11 Best Sights in Lafayette, Side Trips from New Orleans

Directly behind the Acadian Cultural Center, this living-history village—serene and set beautifully along a bayou—re-creates the early life of the region's Creoles, Cajuns, and Native Americans, focusing on the late 1700s to 1890. On select days, visitors can see a blacksmith demonstration or watch weavers at work. There are exhibits in 19 Acadian-style structures, including a music hall where live Cajun or zydeco music is played on weekend afternoons, often luring dancers onto the floor. A large, rustic restaurant serves Cajun classics. Check ahead for live demonstrations from the on-site cooking school.

A unit of the National Park Service, the center traces the history of the area through numerous audiovisual exhibits on food, music, and folklore. Be sure to watch the introductory film, which is a dramatization of the Expulsion of the Acadians (1755–1764), when the British deported the descendants of French settlers in the maritime provinces of Canada to the 13 colonies. Clips from the 1929 silent movie Evangeline (a fictional account based on the Longfellow poem about an Acadian girl's search for her lost love) are incorporated into the presentation—film buffs will love it. Ranger-guided boat tours of Bayou Vermilion take place March through June and September through November in a traditional Cajun boat, but require two weeks' advance registration to book. Ranger talks on local history and culture take place every Tuesday at 10 am.

Most of the structures at this re-creation of an early-19th-century bayou settlement were moved here to construct a representative "village." They actually represent a broad range of Acadian architectural styles, and the rustic general store, smithy, and chapel are replicas. The park is on 10 wooded acres, with a meandering bayou crisscrossed by wooden footbridges. Each house is decorated with antique furnishings. The weeks before Christmas bring "Noel Acadien au Village," with evening-only hours, musicians, food, and buildings covered in festive lights.

This multicultural arts center hosts art exhibits, musical performances, lectures, workshops, and children's programs. Film screenings are occasionally held at the in-house movie theater.

Naturalists are on hand in the interpretive center at this three-story cypress structure, which overlooks 150 acres of easy, peaceful nature trails and natural forest. The northern section includes a managed butterfly habitat. The focus here is on environmental education. Free weekend nature talks begin at 1 pm on the first Saturday of each month, and free guided tours are offered on the first Saturday and Sunday of every month by request. A guided evening hike on the last Saturday of the month is available by reservation ($2.17 per person).

Built in 1800 as the maison dimanche, or "Sunday house" (a town house used when attending church services) of town founder Jean Mouton, this galleried town house with a mid-19th-century addition now preserves local history. It was later home to Alexandre Mouton (1804–1885), the first Democratic governor of Louisiana. The older section is an excellent example of early Acadian architecture and contains artifacts used by settlers. The main museum features Civil War–era furnishings and memorabilia and an exhibit on Mardi Gras.

This Dutch Romanesque structure with Byzantine touches was completed in 1916 (construction began in 1912). In the cemetery behind the church are aboveground tombs that date back to 1820; interred here are town founder Jean Mouton, Civil War General Alfred Mouton, General Alfred Gardiner, and Cidalese Arceneaux. Next to the cathedral is a nearly 500-year-old St. John Oak, one of the charter members of the silent but leafy Louisiana Live Oak Society. Docent-guided tours are available on most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10 am, though calling ahead is recommended. Booklets are also available for self-guided tours.

Good on a rainy day or to burn off extra energy in the kids, this museum is basically a large indoor playground, with educational games and interactive exhibits such as a grocery store, a kid-size TV news studio, a bubble exhibit, and a health exhibit.

The courthouse contains an impressive collection of more than 2,000 historical photographs of life in the Lafayette area. There are images of famous politicians such as Dudley LeBlanc and Huey Long working the stump, and scenes from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

This sparkling natural-history museum includes changing exhibitions and lots of fun hands-on science for kids. The most popular permanent attraction is the planetarium, outfitted with high-definition digital equipment.

Inside a gleaming glass box, this museum on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette features world-class works, including 150 paintings and collages by Henry Botkin and a Louisiana collection including artists Elemore Morgan Jr., George Rodrigue, and Hunt Slonem.