo Museum
No visit to New Orleans with teenagers would be complete without delving into the importance and impact of voodooism. During the mid-19th Century, the influence and popularity of voodooism were at their peak in New Orleans. Introduced by enslaved West Africans and later Haitian immigrants, it is deeply tied to the history of New Orleans. The blend of macabre, symbolism, and spiritual rituals, such as dance and music, is easily appealing to older kids.
Launch your exploration at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, located in the French Quarter. This small self-guided museum will help you build foundational knowledge about the history and beliefs of voodoo. I really enjoyed seeing the various handmade voodoo dolls and talismans crafted with such attention to detail.
For those looking for a more personalized experience, for an additional fee, you can opt to take a two-hour walking tour led by museum staff, highlighting local voodoo attractions, including Congo Square (a cornerstone of African American culture) and Marie Laveau’s house. The most famous voodoo practitioner is arguably Marie Laveau, a dedicated healer, herbalist, female entrepreneur, and community activist, who is buried at St Louis Cemetery No.1. This leads perfectly into your next activity: a graveyard tour of this most famous cemetery.
3. Stories Beneath the Stone: St Louis Cemetery No.1
If you really want to see your teenager lean in and pay attention, the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is one of our most memorable experiences when visiting New Orleans with a teen. It is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, dating back to 1789, and a guided tour is the only way in. One hour, one city block, and more stories packed into it than most museums three times the size.
Our guide, Jeff, perfectly brought the whole thing to life by blending fact, myth, and legend around the famous and flat-out notorious figures buried here, and let me say, my kid just ate it up. You’ll stand at the actual tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen whose story you just traced through the French Quarter, and see firsthand why people still leave offerings there today.
Nearby, you’ll find Homer Plessy (a name your teen should absolutely know), the New Orleans shoemaker who refused to give up his seat in a whites-only train car in 1892, whose case became the landmark 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision that upheld segregation for decades. Then there’s Bernard de Marigny, the rowdy French Creole nobleman who squandered his fortune gambling and is credited with introducing the dice game of craps to America. And for a more modern twist, Nicolas Cage has already commissioned a 9-foot pyramid-shaped tomb right in the middle of it all!
What really got under my skin (and my kiddo’s) was the contrast. Ornate, elaborately carved tombs stand just inches from ones that are cracked open, crumbling, and slowly disappearing. All of these people mattered once. Some are still remembered, some are not. It’s the kind of observation that lands with teenagers in a way that no worksheet ever could: what does it say about a life when there’s no one left to tend to it?
This tour is a little dark, thought-provoking, and your teenager will absolutely be regaling their friends with cemetery stories when they get home. Book this tour here.
The Louisiana State Museum
4. The Presbytère & The Cabildo
Flanking either side of the iconic St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, the Louisiana State Museum is made up of two parts, known as The Presbytère and The Cabildo. Among the most rewarding family-friendly New Orleans activities for older kids, these two buildings pack more history into one square than almost anywhere else in the city. If time allows, visit both parts. But if time or attention doesn’t allow, check out two incredible permanent exhibits specifically inside The Presbytère that speak to the strength and resilience of the people of New Orleans.
The first exhibit, “The Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond,” provides a clear and comprehensive perspective of the event, the immediate aftermath, and the ongoing ramifications and challenges 20 years later. While New Orleans is no stranger to hurricanes, Katrina’s devastation had a profound impact on who the city is today. It’s important that the next generation, who will help form public policy, face environmental crises, and speak with their vote at the polls, understand the real-life impacts of such decisions.
I was living in the region when the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina struck, and several families were temporarily relocated to my Dallas apartment building while the city recovered and rebuilt. Those families never saw this as a permanent departure and looked forward to returning home to New Orleans. This has always stuck with me, and I see those families reflected in this exhibit.
The second permanent exhibit, “Mardi Gras: It’s Carnival Time in Louisiana,” is one of the most unexpected highlights when visiting New Orleans with teenagers.
Most teens think they already know what Mardi Gras is: beads, floats, and chaotic debauchery. This exhibit will make them think again — and that’s exactly what makes it worth your time.
Through rare artifacts, spectacular costumes, and engaging videos, the exhibit traces Mardi Gras from its earliest roots to the modern celebrations we recognize today. What genuinely surprised me was just how far back those roots go: deep into medieval Europe and West African cultural traditions, two worlds that collided in Louisiana and created something entirely their own.
Even the tradition of masking carries a complicated history: officials once feared that the anonymity of masks would spark political unrest and slave rebellion, and street masking was considered scandalous for women well into the late 1800s.
When you start pulling those threads, what looks like a party becomes something far more layered and fascinating, sparking some interesting conversations between you and your teen.
Bonus Tip: Combination tickets for two or more Louisiana State Museum sites get 20% off — worth checking before you pay at the door.
For the Music Fan
5. The Soundtrack of New Orleans
This is the tour that takes you to “Cool Parent” status when visiting New Orleans with teenagers. There is no question that New Orleans is famous for its musical heritage and widely regarded as the birthplace of jazz. But this tour takes you a step further: you’ll begin with some of the earliest recordings from the area, sounds that set the foundation for the tunes to come.
New Orleans Music & Heritage Tour is led by Keith, a New Orleans native with 20 years in the local recording scene. You know this is going to be a rich music tour when your guide shows up with a Bluetooth speaker and a ready-to-roll playlist that takes you back in time! Your walking tour will quickly fall into a groove where you can’t help but tap your toes and put a rhythmic bounce in your step.
You’ll talk about legendary greats, like the beloved Louis Armstrong. But your music-loving kiddo will also learn about James Booker, Allen Toussaint, and Louis Prima, and with the recordings Keith plays, they will connect the dots in music history. Ultimately, your teen will be able to impress all their friends by leaving the tour connecting legendary rock music like Led Zeppelin to blues roots dating back 200 years.
Beginning at the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street in the Marigny, you’ll travel on foot through over three centuries of music as you make your way to the French Quarter for your finale, passing through Armstrong Park, Congo Square, J&M Studios, and even tracking down the legendary House of the Rising Sun along the way.
Along the way, Keith will most likely run into some of the other local musicians who know him well. Be sure to take notes on where he suggests you go to hear live music beyond the known tourist hot spots for evening entertainment!
Ready to hear New Orleans the way it was meant to be heard? Book this tour here.
6. Small Space, Big Sound: Inside Preservation Hall
Having taken the walking tour of New Orleans’ musical history, you’ll have the perfect foundation to appreciate live performances, and Preservation Hall is the perfect starting point. Preservation Hall was my introduction to true New Orleans sound. I’ve had the privilege of catching a live show of The Preservation Hall Jazz Band in their “living room” almost every visit to The Big Easy, and I never get tired of it. While we have also managed to catch them at other venues on tour, seeing a live performance at Preservation Hall itself is the best.
This is one of those experiences for families visiting New Orleans with teenagers that works for everyone in the group: it’s low-key, no-dress-code, and the music does all the heavy lifting. The venue in the French Quarter is open almost every day, typically with at least two shows. Definitely buy tickets online in advance, as shows sell out almost daily. There are a few VIP seats, but otherwise it is general seating, and you’ll want to line up outside with ample time to get a good spot. The shows are small and intimate, like you have the band right there in your home playing for you. The whole family will be tapping their toes and clapping along. Buy a CD so you can relive this quintessential New Orleans experience with older kids once you are back home.
Eat your way through the neighborhoods
7. Food Tour by Bike
New Orleans has no shortage of food tours, and most of them will take you to the same three stops on the same three French Quarter blocks. This one is different, and that difference is exactly why it’s one of my favorite things to do when visiting New Orleans with teenagers. I have personally done every tour variation this company offers and sent countless friends to enjoy them, too. Everyone has come back raving!
A Street Tour Named Desire loads you onto fat-tired, one-speed cruisers and takes you out of the French Quarter entirely. Their motto is “not even close to exercise,” which is exactly what you want to hear when you’re wrangling teenagers. You’ll wind through the Marigny, the Bywater, and beyond, neighborhoods where actual New Orleanians live and eat.
The selected food stops reflect that authenticity. New Orleans cuisine is the result of three centuries of cultures arriving and influencing: French settlers, enslaved Africans, Cajuns, Germans, Sicilians, and, more recently, Vietnamese communities – each bringing their own flavors and folding them into something entirely unique. Your guide brings that history to life between bites, so what feels like a leisurely bike ride and a great meal is actually a pretty rich cultural education in disguise. Teenagers will absolutely not notice they’re learning while they are satisfying their taste buds!
The physical element makes a real difference, too. There’s something about exploring a city by bike at a pace slow enough to notice the architecture, the street art, and the people on their porches that a bus tour simply can’t replicate.
Book this tour here and show up hungry.
Life as an Enslaved Person in New Orleans
8. History comes alive at the Hermann-Grima House
The Hermann-Grima House is a restored historic home in the French Quarter. Most home tours focus on the architecture and lifestyle of the family who resided there. This tour stands apart by focusing on the experiences of enslaved people in an urban setting. If you are visiting New Orleans with teens, take this opportunity to educate them about the contributions of the enslaved Africans who shaped the city.
A visit to the Whitney Plantation outside the city is an equally important story, yet perhaps better known in a historical context. But the life of urban enslaved individuals, while equally critical, is discussed less frequently. The museum staff at the Hermann-Grima House has conducted meticulous research through historical documents, census lists, and preserved personal letters to bring these stories to life. The one-hour tour will explain many of the differences from those who were enslaved in rural settings.
I think this is one of the most important and valuable tours you can share as a family in New Orleans. Be sure to book your spot in advance.
Where the Real Art Lives
9. Street Art in the Bywater
Teenagers already think street art is cool. What they don’t know yet is that New Orleans has one of the most vibrant mural scenes in the country, and almost none of it is in the French Quarter. This two-hour Street Art and Mural Walk fixes that!
Starting on foot in the Bywater and winding through the Marigny and beyond, the tour takes you to murals by both world-famous and local artists, including a Banksy. As my kid would say, “yes, bro, an actual Banksy”. That alone is usually enough to get a teenager to put their phone down and pay attention.
But what makes this tour genuinely special is what’s behind the art. The guides are knowledgeable, passionate, and deeply connected to the local scene, so they don’t just point at murals and name the artist. They were able to share the meanings of pieces with us, why that specific art exists, and what was happening in the neighborhood when it went up. Post-Katrina resilience, community identity, and political expression are all there on the walls if you know how to read them, and your guide will teach you how.
As my son quickly learned, the meaning behind murals frequently surprises even the most art-savvy visitors. That element of discovery, of looking more closely and finding something unexpected, is exactly what makes this land so well-suited to older kids and teenagers.
It’s also just a great way to see a part of New Orleans that most visitors never find on their own. A few practical notes before you go: this is a two-hour walking tour, so wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and make sure everyone’s phone or camera is fully charged; your teenager is going to want to photograph everything, and the shots here are genuinely worth it. Book this tour here and let your teen lead the way with the camera.
New Orleans with Teenagers: Worth Every Minute
New Orleans doesn’t just entertain your teenager; it will challenge and surprise them, and give them stories they’ll actually want to tell their friends. That combination is rare, and this city has it in spades. From the cemetery to the concert hall, the bike lanes to the street filled with expressive art, every experience on this list left us with something to talk about long after we got home.
Book the tours, and let the city do the rest. HAPPY ROAMING!
