New Orleans City Park

City Park is where New Orleans goes to breathe, and it is big enough to absorb a whole day. Spread across roughly 1,300 acres in Mid-City, it is one of the largest urban parks in the country and older than Central Park, and its signature is its live oaks: hundreds of massive, moss-draped trees, some of them centuries old, whose limbs sweep down to the ground and back up again. Wandering among them costs nothing, and neither do the lagoons, the walking paths, Couturie Forest's quiet trails or the Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The park also packs in an unusual number of attractions for families. The New Orleans Botanical Garden covers about ten acres with more than 2,000 plant varieties and, inside it, the Train Garden, a miniature New Orleans with replica streetcars and trains running on about 1,300 feet of track on weekends. Storyland, a fairy-tale playground in operation since the 1950s, and Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, with its historic wooden carousel and a cluster of rides, are childhood rites for local kids. The Louisiana Children's Museum overlooks a lagoon, City Putt offers two themed mini-golf courses, and swan boats can be rented on Big Lake. Cafe du Monde runs an outpost under the oaks, so the beignets come with shade. At the park's front door sits the New Orleans Museum of Art. Some attractions charge separate admissions, but the park itself is free and open daily. Fit: families above all, couples looking for a slow afternoon, and first-timers who want to see where locals actually spend their weekends.

The holiday season adds a reason to come in late fall and winter: Celebration in the Oaks, the park's long-running holiday lights event, transforms the trees and gardens with displays and rides on select nights, and it is one of the city's most beloved traditions, ticketed separately and best booked ahead. Spring brings the gardens into bloom and the lagoons into their prettiest light, while summer days are best started early, before the heat builds.

How to plan a visit: decide whether this is a family day or a slow wander. For families, combine Storyland and the carousel with the Botanical Garden and Train Garden on a weekend when the trains run, then finish with beignets. For couples, start at the museum and sculpture garden, walk the oaks and lagoons, rent a swan boat on Big Lake, and drift over to Bayou St. John for a drink. Check the park's notifications page for any closures or events, and look up current prices for the paid attractions, which are sold individually or in combinations.

Getting there: take the Canal Street streetcar on the City Park line from downtown to its terminus near the museum, about the most pleasant transit ride in the city after St. Charles. Driving is easy and parking is spread around the park. Bikes can be rented in the park, and the Lafitte Greenway trail connects Mid-City to the edge of the French Quarter for cyclists. Allow at least half a day, a full day with children. The park is busiest on weekend afternoons and during festivals; weekday mornings are tranquil. Look out for the McDonogh Oaks, among the oldest trees in the park, and the Singing Oak with its wind chimes hidden in the branches; ask at any attraction desk for directions, as the park is large enough to get turned around in. Pack bug spray in summer, and bring a blanket: the lawns beneath the oaks are made for lying back and doing very little.