An Audubon Zoo and Aquarium New Orleans trip covers two separate attractions about six miles apart. Audubon Zoo sits in Uptown’s Audubon Park on Magazine Street, and Audubon Aquarium sits at 1 Canal Street by the French Quarter. The Audubon Combo ticket gets an adult into both, plus the Insectarium, for $60.
Fireside RV Resort in Ponchatoula is about an hour north of both. Plenty of our guests leave the RV hooked up at the site, drive the truck into the city for the day, and get back in time to light the fire ring under the pines.
Quick facts for 2026:
- Hours: Audubon Zoo and Audubon Aquarium both open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last ticket sold at 4 p.m.
- Closed: both Audubon attractions close on Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day
- Combo ticket: one Audubon Combo covers the Zoo, Aquarium and Insectarium
- Parking: free at Audubon Zoo; partner garages and lots near Audubon Aquarium
- Payment: Audubon Zoo and Audubon Aquarium both went fully cashless on October 1, 2026
- From Fireside RV Resort: roughly an hour by car to either Audubon attraction
How Much Are Audubon Zoo and Aquarium Tickets?
Audubon Zoo and Aquarium tickets run $30 to $40 per adult for the zoo alone and $45 to $55 per adult for the Aquarium and Insectarium, according to Audubon’s official ticket page. Single-attraction tickets are posted as a price range, while the Audubon Combo is one flat price. At both Audubon attractions, kids under 2 get in free and don’t need a ticket.
Audubon Zoo gives seniors 65 and older $5 off standard admission, per the Audubon Zoo FAQ. One newer wrinkle: Audubon Zoo became fully cashless on October 1, 2026. Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium went cashless that same day, so bring a card! Audubon Zoo has cash-to-card kiosks if you only packed bills.
Are the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium Combo Tickets Worth It?
For most families the combo pays for itself. Buying separately costs at least $75 per adult ($30 for the zoo plus $45 for the aquarium, the bottom of each range), so the $60 Audubon Combo saves an adult at least $15. For an Audubon child or senior ticket, the combo saves at least $10, since separate zoo and aquarium tickets start at $65 combined against the $55 combo price.
The Insectarium already comes with any Aquarium ticket, so what the combo really adds is the zoo. Want to split the two attractions across different days of your stay? Read the combo’s terms at checkout before you buy.
Can You Do the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium in One Day?
You can, as long as you start at opening. The tourism folks at New Orleans & Company spell out the usual order in their Audubon attractions guide: “start at the Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium downtown in the morning (they share the same building on the riverfront), then head uptown to the Audubon Zoo for the afternoon.”
A Fireside-to-Audubon day might look like this:
- Leave Fireside by about 8:45 a.m. The drive takes about an hour, which gets you to the aquarium close to opening.
- 10 a.m., the aquarium. Do the Maya Tunnel, the penguins and the Insectarium’s Butterfly Garden. You can exit and re-enter the aquarium with proof of purchase.
- Around 1 p.m., head uptown. Drive the six miles from the aquarium to the zoo in roughly 15 minutes, or ride the St. Charles streetcar, which New Orleans & Company puts at “roughly 25 to 30 minutes” plus a 10-minute walk through Audubon Park.
- Lunch at the zoo. The aquarium doesn’t allow outside food, but Audubon Zoo does, so save the cooler for the afternoon.
- Zoo until close. Audubon Zoo sells its last ticket at 4 p.m. and closes at 5 p.m.
Got little ones who melt down by 2 p.m.? Split it across two days and spend the in-between afternoon back at camp.
What Is Worth Seeing at the Zoo and Aquarium?
Audubon Aquarium holds “more than 3,600 animals from more than 250 species,” according to Audubon’s aquarium page. Audubon Zoo sits inside Uptown’s Audubon Park at 6500 Magazine Street. Here’s where we’d start:
- Maya Tunnel (aquarium): walk through it and look up, since Audubon describes “a cascade of stingrays swimming above you.”
- Shark Discovery (aquarium): a 13,000-gallon touch pool where you can gently touch sharks and rays.
- South African penguins (aquarium): a colony of highly endangered penguins that flip and dive, and with luck you’ll catch a feeding.
- Down the Bayou (aquarium): a great white alligator plus native South Louisiana species.
- Butterfly Garden (Insectarium): hundreds of free-flying butterflies, with views of the Mississippi River.
- Louisiana Swamp (zoo): American alligators, including rare white alligators, in an award-winning swamp exhibit.
- Jaguar Jungle, African Savanna and Asia (zoo): jaguars and spider monkeys, then giraffes, rhinos and African lions, then orangutans, a tiger and elephants.
In 2025, USA TODAY 10Best readers ranked Audubon Zoo #8 in the country, and Audubon’s newsroom noted it was the zoo’s ninth consecutive year in the top ten.
What’s New at Audubon Zoo in Fall 2026?
The Audubon Zoo train is back. The Audubon Wonders of Nature Express made its first run on August 20, 2026, with stops at the Train Depot and the Swamp Stop, and a ride costs $6.50 for non-members per Audubon’s train page. Daine Appleberry, senior vice president and managing director of Audubon Zoo & Park, said in Audubon’s announcement: “For many, riding the train is a cherished tradition, and we’re thrilled to welcome both longtime guests and first-time visitors aboard for a new adventure at Audubon Zoo.”
Also worth knowing this fall:
- New sea lion: Missy, a California sea lion, joined Audubon Zoo’s sea lion colony on April 14, 2026.
- Two exhibits are closed: Reptile Encounter and Wings of the World are under renovation until early 2027.
- Boo at the Zoo, October 16 to 18, 2026: a separately ticketed Halloween event at Audubon Zoo where general admission is $32 for Li’l Boo Friday and $38 for Saturday or Sunday, with trick-or-treating for kids 12 and under (event page).
- Holidays at Audubon, November 27, 2026 to January 3, 2027: Scuba Santa in the aquarium’s Great Maya Reef and Papa Noel photos in the zoo’s Louisiana Swamp on select dates, included with admission (holiday page).
How Far Is Audubon Zoo From Fireside RV Resort?
Starting from the Fireside gate in Ponchatoula, Audubon Zoo and Audubon Aquarium are each roughly an hour away by car. The toll-free way in follows I-12 west to the I-55 interchange, then I-55 down to I-10 and into the city. You can also take I-12 East and cross the 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.
The Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, which runs the bridge, only collects tolls on the north shore, on the Mandeville side of the lake. Leave the rig at your site, too. Neither of Audubon’s parking pages says anything about RV or oversized-vehicle parking, and the aquarium’s options are downtown garages and surface lots.
Is Parking Free at Audubon Zoo?
Parking at Audubon Zoo is free. Audubon’s zoo directions page says “Parking is Free at Audubon Zoo & Park,” and only 26 designated Star Parking spaces cost extra. The aquarium is a different story, since it has no lot of its own.
For the aquarium, Audubon’s aquarium directions page lists discounted partner parking nearby, including the LAZ garage at 100 Poydras St., though most of those discounts run Monday through Thursday only. Skip downtown parking entirely by riding transit, since a one-day RTA Jazzy Pass costs $3 (RTA fares).
Where Should You Stay for an Audubon Zoo and Aquarium Trip?
New Orleans counted 19.46 million visitors in 2025, according to New Orleans & Company. Fireside RV Resort gives you a quieter, family-owned home base an hour or so north of New Orleans, with 165 RV sites on full hookups, 10 cabins tucked into the pines, and free Wi-Fi. Nobody here adds a resort fee. Picking your exact site costs nothing extra, and Fireside doesn’t add a reservation service fee either.
Each nightly rate includes up to four guests, and the full Fireside rate sheet lists the extras. Planning a midweek zoo day? The Fireside weekday deal applies in September, November and December, when a Standard RV site costs $35 a night and a Premium site $45, Sunday through Wednesday, holidays excluded. Traveling without an RV? The cabins at Fireside work great for a family zoo weekend, and every one of our Ponchatoula RV sites has both 30- and 50-amp service.
Kids with energy left after the zoo can burn it off on our playground, and October afternoons in this part of Louisiana stay warm. The normal October high at New Orleans International Airport is 80.6°F (NOAA 1991-2020 normals), so the lazy river still makes a pretty good reward for all that walking. Saturdays through October 31 also bring our Halloween Spooktacular, with hayrides, pumpkin carving, a jambalaya cook-off and trick-or-treating right here at the resort.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best built-in deal on Audubon’s own ticket page is the Audubon Combo, which bundles the Zoo, Aquarium and Insectarium for less than separate tickets. Audubon also gives seniors 65 and older $5 off standard admission, and children under 2 get in free.
Audubon Zoo is closed on Thanksgiving Day, and so is Audubon Aquarium. Both Audubon attractions also close on Christmas Day and Mardi Gras. On regular days both open at 10 a.m. and close at 5 p.m., though Audubon notes hours can change for weather and special events.
Audubon Zoo allows outside food and drinks, but not glass bottles or alcohol. Each family can bring one cooler up to 28 quarts, and coolers aren’t allowed during large festivals or special events. Audubon Aquarium is stricter and only allows water bottles, baby bottles and food for medical needs.
Audubon’s zoo and aquarium parking pages don’t mention RV or oversized-vehicle parking. Most RV travelers leave the rig hooked up at their campground and drive a tow vehicle or car into New Orleans, where the zoo lot is free.
Audubon Aquarium sits about an hour south of Fireside RV Resort in Ponchatoula. Take I-12 West, pick up I-55 South, and follow I-10 East into the city. The other way in is I-12 East to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, a toll bridge that collects only on the north shore.
Done with the zoo? Our roundup of things to do around New Orleans has plenty more for the rest of your trip.
Audubon Zoo is about an hour down the road from Fireside RV Resort, which sits in Ponchatoula near Exit 47 off I-12. See what’s open and grab a site or cabin, and we’ll keep the fire ring ready for when you get back from the city!
