New Orleans Travel Guide: Recommendations, Itinerary & Tips

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New Orleans has always been a city on my list to visit. The history, culture, and French influence is so intriguing. Since COVID has restricted most of our international travel, we figured now would be a perfect time to check out some US cities! I love to plan itineraries out, but we were pretty casual for this trip and just wanted to explore the city. Check out details below for my New Orleans Travel Guide: what we did during our four-day stay, including recommendations on what to see and where to go.

Where We Stayed

When booking our NO trip, I decided against staying directly in the French Quarter because I heard it can get loud, especially around Bourbon Street. We decided to stay at the Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria, located right off Canal Street and just a few walking blocks from the French Quarter. I recently wrote a detailed post on our stay at the Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria (A Hilton Property) along with other options!

For the most part, I don’t think you need a rental car while visiting New Orleans. Our hotel was a few blocks from the French Quarter, so almost everything was within walking distance for us. We used uber and Lyft a few times, but we enjoyed walking the city and popping into shops, restaurants, and bars. Most of what we did was shop, eat, and take in the sights.




Must-See Spots

French Quarter: The italicized spots are all within the Quarter and walkable

Jackson Square

 St. Louis Cathedral

Bourbon Street

Cafe Du Monde

The French Market 

Magazine Street- picturesque street, stretches about 1 mile long lined with cute boutiques 

Frenchmen Street

City Park- rent bikes

The National WWII Museum

Swamp Tours- book on viator or tripadvisor

Ghost Tours- book on viator or tripadvisor

Must-try dining

Commander’s Palace– We didn’t make reservations early enough, so we didn’t make it, one of the most famous spots

Cafe du Monde BEIGNETS, but they are also known for their coffee (also available at t

he airport)

Napoleon House– Po’boys, Muffuletta’s, cute casual patio

Central Grocery & Deli– The best and original Muffuletta Sandwich

Galatoire’ssuit coat required for men– try the fried eggplant

Antonie’s – oldest restaurant in the city

Brennan’s– famous for the original banana’s foster (brunch and dinner)

Tableau– Awesome views of the Quarter, ask to sit upstairs 

Yakuza House– Amazing sushi place outside of the main tourist areas (make reservations as it’s very small

View’s of French Quarter from Tableau

Yakuza House

 

What We Did

As I mentioned above, during our 4- day trip to New Orleans, we took a more casual approach to the city, exploring and wandering. I always like to start a city trip with a walking food tour. This gives you some ideas on foods and restaurants to try during your stay and ties in some history. Most food tours are usually 2-3 hours and include a few stops. We booked our tour on Viator and enjoyed the experience, as well as our tour guide Susan. I highly recommend this specific tour for an introduction to the city. Our tour guide provided many recommendations for our trip as well. 

I fell in love with the architecture of the French Quarter, with its Parisian vibes, and obviously, Paris is my favorite city in the world (check out my blog post on my trip to France here). We spent a ton of time walking around the French Quarter. There are so many cafes, bars, restaurants, and stores to visit. Make sure to walk down Royal Street for more of a boutique experience. Bourbon Street is a must-stop but a little crazy for me. Lots of music, excitement, and drinking.  

We also ventured out of the French Quarter, visiting Magazine Street and dining outside popular tourist areas. The day we planned to go to City Park, we got rained out, but this is another beautiful area to visit. 

 

Hope this is a helpful guide! Thanks for reading!

 

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