Being on vacation doesn’t mean taking a vacation from your health.  Many opportunities exist in the Crescent City for visitors who want to maintain their exercise routines while here.  City Park, located at the north end of Esplanade Ave. offers a wide-array of fitness and outdoor activities and resources including a running track, boating rentals, a golf course.  Click here to learn more.  Find out about other outdoor parks and areas by clicking here.  You can also “get your sweat on” at gyms, studios, and swimming pools throughout the city.  Read this guide for more info.

Biking

Click here for info on biking in New Orleans. You can also click here to find out about group rides around New Orleans.  These are a great way to meet locals and to tour the city in an offbeat way.

Dance

You can always burn some calories gettin’ down at a nightclub, but if you want to get fit by belly dancing, whirling, hip hopping, or doing any other number of dance styles, then make your way to Crescent Lotus Dance Studio which is located at 3143 Calhoun St. Uptown.  Visit the studio’s website for more information about classes, schedules, and fees.

Golf

From private clubs with reciprocal arrangements to many high-end public and resort tracks, golf in New Orleans is easy, close, affordable and accessible.  It’s also a year-round pursuit; our courses are open every day of every week of the year (New Orleans CVB).  For more info click here.

Gyms and Fitness Centers

Check to see if your hotel has an in-house fitness center.  If it does not or if you are not staying at a hotel and you want to hit the gym, then consider these two:

The New Orleans Athletic Club is an exclusive club that offers many amenities including a library, a full-service bar, a salon and barbershop, multiple exercise rooms, a pool, a basketball court, a spin room, a yoga studio, and a complete line of plate-loaded equipment and free weights.  It also offers a wide-range of exercise classes in fencing, fitness, and aqua aerobics.  Since its inception in 1872, the N. O. A. C. has been a landmark in the city of New Orleans.  It is the second-oldest health club in the United States and is centrally located in the French Quarter just minutes from the CBD.  Visitors who are staying at a hotel can buy a day pass to attend the N. O. A. C. for $20.  You must present your driver’s license and proof that you are staying at a hotel (your hotel key, for example).  Visitors who are not staying at a hotel are not eligible to buy a day pass.

All visitors can buy day passes at the St. Charles Ave. Athletic Club, which is located just outside the CBD on the St. Charles street car line at 1600 St. Charles Ave.  The club offers a workout room with weights and cardio equipment as well as a variety of fitness classes including, but not limited to, Pilates, spin, and yoga.  The cost for a 1-day pass is $10, $25 for a 3-day pass, and $40 for a 7-day pass.  Passes do not have to be used on consecutive days and can be shared.  Contact the club at 504-523-2582 or via email at scaacneworleans@aol.com for more info.

Running and Hiking

Click here for info on running and hiking in New Orleans.

Swimming

The New Orleans Athletic Club (mentioned above) has a heated, indoor, saltwater swimming pool that is exceptionally beautiful and calming.  You must see it to appreciate it.  If you buy a day pass to the NOAC (read above for info), then you may use the 5-lane pool for lap swimming when the aqua aerobics classes are not in session.

Swimmers of all abilities are welcome to use the pool at the Isidore Newman School located at 1903 Jefferson Avenue.  Lap Swim / Workout times are Mon/Wed/Fri 5:30 a. m. to 6:45 a. m.  Those wanting to use the pool should contact Coach Marshall via e-mail at lovemarshall1@gmail.com or by phone at 504-236-9809 before coming to swim—the doors are locked, and he will need to provide you access.  The fee to use the pool is $10.  Free street parking is plentiful, and the school is just a few blocks off the St. Charles street car line.

The Aquatics Center at the University of New Orleans invites visitors to use the pool for $5 a day.  The center is is located on the East Campus of the University of New Orleans at 6801 Franklin Avenue.

Yoga

The premiere place to take a yoga class in New Orleans is at Wild Lotus Yoga.  It has the most extensive offering of yoga classes and workshops at one location in the Gulf South.  There are over 50 classes a week of diverse styles of yoga for student of all experience levels.  There is also a selection of discounted and donation-based community classes.  Some of those classes are offered at the studio located at 4842 Perrier Street, and others are offered at the Holy Angels Chapel at 3500 St. Claude Ave.  Drop-in rates for regular classes are generally $14 per person.  For full info, call 504-899-0047 or visit www.wildlotusyoga.com.

You can also enjoy yoga and pilates in the Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art, in City Park.  Every Saturday (at 8:00 a. m.) join participants for a wellness class in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.  Fourth Saturdays is pilates, every other Saturday is yoga.  Register by calling East Jefferson Health Finders at 504-456-5000.   This event is free for NOMA and Wellness Center members; $5 for non-members.  Please bring your own yoga mat. Call 504-658.4100 for more info.

If you want to take a yoga class in the French Quarter, then consider the classes offered at the Cabildo, part of the Louisiana State Museum.  (The Cabildo is located on Jackson Square next to the cathedral.)  Lagnaippe:  the fee for the yoga class also gets you admission into the museum for the day. Classes are $12 per person.  Call 504-568-5968 for more info.

Fair Grinds Coffee House is a venue that hosts several yoga classes each week.  Go the shop’s website and click on “calendar” for more info.

If you are looking for a free class head on over to Life Yoga Studio at 5422 Magazine St.  The studio offers free sessions every Sunday from 4:00 p. m. to 5:00 p. m.  Call 504-267-0380 for more info.