Things to do & places to visit in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States

"The Festival Capital of Louisiana," Lake Charles hosts over 75 festivals each year, the most famous being Mardi Gras, the second largest in the state. The annual celebration attracts revelers with Cajun cook-offs, a children's carnival and a lighted boat parade. The city celebrates its local heritage with "Louisiana Pirate Festival," a two week long party in honor of the pirates that once sailed the local lake. The Central School Arts & Humanities Center is a stop on the African American Heritage Trail.

Lake Charles city in Louisiana, United States. Timezone: America/Chicago, current date and time: Wednesday, May 08, 2024, 2:48.

Top things to do (23)

Top places to visit (30 attractions) view more »

5.0 Blue Martini (149 reviews)
- My experience
Wednesday: 4:00 PM - 3:00 AM Spent 1-2 hours Bars & Clubs • Dance Clubs & Discos

Welcome to the premier martini lounge. Our stunning décor and high energy feel provides our guests with an unsurpassed experience. Enjoy our Tapas food menu. The perfect complement to our fine wine and spirits selection. Blue Martini specializes in birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, as well as after wedding parties. See more..
5.0 Millennium Park (124 reviews)
- very nice
Parks

Took my grandson and he had a ball. He was 2 1/2 and had to stay on the little kids side as they had another part of the park for older kids, but the two are next to each other. Be prepared to move and be active because the kids go in one side and exit another. You have to be able to see them all the way though, so yes it wore PawPaw out as well as the grand baby. See more..
5.0 Escape Room Louisiana (69 reviews)
- Escape room fun
Wednesday: Spent 1-2 hours Escape Games

We are an escape room in Lake Charles Louisiana. Guests must solve puzzles, search for clues, use their wits, and try to escape. Rooms are themed and immersive. See more..
5.0 The Ice Bar - Golden Nugget (59 reviews)
- Ice bar is fun
Spent More than 3 hours Bars & Clubs

This is my favorite bar in the resort. Jessica always remembers you name and your drink. We love the ice bar. See more..
5.0 Rush Lounge (30 reviews)
- Rush Lounge
Bars & Clubs

Rush Lounge & Party Pit is a hot-spot for guests to relax, enjoy a cocktail, listen to live music, or gamble in our high-energy party pit featuring live music nightly. Featuring live entertainment Tuesday through Sunday evenings. Open 24 hours. See more..
5.0 Lake Charles Little Theater (5 reviews)
- The Snow Queen
Theaters

Very good! Lots of young people attended. We arrived early and were able to visit others prior to entering the theater. See more..
5.0 Cedar Chest Antiques (4 reviews)
- Cedar Chest experience
Antique Shops

Absolutely fantastic store with so many neat things. Hightly recommend! I love the store very much and you will too See more..
5.0 Lake Charles Ward 3 Recreation (1 review)
- Family fun
Sports Complexes

Visited Lake Charles over a holiday weekend. Family with teenagers looking for outside fun. The large skate park was a great relief to our avid skateboarder. The tennis courts looked well maintained. The indoor swimming pool, walking track and gym were excellent! Fountains available outside and inside. Restrooms were clean. Staff was friendly and helpful. Playground and splash pad were in good working order. Be aware, not too many shaded areas available. Great fun! See more..
5.0 Gallery by the Lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana (1 review)
- LOCAL ART BY LOCAL ARTISTS
Wednesday: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM Spent < 1 hour Art Galleries
Gallery by the Lake is the largest gallery in the 5-Parish (County) area with 6,000 Sq. Ft. and approximately 200 pieces of art on display. The gallery is run by Associated Louisiana Artists, a non-profit organization of 25+/- professional artists. Oil, Pastel, Watercolor, Mixed Media, pottery, mini-Sculpture, and Photography ... with SO many choices, surely you will find something to your liking. The conversation and the coffee are free. See more..
4.5 Prien Lake Park (151 reviews)
- Walking for fun and exercise
Parks

This park has been built to encourage people to exercise The scenery is beautifu lwith the walking paths and the places to stop to perform certain exercises. It has a water play area which is on during the summer when the kiddos want to cool off. It is dog friendly with watering bowl for dogs and if you like people watching this is the place for you. It has an ampetheater .and has movies during the summer. Right now it;s a little hard to get to because of road work. You also can see the curved bridge that crosses the lake to give you access to Sulphur and Westlake, La. See more..
4.5 Lake Charles Visitor Center (115 reviews)
- Great visitors center right off I-10.
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent < 1 hour Visitor Centers

Located off of I-10 towards downtown on beautiful Lake Charles, the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau is here to serve visitors as a resource center for the region. Among the opportunities that you can learn about here are the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road and the Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail. In addition, we have local dining, casino, festival, and outdoor activity guides. See more..
4.5 Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu (67 reviews)
- Laissez les bons temps rouler
This location was reported permanently closed Spent < 1 hour Speciality Museums • History Museums

History of Mardi Gras celebrations in Lake Charles See more..
4.5 Bord Du Lac Park (62 reviews)
- Wonderful Park off I-10 by Lake Charles
Parks

We enjoyed their military memorial with a Tank, Helicopter, Soldier and Memorial to the 5 Branches of the military. Bord Du Lac Park has a Splash Pad which would be nice in the summer. There are lot of nice monuments like the Flying Geese, Clock and Sailor. There's a good play area for kids. There's a great view of the Bridge on I-10. It seems pretty well maintained. In late November, they had already put up Christmas decorations. Bord Du Lac Park is a nice place to stop for a break from driving See more..
4.5 Golden Nugget Spa & Salon (55 reviews)
- COVID friendly with great conversation
Spent More than 3 hours Health Clubs • Spas

Located adjacent to the pool complex, the Spa and Salon offers a state of the art fitness center, luxuriously appointed men's and women's facilities complete with relaxation lounges, hot tubs, steam rooms and saunas. Co-ed lounge and outdoor hot tubs are also available. See more..
4.5 Crying Eagle Brewing Company (38 reviews)
- An Adult Playground for Beer Lovers
Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Breweries

Microbrewery Located in the heel of the boot. Crying Eagle Produced a wide range of inhouse brews, displaying 20 beers on tap for you to choose from as well as beertails, beer slushies, wine and cocktails. Get a true taste of Louisiana from the Bistro at Crying Eagle; Small bites, delicious hand rolled pizzas, burgers, and more. See more..
4.5 Veteran's Memorial Park (26 reviews)
- Patriotic
Spent < 1 hour Parks

Very nice. My father was a military man and so is my husband. This was so humbling. I took pictures to show our American legion post at home. Thank you so much for this patriotic display. It started raining and I couldn’t get any more pictures. See more..
4.5 Gray Plantation (19 reviews)
- Great Round of Golf
Golf Courses

My wife and I stayed at the Golden Nugget (where only managers have an answer to the most simple questions... everything is over cooked and check-in sometimes can take till 8 pm.) We have played Gray a Plantation several times and with no disappointments... This was no different and the conditions were excellent at half the price ($46 )of the Country Club At the Golden Nugget or Contraband Bayou At L’Auberge ... you get free range balls... brand new golf carts with phone charging ports and gps.. the staff is NICE and they are empowered to make a decision on the fly.... If you want challenge on a course in excellent condition .. pick Gray Plantation ...call them direct to make a tee time google them.... See more..
4.5 Burton Coliseum Complex (14 reviews)
- Great asset for our community
Spent 2-3 hours Arenas & Stadiums
This venue is used for several events. It is accessible and perfect for rodeos, basketball tournaments, meetings and other large group gatherings. See more..
4.5 1911 Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center (14 reviews)
- Free
Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • Art Museums

3 floors of art and history. Local artist have donated and loaned works due to hurricane Ida damage. Staff was great, bathrooms are clean. We enjoyed also walking the Pujo and Kirby historic home trail which is about 8 blocks up and 8 back. See more..
4.0 Golden Nugget Casino (1.292 reviews)
- Good times and lots of food options
Casinos

Room was really nice. No cleaning service due to COVID but you can get extra stuff if needed. Restaurant service at Vic and Anthony’s was also good. Casino floor was hopping. Only 3 people at table and limits start at $25. Several slots have plexiglass between machines or machines are turned off with no chair. Overall think they are doing well. One comment is when they wipe down machines, they need to spray rag first then wipe down machine. If you spray directly on to machine the liquids are sleeping into machine. ( basically like spilling a drink on your phone or computer). Cause the machine to glitch. And has to be restarted and wiped dry. Overall great time See more..
4.0 L'Auberge Casino Resort (730 reviews)
- Beautiful property best feature
Wednesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Casinos

Four Diamond resort destination. Only Southwest Louisiana hotel to hold the prestigious standard of AAA Four Diamond. Full service casino resort offering non-stop Vegas style gaming with 70 table games and over 1,600 slot machines, championship Tom Fazio golf course, full service Spa du Lac, resort pool and lazy river, unique retail shopping, 6 innovative dining outlets, 26-story casually elegant hotel with 1,000 rooms, suites and villas plus big name entertainment. See more..
4.0 Sam Houston Jones State Park (207 reviews)
- Amazing Camping Experience
Parks

Go camping here! Great place and plenty of space to camp. We have a 36 ft travel trailer and there was tons of space and lots of hiking. Fire wood everywhere that you can pick up and burn. Free laundry machines! Our kids loved it too, with several up to date playgrounds. Also they have a large disc golf space and cabins if you don’t want to tent or have a RV. We stayed for five nights, and we could have stayed longer because it’s so peaceful. Everybody we met here was super friendly! See more..
4.0 Children's Museum (63 reviews)
- Nice open museum, fun for all ages
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Speciality Museums

Price was good, it was clean, 3 stories, good for kids 1-11 (have a small part for toddlers but I’d suggest walking age to enjoy more. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is bc we had a child that’s in a wheelchair with us and I didn’t find they had a lot for her to enjoy but some. See more..
4.0 Charpentier Historic District (44 reviews)
- House's at the Best
Historic Walking Areas

This is a beautiful place to drive through if you're wanting to just go site seeing. I've driven through many times an never get tired of seeing it again. They just built a new house I want to go see now that it is finished. Those old homes have been around for a long time. See more..
4.0 Imperial Calcasieu Museum (21 reviews)
- Awesome staff!!
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Art Museums • History Museums

History museum, depicting history of Lake Charles and area See more..
2.5 North Beach (3 reviews)
- Lots of Catamarans
Spent 2-3 hours Beaches
Not much to see here except the water itself. However there are a lot of catamarans parked here that probably get used when it is a good sailing day. I visited when the weather was not ideal and not a lot to say. It was an OK beach to visit. See more..
Christ Community Church (0 review)
Churches & Cathedrals
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Seaux Selfie Musem (0 review)
Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM Art Museums

The perfect playground for all things selfies, photography, & your imagination. Our Studio is for the modern creative. Built by creators for creators, our studio is a 4500 square feet of creative interactive canvas with great lighting located right in the heart of Lake Charles. A creative, affordable, & extra lit space to create & connect. This studio is equipped with a dressing rooms, speaker system, WiFi, parking galore a restroom, snack bar, and much more. This is the ideal studio space for creative shoots, portraits, family photos, product shots, beauty shots, fashion shots, cinematography and all types of creative inspirations. See more..
House (0 review)
Points of Interest & Landmarks
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Prien Lake Mall (0 review)
Shopping Malls

Prien Lake Mall features DICK'S Sporting Goods, Dillard's, JCPenney, Kohl's and Cinemark 14, featuring all digital technology and stadium seating and more than 80 specialty shops! Retailers include American Eagle Outfitters, Charming Charlie, Chico's, Express, Gap/Gap Kids, Aeropostale, Bath & Body Works and The Children's Place. You'll also enjoy great food at all your favorite eateries in the Food Court, such as Chick-fil-A, Subway and COMING SOON Pizza Artisita!! Prien Lake Mall has everything you need for a great shopping experience. Click here for exciting Leasing Opportunities! See more..