Start from 24 curated places around Slidell, LA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Palmettos on the Bayou
A rambling Acadian-style cottage on the banks of Bayou Bonfouca, Palmettos has been serving Gulf seafood and Creole classics in one of the most atmospheric dining rooms on the Northshore. Lobster bisque, crab cakes, and chargrilled oysters are staples, and the Sunday jazz brunch draws a loyal following from both sides of Lake Pontchartrain. The covered porch overlooking the bayou is the spot to request.
Phil's Marina Cafe
A waterfront institution on Harbor Drive run by the Salvaggio family for more than three decades, Phil's serves unpretentious Gulf seafood to a loyal crowd of boaters and locals. The Snapper Pontchartrain and Gouda grits are signatures, and the fried oysters are consistently soft and fresh. Sunset views over the canal from the outdoor tables are a bonus.
Trails & outdoors
Tammany Trace
The eastern terminus of this 31-mile rail trail sits at Slidell's Carollo Trailhead on Gause Boulevard, where the old Illinois Central Railroad corridor is now a paved asphalt path threading through pine flatwoods, wetland edges, and small communities west toward Covington. The surface is well-maintained and the grade is virtually flat throughout, making it accessible for cyclists, walkers, and inline skaters of all fitness levels. The Slidell end passes through some of the more lush tree canopy on the eastern stretch.
Camp Salmen Nature Park
A 130-acre St. Tammany Parish nature park on Bayou Liberty that combines a historic lodge site, more than six miles of trails, and a boardwalk through bottomland forest and wetland habitat. The trails shift between pine savannah, hardwood hammock, and bayou-edge marsh, offering a compact cross-section of Northshore ecosystems. The historic Salmen Lodge structure and the park's bayou paddling launch add context beyond simple hiking.
Things to do
Cajun Encounters Tour Company
Operating out of a departure point on US-90 east of Slidell, Cajun Encounters runs pontoon boat tours through Honey Island Swamp with guides who have spent their lives on these waterways. Tours run ninety minutes to two hours and consistently produce alligator sightings, wild boar appearances, and bird encounters in a swamp environment that feels genuinely remote despite its proximity to the metro area. The boats are large enough to handle a family group comfortably.
Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours
The original interpretive swamp tour operator on Honey Island, Dr. Wagner's has been running small-boat expeditions into the cypress channels since 1982 with guides who double as natural history educators. The boats are intentionally small to access narrower passages unavailable to larger vessels, and the tour emphasis is on ecological context rather than pure entertainment. Coast Guard-inspected boats and licensed guides distinguish the operation.
Landmarks & sights
Olde Towne Slidell
Ten walkable blocks of Front and Erlanger streets anchored by boutique shops, antique dealers, public murals, and a cluster of locally owned restaurants. The Slidell Mural Project has added vivid Louisiana scenes to building facades throughout the district, and the Antique Umbrella Alley installation stretches brightly colored umbrellas across First Street. Block-party nights on the second Friday of each month bring live music and street vendors.
Honey Island Swamp
One of the least-altered river swamps in the United States, the Honey Island Swamp sprawls across the Pearl River delta where old-growth bald cypress draped in Spanish moss shade channels thick with alligators, river otters, and great blue herons. The swamp is protected land accessible only by guided boat or kayak, which keeps the interior remarkably wild. Dawn and dusk light make the cypress canopy particularly atmospheric.