New Orleans is a vibrant city that has beautiful architecture, delicious food, fun bars, interesting history, and an eclectic mix of cultures. Allow yourself to relax and truly appreciate a weekend in this marvelous city.

Things to Do

Grab drinks on Bourbon Street – There’s nothing more iconic during a visit to New Orleans than spending time at the many bars on Bourbon Street. Two of my favorites are Pat O’Brien’s – where the infamous New Orleans drink the Hurricane was born – and the dive bar Erin Rose, known for their frozen Irish coffee. At Pat O’Brien’s there is a lively dueling piano bar where you can hear renditions of popular songs and rock along with the crowd.

Visit the Carousel Bar – Opened in 1949, the Carousel Bar is unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s a bar with a carousel theme where the chairs slowly rotate around the bar. Each of the seats around the bar has a hand painted image of an animal on them. Enjoy a cocktail here so you can take this unique attraction in. The Carousel Bar is located inside the Hotel Monteleone.

Listen to live music on Frenchman Street – The three block stretch of Frenchman Street in the Marigny neighborhood of the city is one of best areas to find live music. From jazz to reggae to blues, you’ll find live music to enjoy here.

Ride a streetcar – In a nod to the past, we though it would be fun to ride one of the historic streetcars that are operated by the New Orleans Region Transit Authority (map of the routes here). To ride a streetcar, you need to download the Le Pass app, pay $1.25 for a ticket, and then show your redeemed ticket to the streetcar driver. You can also view the streetcar schedule on the app. We took the St. Charles Streetcar from the Garden District to the French Quarter. The St. Charles streetcar line has been running since 1835 and is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world.

Walk or do a guided tour of the Garden District – The Garden District is a historic area of the city known for its shady oak trees and classic New Orleans architecture. To explore this area, I did this walk which follows the Mardi Gras parade route. You can also take guided tours that tell you about the history of the area, which I would definitely recommend doing as they will be able to share information about the homes you are seeing.

Go on an airboat ride – Even in the chilly January weather (bundle up!) the airboat experience we had with Airboat Adventures was one of the highlights of my time in Louisiana. We took an airboat ride out to see the wildlife and nature in the Louisiana bayous and even spotted a few alligators that were hunkering down in the water to stay warm. It was interesting to learn the differences between Florida and Louisiana gators (Louisiana gators can handle cold weather much better). Our guide was also of Cajun descent and shared some of his family history and culture with us. Being outside in such a scenic setting felt very special. Transportation from New Orleans is available.

Shop at the French Market – The French Market is an over 200 year old market that spans six blocks in the French Quarter. This open-air market has various vendors that set up stalls for shopping and dining.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the Wyndham New Orleans which is located in the French Quarter. The hotel is located in an excellent location walkable to attractions through the French Quarter. The hotel itself is a little dated but my room was clean and spacious. The hotel does have a parking garage if you are driving to the city. I paid $373 for a two night stay over Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend in January.

Where We Ate

New Orleans is a city with a plethora of excellent food choices. The below are just a few restaurants I enjoyed during my visit and would recommend.

Brennan’s – Brennan’s is a Creole cuisine fine dining establishment that has been open for nearly seven decades. It has beautiful, colorful interior design and is where the bananas foster dessert was invented. I visited for lunch and enjoyed turtle soup (yes, made with real turtle!) and gumbo. I would recommend making a reservation beforehand as its a popular restaurant.

Cafe Du Monde – While various places around New Orleans sell beignets, Cafe Du Monde is by far the most well known of them. Beignets are a fried dough pastry covered with powdered sugar. We stopped in here one morning for breakfast and had warm beignets and coffee. Just be careful to not get the powdered sugar all over yourself!

Killer PoBoys – Tucked in the back of the bar at Erin Rose is Killer PoBoys. Po’boys are a sandwich originally from Louisiana that are made with meat or seafood, vegetables, sauce, and served on French bread. The shrimp po’boy I had was delicious and consisted of seared gulf shrimp with pickled carrots, cucumber, and sriracha aioli in a baguette.

New Orleans is one of my favorite foodie cities so naturally I wanted to bring home some of their delicacies as well. I purchased a mini King cake from Evan’s Creole Candy Factory store (King cakes are ring shaped cakes that are associated with the Epiphany and Mardi Gras), Hurricane mix from the French Market to recreate New Orleans’ most well known cocktail, and gumbo mix from Aunt Sally’s Pralines.

Have you been to New Orleans? Would you like to go?