New Orleans Travel Forum

Hi Virtual Tourist!

We are planning to visit New Orleans on the 4 of July. What are the musts and what should we avoid? Heard that there are some bad neighbourhoods around there. We are travelling across the whole country so we can't book any hotels unless without loosing all spontaneity. Therefore we plan to pick any hotell downtown or slepp in the car. Good or bad idea???

Next thing we will be dring to Nashville. Is there anyting we should see along the road or is it better to just close our eyes and drive?? :-) We need to be in Nashville on the 6th of July so we have about 2 days to drive...

Thankful for any advice!

Have you checked out any of the tips on the New Orleans pages? There's lots of great recommendations for things to do in the Big Easy. You will be reasonably safe anywhere in the Quarter but unless you have a hotel already booked, you might have trouble getting one over a holiday weekend - you probably should try to book something in advance. We stayed in the business district, near the convention center, and felt fairly safe there too. I have friends who like staying in the Garden District but book something in the Quarter if you want to be closer to most of the tourist activities.

Take a walking tour that includes one of the cemeteries (but skip the haunted" tours - there's a contact for a tour outfit we had a good experience with on my NO pages. Take a streetcar up to the terrific art museum. Take another out to the Garden District for a walkabout of the architecture. Get an overview of LA/NO history at the Cabildo, and some background on Mardi Gras at the building next door (Presbytere). Wander the French Market and Jackson Square. Catch some NO jazz. Have a beignet at Cafe du Monde. Stroll the Riverwalk and take a ride across the Mississippi on the Canal Street Ferry.

Take a look at tips previous travelers have written - you'll quickly figure out what the most popular activities are and can pick and choose according to your interests.

New Orleans is not all that big. To save yourselves some money you could stay in one of the suburbs and have about a 20 minute ride to the heart of the city. They have plenty of parking along with river front. I have stayed for business several times in Metarie, Louisiana again about a 20 minute ride.

On your ride from New Orleans to Nashville you could go a little off the direct route and take in a visit to Elvis's birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi.

New Orleans has bad areas like all cities. The majority of the tourist areas are not in these neighborhoods though. In the French Quarter, you do need to keep your wits about you because there is an issue with muggers waiting for drunks to walk by, taking them into an alley and then robbing them. It's generally safe though and well policed.
You should look up events in New Orleans on July 4th. There's nothing huge going on, but I'm sure there's something.
If you're looking for a cheap place to stay in New Orleans, then you should look around the airport in Kenner, or even across the lake in Slidell. Lots of cheap hotels. At most rest areas along the interstate, you can get coupon books for these chain motels that will save you a bit off of the rack rate you'll get by just walking in. The cheap motels generally run about $50-70 in those areas. Kenner is fairly safe to stay in, but there's nothing to walk to around these hotels, and it's not really the same as New Orleans.
You may also want to try Priceline or Hotwire. Downtown New Orleans often has very cheap hotel rooms that they to unload, often at 3* and 4* places.
But definitely don't sleep in your car. It's not safe in New Orleans, but Louisiana is also not the place to do this, especially in July.
On the way to Nashville, Vicksburg, Mississippi is interesting, especially if you like Civil War history, Natchez is nice, and the drive up the Mississippi River is very pretty. Alternatively, you could head east to Mobile, then drop south to the coast. Dauphin Island and Foley Beach have the prettiest beaches on the Gulf. It's all white, sugar sand.
You could also jut north a bit and catch the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs through some gorgeous parts of Alabama and Tennessee, before ending just south of Nashville. Southern Tennessee, just above the Alabama and Mississippi state lines, has a few interesting towns.
If you want an interesting drive though, stay off of the interstates. It takes longer, but it makes the drive much more pleasant and fun.

Thanx for the advice. Why is Louisiana worse during summer? Anyhow, sound like I should book something in advance just in case. Heard that Hotels.com has full refund till one day in advance... But they're not cheap. Since we´re going to New Orleans partly because of the party I guess it's a good idea to get something near the French Quaters?

Avoiding the interstate is our main plan, but just randomly travelling on small roads doesn't always give you better scenery. The civil war stuff sound good, and if we've got the time we might go for the beaches. We've deliberately skipped Memphis to be able to see more of the rest. The national park sounds nice.. Is it near the interstate or a detour?

Louisiana is very hot and humid in the summer and sleeping in the car would be like an oven

> Why is Louisiana worse during summer?
Well, it's near 100 F during the day, and only gets down into the low 80's by the evening. Couple that with near-100% humidity and hungry mosquitoes the size of your foot, and you have a really bad night.

> it's a good idea to get something near the French Quaters?
Yes. For last minute, try Hotwire or Priceline. You can book up to, I believe 6pm the day of (local time).

> The national park sounds nice.. Is it near the interstate or a detour?
Do you mean the Natchez Trace Parkway? It parallels the interstates and intersects I-55, but isn't close to an interstate itself. You could either follow the river north to catch it at Natchez, or follow I-55 north of Jackson to catch it. At the end of it, you just take I-65 north to Nashville.

One must is (assuming it is still there after Katrina)the Napoleon House, in the Quarter. It's a good casual dining place. When I lived there, it was almost all locals, and very few tourists. It hides in plain sight on the corner just across from the Slave Exchange building. They make amazing sandwiches, serve the most refresing Pimms Cup drinks, delicious jambalaya, and have the most extensive classical music selection I've ever seen. If the weather is nice, insist on eating in the courtyard.

Cafe Du Monde is touristy, but still great. And Pat O's is also touristy, but you can't beat the Hurricanes there. Just tip the waiter a few bucks as you come in, if it's packed as always-- he'll find you a table.

The Magnolia Grill is not in the quarter, but has awesome breakfasts, and is pretty much all locals. And there are tons of great bars and restaurants in the Garden District, all along the streetcar line, on St. Charles.

Anything south of Dauphine Street in the Quarter is generally safe. Above Dauphine can be a little dicey. Don't park your car on or above Dauphine. Pay what you need to to park in a lot to the south, or find street parking below Dauphine. New Orleans is one of those cities, like DC, that can be perfectly safe one block, really bad the next. Don't sleep in the car. Seriously. And trust your instincts. It's a great city-- have fun!

The French Quarter is actually some of the highest ground in New Orleans and escaped most of Katrina's flooding aftermath. I have been down there twice on business since Katrina and the last time they were actually keeping the French Quarter a little bit cleaner (less garbage on the streets) then when I had been there before.

Check. Don't sleep in the car or get mugged and cooked :-) And try to find a parking lot south of Dolphinstreet.

The other thing I've read between the lines is that there's nothing special (don't get me wrong) to do in New Orleans. The big thing seams be be chilling out in the nice atmosphere and find a nice spot to get yourself a beer and some good food. Its not like other cities where you "have to see the hangar/pyramid/tower.

Have I got it right?

There are "attractions" in the traditional sense. The Aquarium of the Americas is one of the best in the country and they have a fantastic zoo, but New Orleans is more about neighborhoods and architecture. The art museum in City Park is also nice. There's a lot of history too, like the Saint Louis Cemetery and Saint Louis Church (not close to one another).
If you're looking for something specific to do, you could ride the streetcar down St Charles to the Garden District (a great neighborhood) and be sure to visit Pat O'Brien's in the French Quarter. It's a bar famous for its hurricanes. You get to keep the glass. Cafe du Monde is also a must for a beignet. It's a bit touristy, and the coffee's not very good, but a very New Orleans thing to do.
Then there are the steamboat tours that you could do, or quite a few other river cruises.
You could also take a swamp boat tour. They're just south of the city.
hth

I have to disagree that there's really nothing to do. As Colin stated, NO has wonderful architecture and the cemeteries are unlike most found in the US. While art and history museums could be considered "run of the mill", NO's version are very good and the history of this is city is both unique and fascinating. The aquarium is terrific and there are tours available for everything from bayous to antebellum mansions - also pretty much unknown outside of the South. And the music - NO has some of the finest musicians of jazz and other forms in the country. During our week there, we never really ran out of things to do. I guess it's all about what you're interested in?

Actually, The Essence Music festival will be going on July 3-5th. We were in NO last year for the 4th and the cheapest room we could get..in advance.. was in Metairie. (Hampton Inn)(nice place within walking to the casino on the lake). The French Quarters was very busy. They had a good fireworks display on the River and we enjoyed it very much. Pack a cooler and blanket and find a spot on the Moon Walk.

To me, New Orleans is all about the food and music. I can stay a week and still have things I want to do.
Stop at Central grocery across from Cafe Du Monde for a Muffaletta for lunch..it's big enough for 2.
Pat Obriens..the piano room is a must do. The Aquarium is fantastic and has great Air conditioning...and don't forget Harrah's Casino. Catch the street car on Canal and St Charles for a pleasant ride thru the Garden Distict.

We have also driven the Natches trace..it's a lovely drive with little traffic.