Four great day trips from New Orleans
- Aimee Boudreaux MacIver
- Aug 26
- 3 min read
Both sets of my grandparents liked to go places. One set had the means for world travel; they brought back t-shirts and tchotchkes from Germany, Denmark, Egypt. When we were old enough, they took us along on cruises to Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. My other grandparents took us to more modest destinations: the glittering shopping mall for frozen yogurt, City Park, or Cajun country to visit relatives. Both kinds of trips were wonderful. Both kinds of trips captured the real fruit of travel: being present in the great gift of creation and taking joy in time spent together.
Sometimes we assume that unless we can take a week off and invest thousands, meaningful travel isn’t possible. But the fruits of travel aren’t confined to expensive vacations. Somehow, in just a few hours, a great day trip can capture the restorative energy of travel with far less expense and time. It’s not about going far, but going differently.
If you have a day to explore, New Orleans is also well-situated to many other wonderful places. These day trips are two hours or less from the city.
Everyone knows New Orleans for the Mississippi River, but its other border is Lake Pontchartrain. Drive across the lake via the longest bridge in the world—that’s its own experience—to cozy, Hallmark movie-esque Covington. Set along the Bogue Falya River amid pine forests, Covington became very popular as a “fresh air” getaway for 1800s New Orleans. Now the small walkable downtown hosts more than its share of great coffee shops and cafés. You’ll also find blocks of thriving local art galleries and boutiques. St Joseph Abbey is just on the edge of town; make a still-grimage while you’re on the Northshore. Some favorites: Lola for lunch or dinner; Cured for coffee; the Southern Hotel for excellent happy hour; the historic cemetery for walks; and the Old Covington neighborhood for a stroll past huge live oaks and gorgeous historic homes. Look for the unique ox lots at the center of city blocks.
This massive, lush park along the Northshore lakefront was once a sugar cane plantation owned by the extravagantly wealthy Bernard de Marigny and worked by more than 150 enslaved people. You can still see some of the brick ruins. De Marigny named the land after the ancient forest near Paris. Louisiana's Fontainebleau offers marshy beaches, hiking trails, a splash pad, shower facilities, camping sites, and Don’t feed the alligators signs. My favorite element of Fontainebleau is the alley of glorious live oak trees draped in Spanish moss.
If you’re in the mood for the mountains but can’t go that far, try Clark Creek (locally called Tunica Falls). The 700-acre nature reserve features hilly woodlands with more than 50 waterfalls—some with a 30-foot drop. You can choose from two hiking trails, one primitive and one more developed. We’ve hiked the trail with little kids, so it’s manageable if you’re in decent shape. There’s not much around the area, which is the best part. You can pass through St Francisville for lunch, dinner, and good beer.
When the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is not in reach, I’m going to send you over here for my complete guide to the Infinity Space Center, an interactive museum connected to NASA's largest rock propulsion test site, the John C. Stennis Space Center, located right around the Louisiana-Mississippi border. It's worth a visit just to behold the sheer magnitude of the Saturn V space shuttle rockets.
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