When it comes to New Orleans there is so much I have to say and much more things I would like share about this beautiful city. It is one of the very few cities in the United States that is unique with its own specific culture, food, language, music, and rich history. Many U.S. locals associate New Orleans to Mardi Gras or a party scene and Internationally, many others know little to no knowledge about this city. That’s where I come in,  to uncover these hidden gems. As a starter,  I am happy to share with you a 4+ day New Orleans Itinerary to get you started.

 

Disclaimer: This post contains activity discounts from New Orleans CVB, however, all opinions are mine.

New Orleans Itinerary: DAY 1

EAT

Breakfast at Willa Jean

New Orleans Itinerary: Willa Jean

Address611 O’Keefe Ave, New Orleans, LA 70113

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 7am – 9pm

Price: $$

Favorite: Warm chocolate cookie with Milk to dip; Instagram friendly

Lunch at Killer Po Boys

Address219 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Hours: Monday, Wednesday- Sunday: 10am – 8pm

Price: $

Favorite: Shrimp Poboy

 

Dinner at Arnaud’s Restaurant

New Orleans Itinerary: Arnaud's

Address813 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 6pm – 10pm

Price: $$$

DO

Walk around the French Quarters

Downtown New Orleans isn’t very big, making it easy to walk around and check the main tourist attractions in a day or two. Once in New Orleans, you’ll quickly notice that the ambience changes during the day and at night. Right before noon on your first day in New Orleans, I’ll suggest that you walk around the french quarters, say hello to its friendly locals and admire its colorful houses. I must warn, that you’ll be highly tempted to take a ton of selfies by every house you pass by. I mean, after seeing an image like the one below

New Orleans Itinerary: colorful house

I mean, how can’t you?

Hang out at the Jackson Square

The Jackson square is kind of the unofficial center or meeting point for tourists. The Andrew Jackson statue placed in the middle with the St. Louis Cathedral neatly tucked behind it, is an iconic landmark that represents the city of New Orleans. The Jackson square and the St. Louis Cathedral share deep rooted history that is worth learning about. St. Louis Cathedral is open to visitors from all walks of life. 

New Orleans Itinerary: Jackson Square

 

Do a ghost tour

I did a ghost tour activity with the Travel Zoo. I didn’t initially think too much of it but it turned out to be an interesting experience. My tour group was led by a charismatic Lady, who could tell you the horror backstory of any place/street in New Orleans. We learned about Zach and Addie, the couple that became famous from surviving Katrina and then later infamous for a messy murder. We later stopped by the most haunted house in New Orleans which its story has been featured on the America’s horror story series. 

New Orleans Itinerary: Ghost Tour

Walk through the Frenchman street

This is the liveliest street in New Orleans. Here you can find all sorts of performers making concerted efforts to keep you entertained. From buskers playing live Jazz music to Men dressing up little dogs and having them pose in a “cool” fashion.

 New Orleans Itinerary: Frenchmen street

Watch a live Jazz show

New Orleans is the home of Jazz. It isn’t hard to find quality Jazz music in the crescent city. Here’s a list of great Jazz places to check out.

My personal favorite is the Jazz Playhouse. The location is fancy, the performance is always spectacular and the best part is that, entry is free! However, you do have to pay for a drink.

 

New Orleans Itinerary: Jazz Playhouse

 

New Orleans Itinerary: DAY 2

EAT

Breakfast: Brennan’s

Address417 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 9am – 10pm

Price: $$$

 

Lunch: Sucre

 New Orleans Itinerary: Sucre

Address3025 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 9am – 10pm

Price: $

Favorite: Everything

Dinner: Commander’s Palace

Address1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 11:30am – 1:30pm; 6pm- 9:30pm

Price: $$$

Favorite: *Top restaurant in New Orleans*

New Orleans Itinerary: Commander's Palace

DO

Swamp tour

This has been an activity, I always looked forward to trying. The state of Louisiana has a lot of swamps and there are tour companies such as Cajun Encounters that take tourists on a 1 and a half hour boat ride.  This is no ordinary ride where you just admire the swamps. You also get to see alligators, turtles, raccoons, boars, and other swamp wild life animals. It’s truly an amazing experience. 

Note: Bring a jacket to keep you warm especially if you are doing these tours in non summer months. It gets cold when the boat is speeding through the swamp.

New Orleans Itinerary: Swam tour

New Orleans Itinerary: Swamp tour

Walk through Magazine street

Magazine street is a long street full inquisitive and interesting shops. Taking a walk through this enchanting street, will prepare you for a pleasant surprise.

New Orleans Itinerary: Magazine Street

Visit Mardi Gras world

If you are into costumes and carnival, Mardi Gras world my just be the best place for you. Entry for adults is $22 and for students is $17. See the Mardi Gras World for more information.

Enjoy a rooftop view

New Orleans Itinerary: DAY 3

EAT

Breakfast: Cafe du Monde

New Orleans Itinerary: Cafe Du Monde

Address800 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Hours:  24/7

Price: $

Favorite: Beignet, Time available

Lunch: Dooky Chase

Address2301 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Hours: Tuesday -Friday: 11am-3pm; 5pm – 9pm on Friday, Closes on Monday, Saturday, and Sunday

Price: $$

 

Dinner: Court of two sisters

Address613 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 9am – 3pm; 5pm – 10pm

Price: $$$

 

DO

Visit the flea/french market

The New Orleans flea market has a legendary and historic significance in the city. It is the oldest public market that assumes a leading economic role for the local government.  It serves as a cultural, commercial and entertainment treasure. You can find all sorts of international items as well as fresh food products.

Cemetery tour & Garden district

Rather than keeping the dead in grave yards underneath the earth, New Orleans residents keep their dead in tombs. This is mostly due to the fact that the city is under sea level. As with many things in New Orleans there are stories and rich histories behind every cemetery.  The Garden district is a nice neighborhood with beautiful architecture and breathtaking mansions. Celebrities like Sandra Bullock, and Brad Pitt own houses in the Garden district. I did both the Cemetery and Garden district tour with Tour New Orleans which lasted for 2 hours. 

New Orleans Itinerary: Cemetery Tour

New Orleans Itinerary: Garden District

Visit the New Orleans Museum of Arts

Address1 Collins Diboll Cir, New Orleans, LA 70124

Hours: Tuesday- Thursday 10am- 5pm; Friday 10am -9pm; Saturday & Sunday 11am- 5pm

If you like arts and culture, you might enjoy a trip to the New Orleans Museum of Arts aka NOMA. Here you’ll find art work from famous artists like Picasso, Joan Miro, Georgia O’ Keffe, and also some local Louisiana artists. The art exhibition are divided into arts from different regions of the world. NOMA has a nice cafe, a cute garden to enjoy a picnic and a lake behind to kayak.

Attend a live show

New Orleans Itinerary: DAY 4

EAT

Brunch: Steamboat Natchez

New Orleans Itinerary: Steamboat Natchez

AddressNew Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: See

Price: $$

Favorite: Jazz on the boat

 

Lunch: The Munch Factory

Address1901 Sophie Wright Pl, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday; 11:30am – 10pm

Price: $$

 

Dinner: Drago’s Seafood

Address2 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday; 11am – 10pm

Price: $$

Favorite: Charbroiled Oysters

 

DO

Visit the National World War II Museum

Address945 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday 9am – 5pm

The National World War II Museum is a humongous cultural center that can take nearly the whole day to explore. The museum tells the story of why the war was fought, how it was won and its significance today.

Have Brunch at the Steamboat Natchez

The steamboat Natchez takes tours and locals on a two hour tour through the Mississippi river. In the past, the Steamboat Natchez was a means of transport for cotton pickers. Today, it is a used mainly for tourism. It runs throughout the year at certain hour intervals of the day. One of the activity tourist look forward to, are the meals offered with live Jazz included.  The most popular one is the Jazz brunch. As of October, 2018 The Steamboat Natchez would be offering a Mardi Gras tour which has a Mardi Gras twist to it. Check their website to find out more information.

 Visit the Louis Armstrong Park

New Orleans Itinerary: Louis Armstrong Park

Take a cooking class

Take a cooking class with the renowned New Orleans school of cooking.

 

New Orleans Itinerary: Extra Day

EAT

Breakfast: Cafe Beignet

Address334 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday; 7am- 10pm

Price: $

Favorite: Fluffier Beignet

Snack: Loretta’s Pralines/Angelo’s Brocato

 

Lunch: Soubou

Address310 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 7am- 10pm

Price:  $$$

Favorite: Sweet Potato Beignets

 

 

 

DO

Visit a Plantation house

New Orleans Itinerary: Whitney plantation

Learn about the history of Slavery and get to experience a pinch of what slaves went through in the past. The state of Louisiana has many Plantation mansions which also offer tours to the public. I wouldn’t recommend many of them. For now, the two plantation tours I suggest you visit are the Whitney tour plantation and the Laura Plantation.  The Whitney plantation is the first American museum dedicated to slavery. It has records of memoirs from literate slaves and their experiences. The Whitney plantation focuses on the institution of slavery.  The Laura plantation is a creole owned plantation whereby the family tell the history of the their generation. 

Ride a cable car

One of the oldest forms of transport in the United states. New Orleans is one of the only 7 cities in the U.S. that has surviving first-generation streetcars. Riding one in New Orleans costs $1.25 per ride. For more information about street cars in New Orleans check out this site.

New Orleans Itinerary: Cable car

 

 

 

STAY

New Orleans isn’t a cheap city. Finding budget friendly accommodation can be a bit of a challenge. The best bet for a budget friendly accommodation is Airbnb. For medium priced accommodation I would recommend Ace Hotel

I hope you found this post useful! Stay tuned for more updated content

like this post? pin it or save it for later!

New Orleans Itinerary: Pinterest