offwegooo.com
Travel guide
New Orleans
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: February to May and October to November
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Welcome
New Orleans, in a few days
Founded by the French in 1718 in a bend of the Mississippi, New Orleans has kept French street names on Spanish houses with wrought-iron balconies in its French Quarter, and in its clubs the jazz that was born a few streets away. People come for the brass bands parading on Sundays, gumbo and beignets, the green streetcars under the oaks of the Garden District and a way of living the night that is like no other American city.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 3 things
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · French Quarter free · half a dayThe town laid out by French engineers in 1721 and rebuilt under Spanish rule, with courtyards, cast-iron galleries, the antique shops of Royal Street and the neon bars of Bourbon Street.
- Late afternoon · Jackson Square free · about 1 hThe former Place d'Armes, framed by St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo where the Louisiana Purchase was formalised, the Presbytère and the Pontalba Buildings, with painters and brass bands around the garden.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Bourbon Orleans Hotel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€200 a night
D2
Day 2
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Tremé and Congo Square free · about 2 hOne of the oldest African American neighbourhoods in the country, where Congo Square hosted the Sunday gatherings of enslaved and free Africans, one of the cradles of the rhythms behind jazz.
- Afternoon · St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 · about 1 hThe city's oldest working cemetery, opened in 1789, with above-ground tombs, the presumed grave of Marie Laveau and Homer Plessy's tomb, visited only on an official guided tour.
- Evening · Frenchmen Street free · an eveningThree blocks in the Faubourg Marigny where locals go for live music, with traditional jazz, brass bands, blues and funk in a dozen clubs and an evening artisans' market.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Bourbon Orleans Hotel ↗€200 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · National WWII Museum · 4 to 6 hOpened in 2000 as the D-Day Museum in the city where the Higgins landing craft were built, it covers the war in Europe and the Pacific through veterans' testimonies and aircraft.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Bourbon Orleans Hotel ↗€200 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Garden District free · half a dayThe 1830s quarter of wealthy Americans, with Greek Revival and Italianate mansions under the oaks, reached by the St. Charles Avenue streetcar and its green cars from 1923.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Bourbon Orleans Hotel ↗€200 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · City Park free · half a dayA 526-hectare park larger than Central Park, with centuries-old moss-draped oaks, lagoons, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the free Besthoff sculpture garden around a lake.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €160 a day, mid-range
Best seasonFebruary to May and October to November
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/new-orleans
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.