New Orleans Travel Reports

Are you planning your first trip to New Orleans? We are here to help you find the best tips and most beautiful places for your trip. We recently visited New Orleans and took a road trip from Chicago all the way down to New Orleans. Time is often too short to see all the sights this city has to offer.

That's why we summarized our New Orleans travel reports, information, and insider tips so you can plan and enjoy your vacation in this exciting city stress-free and comfortably.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when visiting New Orleans! Enjoy.

Before traveling to New Orleans, you need to take care of a few things: You need to find an affordable flight. It's also essential to book centrally located accommodations in a good area in advance to explore the many highlights on foot.

Cities like New Orleans can of course be visited spontaneously and without a plan. However, this doesn't make sense if you want to visit highlights and great tours like a ghost tour or an NFL game of the New Orleans Saints. Therefore, I have summarized my best tips so you can plan your trip stress-free and make the most of your time on-site.

The ideal months to visit New Orleans are the spring or fall months from April to June and October to November. The weather is often pleasant, and the humidity is usually not as high as in the summer months. We experienced temperatures between 68 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit, with only one day in November having relatively high humidity.

Are you planning to visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras? Then you need to arrange accommodations very early. Hotels are more expensive, and the alcohol level (along with the smells it brings) increases.

New Orleans is an extremely popular travel destination in the United States. If you're in the city on a weekend, expect tours to be fully booked and you might have to wait for a table in restaurants. Therefore, it's best to make online reservations at the relevant restaurants (some don't take reservations, like the Napoleon House).

Also, book the tours you want to do early.

Purchase the New Orleans Sightseeing Pass or Go City New Orleans Pass for sightseeing and tours. Save a lot of money by using the passes. We tested both passes on-site to give you an honest assessment. At first glance, both passes are almost identical. However, the providers for swamp tours or a steamboat ride often differ.

In terms of price, I would recommend the Go City New Orleans Pass as it is cheaper in basic pricing for 2 or 3 days than the Sightseeing Pass. While this pass doesn't include either the Aquarium of the Americas or the Audubon Zoo, I'm indifferent. I generally avoid aquariums (as they are often too small for animals in America) and can see a zoo in Germany if I want to.

Are you visiting New Orleans for the first time? Then you can easily get lost in the vibe of the French Quarter and 'hang out' (and it is indeed wonderful to let yourself go in New Orleans).

To avoid wandering aimlessly, I have mentioned our travel report here on how you can explore New Orleans in 2 to 3 days (with a program).

At the end of the article, I have included a map showing all the top sights, restaurants, bars, and must-see places in New Orleans at a glance.

You will save time, especially if you book accommodations in an ideal location right in the center near the French Quarter. We stayed at the Virgin Hotel and found it great: location superb and hotel fantastic. However, if you are sensitive to noise like I am, be aware. The hotel never completely shuts off the air conditioning, which is necessary due to the high humidity. This fan is, however, so loud that I could never fall asleep without earplugs (in this case, my AirPods, which block background noise). If noise doesn't bother you, the hotel is truly perfectly located.

LOOKING FOR A HOTEL?

For searching for a good hotel, we recommend the platform Booking.com. We always book our accommodations on this platform or directly through American Express, as we receive additional discounts with the American Express Platinum credit card (see details here, it's worthwhile for frequent travelers).

Although New Orleans is not the capital of Louisiana, it is certainly the most well-known and largest city in the state. There are numerous neighborhoods, and you don't have to know them all. The most famous districts are as follows (and this is where you will be moving around):

Here are a few things I've summarized that are useful for your trip planning.

New Orleans is as safe or unsafe as other large cities. However, you should be cautious of pickpockets, especially on Bourbon Street where we always observed 2-3 men watching who had their phones in hand or were already drunk or inattentive.

If you're driving in New Orleans, avoid leaving valuables in your car and park in a secured parking garage. However, we advise against visiting New Orleans by car since parking is very scarce and also expensive. During our road trip, we parked the rental car at the hotel (Valet Parking), which was unfortunately quite expensive but the safest option.

Currently, no airline from Germany offers direct flights to New Orleans. Therefore, it makes sense to compare prices and book early. I always check Skyscanner first and then later go to the airlines' websites to see if flights are cheaper. We flew (due to cancellations with Lufthansa) from Toronto and then via Washington (United and Lufthansa) to Frankfurt.

Louis Armstrong International Airport only opened shortly before COVID-19 and has short distances, but one major drawback: if you need to pick up or drop off your rental car, plan at least 30 extra minutes. Because from the rental car return to the terminal, you must take a shuttle bus for about 20 minutes.

Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, however, is only 25 minutes from the city center. Since we were traveling with our rental car, I have no information on shuttle buses from the city center to the airport (or vice versa).

Note from reader Thomas, since we had a rental car:

Taxi to and from the airport: the price between the airport and 'any point in the city of New Orleans' is a flat rate of 36 USD (as of Fall 2023 for 1-2 passengers - 3 or more: 15 USD each). Large suitcases may cost extra. Arriving guests are assigned a taxi at the airport (so there are hardly any chances of scams).

In New Orleans, you can explore everything on foot, except for the Garden District, which is somewhat outside the tourist center. However, to get to this district, the old streetcar "Streetcar" will take you, which you should definitely ride at least once. The green cars roll slowly through the city. Buy a day ticket "Jazzy Pass" for $3 or pay $1.25 per ride to the conductor.

Of course, there is also UBER and Lyft if you need to cover greater distances. Here, you should always compare prices in both apps. Depending on the time of day, one app may be cheaper than the other. The streets in the French Quarter are, however, crowded at any time of the day. Only ride if you are far away from the district and are returning to the hotel. We took a Lyft once after walking 30,000 steps on a long sightseeing day after visiting JamNOLA and wanted to quickly return to the hotel.

Alternatively, you can rent bikes to explore the city. We opted not to do that and preferred to walk.

We recommend a minimum of 4 days for your short trip to New Orleans. This will give you enough time to view the city at a relaxed pace. Since we also visited the surrounding regions and places (Oak Alley Plantation, Swamp Tour, or other highlights) during the road trip, we did not have to make these trips as day trips from New Orleans. We always stayed overnight in the other regions and places.

If you plan to have your base in New Orleans, you should stay here for at least 6 to 7 days. We spent four days and five nights here.

We spent four days in New Orleans. During the day we spent about 80-150 Euros a day (including tours) and could have definitely traveled cheaper if we wanted. But we wanted to try all the culinary highlights, take a cooking class, and participate in a few tours. We also visited one or two bars, listened to musicians, and enjoyed beers and cocktails. In short: We treated ourselves well and enjoyed our stay.

Here are some of my expenses listed:

Before my trip to New Orleans, I purchased the following travel guides: USA's Southern States with New Orleans (Marco Polo) This guide is compact and reveals the most important things you need to know for a visit of a few days. It not only offers valuable tips for the city with all its sights and highlights but also exciting stories and tips for restaurants and other special places. It also includes many tips for Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. We visited all these regions.

Another travel guide, which is only available in English, I bought as an e-book: DK Eyewitness New Orleans (Travel Guide). This guide is more extensive and just as current.

Of course, there are numerous attractions and highlights in New Orleans. Even more than we have time to see during a city trip. Therefore, I wrote a detailed article about the best sights in New Orleans.

No visit to New Orleans would be complete without exploring a few of the city's attractions.

Here are just some of the highlights that you absolutely must see or try in New Orleans:

New Orleans radiates so much joy of life that everyone is guaranteed to be infected. We were thrilled and indulged in the city's culinary delights, listened to ghost stories, visited bars, and cheered on the New Orleans Saints in American football. We were also lucky to be in New Orleans for Halloween: it was fantastic. New Orleans definitely ranks among the cities in the United States that you should visit!

Leave us a comment, we look forward to feedback and experiences.

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-> Here you'll find all tips with my experience for the best travel credit cards compared.

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