New Orleans Travel Forum

Hello - We can't decide between staying in the French Quarter, without a rental car since the parking is so expensive, or if we should stay outside the area & drive in for a few days. If we end up picking a hotel outside of the heart of New Orleans, say in Metairie, how difficult is it to drive into the French Quarter for site seeing? Or if we stay in the French Quarter is it easy enough to get to attractions that we can't walk to. We are staying for 6 nights & don't want to run out of things to do if we don't have a car. Thanks for your help!

I would think that the French Quarter would be horrible to drive in, and even worse to park in.

I would recommend that you stay in the city without a car. We were not in the French Quarter itself but in the business district - I'm not going to recommend a specific place but it was close to Canal Street and therefore the Canal Street trolley line. Wherever you stay, check that the area is reasonably safe.

Even for me it was easy enough to walk across to the French Quarter, and we took the trolley cars (which I think at least some of them are running again), and a trip on the river on a 'paddlewheel' boat up to the site of the Battle of New Orleans. We took the (free to pedestrians) ferry across the river to Algiers. We also took a city tour, and a tour out to the plantations and swamp.

After we'd been there for a week, we took a shuttle out to the airport (the second half of the round trip that we took into town from the airport when we arrived) and rented a car there to see various other places in Louisiana.

So you could go and stay in New Orleans for three or four days, and then if you got bored (which I don't think will be the case), pick up a rental car and go out into the country to see nearby things.

Agree with GrandmaR,

I would stay in the French Quarter and wouldn't bring a car. I was there a few months ago and it was so nice to walk around the Quarter (or run - which I like to do) early in the morning and grab coffee and something to eat. Same in the evening, and staying down there versus having to drive to/from somewhere else every day sounds like too much of a hassle.

Regarding running out of things to do for 6 days, I think this is valid. I'd suggest maybe staying in the Quarter for 3 or 4 days and then maybe renting a car for an excursion for the other days - though I don't know the area that well so maybe others can recommend what that excursion might be.

You can look at the following site, which covers most of New Orleans public transportation options: www.norta.com. You might want to look at the city's tourism web page, & see if you can find lodging near this transport, and places you wish to visit. An additional place you might wish to visit is the Audubon Zoo. They have some interesting exhibits. For events, other than the tourism site, you might visit: www.whatsonwhen.com. Gary

Contrary to the others' fine advice, I have always visited New Orleans with a car. I have stayed in a variety of places on the edge of the Quarter, so walking into the Quarter was not a problem. Yet, at the same time, if I needed to, I could drive the car to visit places that would be difficult or impossible to get to by public transportation, such as the Jean Lafitte National Park (http://www.nps.gov/jela).

I, for one, would think that with 6 nights, you will be more than happy to hop in the car at some point and drive around, like to the national park or the D-Day Museum or even to see Anne Rice's former house in the Garden District (well, I guess it's not so interesting now that she's moved out)...

Bill

I would also recommend having a car available at least for a few days to explore areas in the outskirts of NO proper. A very nice drive is along the River Rd, mostly West of the city, to tour a few of the plantation homes which have been restored.

NO!!! Do NOT drive / park in the French Quarter! Also, unless you have family or dear friends in Metairie, I can't imagine opting to stay there and drive into New Orleans.

White Taxi is great for transportation around town, or the streetcar for your basic Uptown/Downtown sightseeing excursions. The Quarter is best navigable on foot.

Go to my accomodations page (under New Orleans) and see the links to reasonable hotels inside the French Quarter...you'll find one that best suits you.

I used to live in New Orleans and I won't even "go there" to recount the number of parking tickets I've received, some related to legitimate parking! It's a nightmare. If someone says it's not, it's because he or she lucked out and that's an anomaly.

The majority here seems to agree on the "no driving/parking" in the Quarter...go with the majority!

Good luck and enjoy this wonderful city.

Michele

If you do want to drive I'd recommend staying at the Richeleiu Hotel on Royal near Esplanade. They are the only hotel I know of in the FQ that offers free parking for guests, at least they did the last time we stayed. A bonus is that the neighborhood is relatively quiet and the hotel is quite nice and comfortable. Consider it, seriously.

Marty

We got to the D-Day museum easily on public buses - actually we took the Garden district streetcar and walked to it, and then took the bus from there back to Canal Street. We were there in December and it was too cold and windy for us to want to take the J. J. Audubon (boat) out to the Audubon zoo. I don't know if the Aquarium has re-opened. We walked around Jackson Square, and in the French Quarter, and shopped at the French market. We went to an art fair. We ate New Orleans food and we took the free ferry over to the Algier's Point. We also took a boat ride up to the site of the Battle of 1812, and another tour which included both the Oak Alley plantation and the Jean Lafitte swamp.

We didn't get to go to a free concert at the Cathedral or do a horse and carriage ride or go to Harrah's casino or take Vieux Carre loop bus around the French Quarter, or do the walking tour of the French Quarter with the NPS guide or go inside the Cathedral or go to the zoo (which I think IS open).

In the beginning we got a three day pass for each of us for the buses and streetcars. But later we found that old folks (i.e. with a Medicare card) can ride the streetcars and buses for 40 cents with a free transfer. Don't know if that is still the case or not.

In any case, if you don't have enough amusement for a whole week, then start out in New Orleans and when you get bored of it, rent a car and go stay in Metairie for a couple of days. Or go to Baton Rouge or New Iberia.

I'm from New Orleans, and even when I go back to visit, I dont rent a car. If I drive in from Texas, I leave my car at a friend's house in Slidell and have his MOM (yes! i am a grownup) drive me in. Because the last time that I drove into the city, to show off my snazzy new bmw to my old friends, I parked it for ONE hour on Royal, came back to find it had been lovingly sideswiped. Lesson learned.

If you wish to check out the plantations or anything outside of the city, there are plenty of tour groups that will take you.

As for checking out the garden district, rent a scooter from one of the places in the Quarter, its something like $40 for a half day or something. Or take the trolley.

There is very little parking in the french quarter, from my experience. Also, most sites are be walked to easily. With the cost of the car it would be most likely be cheaper to stay in the quarter.