Sarahritchie17 One of my favorite things about New Orleans is that it feels like you’re in a foreign country but with all the U.S. luxuries (aka reliable cell service and no language barrier). Don’t get me wrong, I love, love, love to travel and visit new places and explore all over the world, but it has been super nice to have adventure right in my backyard.
This past weekend, we decided to be tourists in our own town. The result— a perfect New Orleans weekend itinerary. This post is jam-packed with all of my favorite NOLA gems. So packed, in fact, that you may need longer than a weekend to get through the list. And of course, there is so much more that New Orleans has to offer. This blog post only scrapes the surface.
Friday – Magazine Street
Once you get settled in where you’re staying for the weekend, head to Magazine Street. Magazine Street starts in the French Quarter and goes all the way through the Garden District. It boasts 6 miles of restaurants and shopping, and I love it because it feels more local than touristy. You can start in the Quarter if you want, but I actually recommend you start on the other side of the US-90 bridge. Start your walk at Mojo Coffee House. That’s my favorite coffee shop in New Orleans. #shopsmall #shoplocal They also have great sandwiches and flavored lemonades if you feel like it’s too late in the day for coffee and scones. From here, walk Southwest down Magazine towards The Vintage, another one favorite of mine. You can pick up some beignets there or a bag of mini ones! (If you don’t know what a beignet is, it’s a famous NOLA donut in the shape of a pillow and smothered in powdered sugar.) Some of my other favorite breakfast places along Magazine are Deville Creperie, District Donuts, Another Broken Egg, and The Ruby Slipper Café.
Spend a few hours walking down Magazine, window shopping, and eating. There are some really cute boutiques, some more expensive, some more reasonable. I think my favorite is Monomin. Stop for ice cream at Parish Parlor. It just opened last month, and in the fall, they offer pumpkin spice waffle cones! Also stop at the NOLA postcard mural for a picture. There are segments of Magazine that are residential and segments that are all small business shops. Admire the cute houses in between and let your stomach rest. For lunch, eat at Red Dog Diner or The Rum House. For dinner, if you like Mexican food, try La Carreta or Juan’s Flying Burrito.
Saturday – French Quarter
If you didn’t go to The Ruby Slipper Café on Magazine on Friday, there are also two locations in the French Quarter. These two will be more crowded than the one Uptown on Magazine, and unfortunately they don’t take reservations. Expect to wait an hour and a half from when you put your name on the waitlist. Pro-tip: Add your name to the waitlist on the Yelp app before you get there. While you wait for your table, head down Decatur Street or Royal Street towards Jackson Square. There are tons of adorable shops to spend your time in while you wait. Try a free praline sample at Southern Candymakers to tide you over. After breakfast, check out all the places along Decatur and Royal that you skipped. Stop in a tourist info shop to book a day trip tour for tomorrow (keep reading to Sunday for some suggestions.)
When you get to Jackson Square, take a picture in front of the famous New Orleans church and another by the 300 sign—NOLA turned 300 years old in 2018. Walk to the other side of those steps and get a picture in front of the Mississippi River and Crescent City Bridge. Walk around Jackson Square and admire all the local artwork. Get your palm or tarot cards read by a physic, if you’re into that sort of thing. #wheninrome Don’t forget about the boutiques around the square too. If you aren’t too full from breakfast, get in line at Café du Monde, famous for their beignets. The line is long at all hours, but it’s worth it. If you still don’t want to wait, use their back line on the river side — it’s usually shorter and you just don’t get a table, so you’ll have to take them to-go. Otherwise, you can also snag good beignets at Café Beignet on Bourbon Street which usually doesn’t have a line.
When you need a break to rest your legs, head to Armstrong Park. Chill on a bench by the fountain and take a minute to post some pics on Instagram and tag @genuinesunshineblog. Get a picture with Louis Armstrong, the famous New Orleans trumpet player and jazz king. When you’re rested up and ready to roll, head to the French Market. This is a great place to grab lunch or a snack and do some shopping for trinkets to bring home for family and friends. There are also restrooms located in the center. Try an ice cream daiquiri at The Green Gazebo Café. Sit and enjoy the live music for a few minutes, and remember to tip the band! Take a minute to make a dinner reservation at Court of Two Sisters.
Court of Two Sisters is my favorite restaurant in New Orleans and has a Pinterest-worthy courtyard. You have to try their Bananas Foster dessert. It’s a local dish that originated at Brennan’s restaurant (another amazing NOLA restaurant – get brunch there if you can; I haven’t been able to get a reservation there yet, but I hear it’s good). Bananas foster is bananas flambéd with a sauce made of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, rum, and banana liquor; then poured over vanilla ice cream. At Court of Two Sisters, they make it at the table in front of you – don’t forget to take a video.
After dinner, exit onto Bourbon Street and enjoy the party. Let loose and have some fun. New Orleanians don’t need an excuse to celebrate, but you’ll see more bachelorette parties than you can count, and you’ll probably get to see a Second Line —a parade on foot. Second Lines traditionally came after funerals as a celebration of life, but today we have them for weddings and football games too. Grab the original Hurricane drink at Pat O’Briens and enjoy their courtyard. I’ve never been to Saints and Sinners, but I hear it’s owned by Channing Tatum. Have a great time, but stick with your friends and stay safe. Unfortunately a lot of bad things can happen on Bourbon Street, so be careful and make it back to the hotel safe at the end of the night.
Sunday – Day Trips
Get past your hangover with another local coffee shop. Try French Truck this time; all their shops are bright yellow, so you can’t miss them. Another good local coffee option is PJ’s Coffee.
Then head to Mardi Gras World to see what Mardi Gras is all about. It’s one of the warehouses where they build the floats for all the major parades. You’ll get to walk through and see what happens behind the scenes. The tour takes about an hour and they start every half hour.
Afterwards, head to the meet-up spot for your day trip out of the city. We chose to book a swamp tour. I was hoping to see an alligator in the wild, but we didn’t go in the right season for that. Instead, we got to see wild boars and raccoons. On your swamp tour, you’ll learn about the difference between a swamp and a bayou and see how “Swamp People” really live. Also be sure to ask about Letiche, the Louisiana swamp monster.
In the evening, walk along the Riverwalk from the French Quarter to the Business District and watch the big ships go by.
Extra Ideas
If you have more than 3 days, other things I recommend checking out are the jazz bars on Frenchman Street, the Garden District, the above-ground cemeteries, the local breweries on Tchoupitoulas Street, and City Park. Also check out more ideas at https://www.neworleans.com.
If you like what you read here, follow @genuinesunshineblog on Instagram and look for new posts here at genuinesunshineblog.com every Sunday to start your week with sunshine!
Cheers!
Sarah
