Welcome to my series on Adventure Weekend. In this series, I am presenting a weekend itinerary on fun places to visit around the United States (and maybe some international locations). Many of these itineraries will be ones I have done on my weekend travels for my engineering job. This week I am presenting a weekend itinerary for Big Easy aka New Orleans, Louisiana.
How to get there:
New Orleans is fairly easy to get to. It is located at the mouth of the Mississippi River. It is a prefect stop on a Gulf Coast Road trip. The Louis Armstrong Airport is easily accessible from most of the United States. All the major airlines (Delta, American, and Untied) fly to New Orleans as well as a couple of the budget airlines
Where to Stay:
New Orleans is a tourist city. It has a large range of accommodations from budget hostels to quaint bed and breakfasts to Air BnB’s of all shapes and sizes as well as luxury hotels. If you are up for a real adventure there are several haunted hotel options as well. There are two main districts to stay. One is the French Quarter and the other is the Garden District. The French Quarter is home to Bourbon Street and much of New Orleans nightlife. The Garden District is home to many of the older mansions and lots of greenery. Many bed and breakfasts are hidden around this District.
Getting around:
New Orleans is a typical city that has limited parking and traffic can be a huge issue. New Orleans has a decent public transport system. It has several historic trolley routes that are cover most of the tourist hotspots. The trolley run 24-hours a day making it easy to get from the French Quarter to the Garden District after a night of adventure. There are several private shuttle services and taxis that provide transportation to and from the airport. It takes about 30 to 45 mins to get from the airport to the city of New Orleans.
Another great way to see the city and provides direct transportation to all the major tourist attraction is the Citysightseeing’s New Orleans Hop on Hop off tour. I spent an amazing weekend exploring the city with a complementary Hop on Hop off tour pass.
Friday Evening
Depending on your mood on when you arrive in the city, one can go out for drinks an spend some time exploring the city after dark. If you are up for a late night cap, head over to the French Quarter and enjoy a late night beignet at Café de Monde.
Saturday
Highlights for the Day
- Hop on Hop off Bus Tour
- The French Quarter
- Jackson Square
- St. Louis Cathedral
- St. Louis #1 Cemetery Tour
- New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
- French Quarter Ghost Tour
Timeline
9:00 am – Catch the first Hop on Hop off Bus near your accommodations
9:30 am – Arrive in the French Quarter and find a local beignet shop and enjoy a fresh beignet.
10:00 am – Wander around the French Quarter, check out some local shops, sights and sounds. Spend some time enjoying the local street art or take a tour of the St. Louis Cathedral
11:00 am – Meet your tour guide and enjoy a history of the tour of the French Quarter on your way to St. Louis #1 Cemetery tour. Learn about the history of Roman Catholic St. Louis #1 Cemetery and see the many vaulted above ground tombs of New Orleans and the Voodoo Queens. Be sure to check out some of the cities Voodoo shops along the way.
1:00 pm – Check out a local restaurant and have a Cajun or Creole style lunch.
2:00 pm – Board the Hop on Hop off bus and enjoy a two and half hour tour around the various districts of New Orleans from the French Quarter to the Business District or Garden District.
3:30 pm – Spend some time exploring the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and small sights of New Orleans.
5:00 pm – Head back to your hotel for a quick break before dinner and maybe a power nap.
7:00 pm – Enjoy a nice dinner in New Orleans.
8:00 pm – Grab a beer and get ready to head out on a ghost tour around the most haunted city in America. If you are lucky, you might see a ghost.
Sunday
Highlights for the Day
- Lafayette #1 Cemetery
- World War II National Museum
Timeline
9:00 am – Find a local beignet shop and enjoy a fresh beignet.
9:30 am – Head over the Lafayette #1 Cemetery and take the self-guided tour around the cemetery.
11:00 am – Catch the Hop on Hop off bus and head over to the Business District. Walk over to National World War II Museum.
11:15 am – Enter the National World War II Museum. The Museum has 5 main sections to explore. It covers all the main aspects of the Merchant Marines, War in the Pacific, War in Europe, D-Day and planes and tanks of World War II.
Time to head home – Get lost in the history of the war until its time to leave and head home from your weekend.
What do you think of my Weekend Itinerary to New Orleans?
I’ve never been to New Orleans!! It must have been so much fun! Wow-the itinerary looks so detailed-thank you for this!
New Orleans is a fun and amazing city to explore.
I love hop on/off bus tours! A lot of people don’t, but I think they’re a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time. And you get the added bonus of transportation and not having to worry about parking which, like you said, can be a pain in big cities like New Orleans.
I didn’t for the longest time but now I love them. They make it so easy to get around.
Oh my goodness, what an action packed weekend, but what about the food, where are you eating? I hear amazing things about the food from this part of the world.
I had crayfish (lots of crayfish), as well as some local breakfast foods and drinks.
I love NOLA! One of my favorite US cities. Did you get to visit any plantations or the swamp tours? Loved those too!
I haven’t on that trip. I plan on doing some on my text trip out that way.
I loved NOLA – I took a steamboat ride, watched jazz and drank a hurricane on Bourbon Street – oh and had dinner at the gumbo shop which was absolutely incredible! Sounds like you had a great visit too! We missed the hop-on hop-off bus, but we did do a walking tour of the French Quarter which was informative and fun!
I need to do some of these things on my next visit. I had some amazing food while in NOLA.
A ghost tour is not something I commonly see in an itinerary, did you see any? The beignets are right up my alley though!
I totally forgot about adding one of those but they are all done after dark anyways.
Sometimes touristy places and activities are great- they are an attraction for a reason. New Orleans is fun, I only drove through and visited Bourbon St. for a night. I’d love to go back and explore more.
It is a place that need several visit to truly experience everything. I can’t wait for my second visit.
Interesting visit. I sometimes like to have such intensive weekends as well.
I love them. It lets me see a lot about a location.
It seems such a touristy thing to do, the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tours. But, we love them and use them in every town we visit, that has it, because its a great way to get an idea of where you want to see more.
I know. I have been against them forever and this trip changed my view of them. They are great and can be a lot of fun as well.