Is a rental car needed? (New Orleans, Jackson: hotels, house, movies)

[amb]

For a long weekend family trip? Any suggested areas to stay so that a car won't be needed?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Children? Ages? what do you like to do? A lot of children, including my 5 and 3 y/o grandkids like the French Quarter - beignets, Jackson Sq, the river, the acquarium at the foot of Canal, taking the ferry across the river to see the Mardi Gras museum, then back. Need a car to get to City Park and the great Storyland. You can ride a streetcar from Canal St up to Audubon Zoo.

[amb]

Two adults, one fifteen year old boy. Probably mostly french quarter, since it will be our first visit and a short one at that.

Any swamp tour or plantation suggestions?

I'm looking at these hotels, any input would be appreciated.
Hotel Maison de ville
Place D'Armes
Hotel St. Marie

Thanks

[Puddinhead]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

...Need a car to get to City Park and the great Storyland. You can ride a streetcar from Canal St up to Audubon Zoo.

You can also ride a streetcar the length of Canal St and then on Carrollton to the Beauregard Statue/Esplanade Av entrance to City Park.

A rental car shouldn't be necessary for a weekend visit if you're going to be staying at a hotel in the Quarter...or one in the CBD, for that matter. The hotel itself can certainly put you onto either a swamp or plantation tour. The most recent swamp tour I was actually on was "Cajun Encounters" tour of the Honey Island Swamp, which is adjacent to the Pearl River (dividing Louisiana and Mississippi). It was a wonderful "small group" (about 20) tour of a beautiful area, but I don't know what the impacts from Katrina were to that swamp as far as storm surge and such. Probably very little considering the abundant supply of fresh water from the Pearl. The Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in eastern New Orleans, for example, is "leveed in" and doesn't have the fresh water supply other than rain, so the salty storm surge just sat there and eventually killed off so many of the trees that lived in a fresh water environment. They were doing swamp tours in the Refuge before the storm, but if they've resumed since I can't imagine they'll be the same without the tree canopy. Cajun Encounters also does plantation and city tours, I see, although I've never taken either.

As for the plantations...Oak Alley is always a favorite for visitors if only because they can stand and look down the actual alley of oak trees back to the plantation house and realize that they've seen that view before in movies, etc. I see from their website that Cajun Encounters (I sound like I'm an employee...LOL; I only keep mentioning them because it's the tour that I've taken) does an Oak Alley tour, but I've always done the "drive out there on our own schedule" touring of various plantation homes. This would be one where you wouldn't need the rental car, though.

http://www.cajunencounters.com/index.html (broken link)

[lass70]

You may also want to check the rental car prices. Unless your hotel offers a complimentary shuttle, it can be pretty expensive to grab a cab ($30-$40 each way). So if you want to venture out of the Quarter, then paying about the same for a rental car may be well worth it.
Also, the River Road plantations are a nice way to enjoy a day. Your kids may be bored. You'll definitely need a car for that. It's about a 40-50 minute drive form the Quarter.
And most of the hotels in the area are decent. Just watch your address for safety reasons.

[priapism]

I stay near the quarter when I go (CBD) and never rent a car. You see more of the city dealing with the streetcars & cabs, and walking anyways. The downtown area is fairly compact and can be seen on foot fairly easily by an adult. I have no experience with the kids factor but as an adult it's not an issue.