A New Orleans walk rewards slow feet and a good pair of shoes, because the best details sit above eye level and between buildings. Three routes cover the main character of the city: the French Quarter, the Garden District and Treme. Route one: the French Quarter Walk Royal and Chartres Streets, where the Spanish colonial brick arches and cast-iron balconies date from the rebuilding after the fires of 1788 and 1794.

The French Quarter’s street grid dates to 1718, and most of what you see on its balconies went up after fires in 1788 and 1794, in Spanish colonial style. That layering shows why New Orleans rewards a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach. French Quarter Start at Jackson Square, where St. Louis Cathedral (founded 1789) is the oldest continuously active Catholic cathedral in the United States. The Cabildo, where the 1803 Louisiana Purchase transfer was signed, and the Presbytère, which hosts the Mardi Gras and hurricane exhibitions, each cost about $11 for adults.

Romance in New Orleans is mostly a matter of sound and light: a brass band drifting from an open door, river air on a deck, a bar glowing at the end of a long evening. The city has more than enough for a couple, and nearly all of it happens after dark. A dinner cruise on the Mississippi The Steamboat Natchez runs an evening dinner jazz cruise, with the Dukes of Dixieland on the bandstand, from the Toulouse Street Wharf.

New Orleans has no standard packaged multi-day tour. What works is a self-drive loop: New Orleans, the River Road, then west on I-10 to Cajun Country. It suits a long weekend of three to four nights and a rental car. The shape of the route Spend the first two nights in New Orleans so you can fit in music and a museum or two. On day three, drive the River Road west for a morning at Whitney Plantation, then continue toward Lafayette.

Children in New Orleans tend to remember three things: giant floats, a paddlewheel boat and powdered sugar on everything. The city has a good base of kid-sized attractions, and most sit close to the streetcar lines. Audubon Zoo and the riverfront attractions Audubon Zoo in Uptown is the main family day. Adult tickets run about $30 to $40, child and senior tickets about $25 to $35, and children under 2 are free; prices rose in 2026.

Within 35 minutes of Canal Street the pavement gives way to cypress swamp, and within an hour you can be on the River Road among sugar-country history. New Orleans works well as a base for four distinct day trips, each with its own rhythm and its own opening-day quirks. Barataria and the bayou Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, sits about 35 minutes south of the city. Boardwalk trails cross freshwater swamp and bayou where you can expect to see alligators, egrets and sometimes river otters.

Several of the biggest names in New Orleans cannot be visited on a whim. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 admits only guided groups, Preservation Hall sells tickets online in advance, and Whitney Plantation keeps a timed schedule. Knowing the rules and price of each saves a wasted trip. The National WWII Museum The museum covers a six-acre campus in the Warehouse District, with the Boeing Center’s suspended B-17 and B-24 bombers and the 4D film Beyond All Boundaries.

The best hour of a New Orleans day can cost $1.25. That is the single fare on an RTA streetcar, and the green St. Charles line rolls under live oaks past Loyola and Tulane universities and a long run of Garden District mansions. Start there, then build the rest of the day around music, the river and a few good museums. Getting around cheaply A single streetcar or bus ride is $1.

Two days from New Orleans covers exactly one real day trip, and it should be the swamp: Jean Lafitte’s Barataria Preserve is 25-30 minutes away and needs no rental car at all. For River Road’s plantations, see the 3-day version ; for the full loop through Baton Rouge and Lafayette, jump to 7 days . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Check French Quarter or Garden District rates on Booking.

Three days adds River Road to the swamp-tour base: Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation, both about 65 minutes out, on day three. For just the swamp tour, see the 2-day version ; for Baton Rouge and Lafayette too, jump to 5 or 7 days . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Oak Alley tour options on Viator Compare rental cars on Discover Cars Day Stop Drive time from NOLA Focus 1 New Orleans - Basecamp, arrival, one night in the city 2 Jean Lafitte Swamp 25-30 min Barataria Preserve pontoon tour, no car needed 3 Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation ~65 min each River Road, two distinct plantation stories Day 1: New Orleans basecamp Land at MSY, 25-30 minutes from the Quarter by taxi ($36 flat rate for one or two riders) or rideshare ($35-55).

Four days adds Baton Rouge, 60-90 minutes up I-10, to the swamp tour and River Road base. For the shorter version, see the 3-day itinerary ; for Lafayette’s Cajun Country as well, jump to 5 or 7 days . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Oak Alley tour options on Viator Compare rental cars on Discover Cars Day Stop Drive time from NOLA Focus 1 New Orleans - Basecamp, arrival, one night in the city 2 Jean Lafitte Swamp 25-30 min Barataria Preserve pontoon tour, no car needed 3 Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation ~65 min each River Road, two distinct plantation stories 4 Baton Rouge 60-90 min State Capitol, Old State Capitol, LSU, USS Kidd Day 1: New Orleans basecamp Land at MSY, 25-30 minutes from the Quarter by taxi ($36 flat rate for one or two riders) or rideshare ($35-55).

Five days reaches Lafayette and Cajun Country, a genuinely different cuisine 2 hours 15 minutes west, on top of the swamp tour, River Road and Baton Rouge base. For less driving, see the 4-day itinerary ; for a Gulf Coast beach day too, jump to 6 or 7 days . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Oak Alley tour options on Viator Compare rental cars on Discover Cars Day Stop Drive time from NOLA Focus 1 New Orleans - Basecamp, arrival, one night in the city 2 Jean Lafitte Swamp 25-30 min Barataria Preserve pontoon tour, no car needed 3 Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation ~65 min each River Road, two distinct plantation stories 4 Baton Rouge 60-90 min State Capitol, Old State Capitol, LSU, USS Kidd 5 Lafayette and Cajun Country ~2h15m Vermilionville, Acadian Village, boudin and zydeco Day 1: New Orleans basecamp Land at MSY, 25-30 minutes from the Quarter by taxi ($36 flat rate for one or two riders) or rideshare ($35-55).

Six days adds a beach day, Gulfport or Biloxi, 90 minutes down I-10, after the swamp tour, River Road, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. For less driving, see the 5-day itinerary ; for a second, wilder swamp tour too, jump to the 7-day version . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Oak Alley tour options on Viator Compare rental cars on Discover Cars Day Stop Drive time from NOLA Focus 1 New Orleans - Basecamp, arrival, one night in the city 2 Jean Lafitte Swamp 25-30 min Barataria Preserve pontoon tour, no car needed 3 Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation ~65 min each River Road, two distinct plantation stories 4 Baton Rouge 60-90 min State Capitol, Old State Capitol, LSU, USS Kidd 5 Lafayette and Cajun Country ~2h15m Vermilionville, Acadian Village, boudin and zydeco 6 Gulfport and Biloxi ~90 min Gulf Coast beach day, casinos, seafood Day 1: New Orleans basecamp Land at MSY, 25-30 minutes from the Quarter by taxi ($36 flat rate for one or two riders) or rideshare ($35-55).

Seven days is the full loop: swamp tour, River Road, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, a Gulf Coast beach day, and a second, wilder swamp tour at Honey Island before you fly home. For less driving, see the 5 or 6-day version . Book these before you go: Book a Barataria swamp tour on GetYourGuide Oak Alley tour options on Viator Compare rental cars on Discover Cars Honey Island Swamp Tour on GetYourGuide Day Stop Drive time from NOLA Focus 1 New Orleans - Basecamp, arrival, one night in the city 2 Jean Lafitte Swamp 25-30 min Barataria Preserve pontoon tour, no car needed 3 Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation ~65 min each River Road, two distinct plantation stories 4 Baton Rouge 60-90 min State Capitol, Old State Capitol, LSU, USS Kidd 5 Lafayette and Cajun Country ~2h15m Vermilionville, Acadian Village, boudin and zydeco 6 Gulfport and Biloxi ~90 min Gulf Coast beach day, casinos, seafood 7 Honey Island Swamp 30-45 min Second, wilder swamp tour near Slidell Day 1: New Orleans basecamp Land at MSY, 25-30 minutes from the Quarter by taxi ($36 flat rate for one or two riders) or rideshare ($35-55).

Most New Orleans guides stop at the parish line, as if the French Quarter were the whole trip. It isn’t. Within two hours of Bourbon Street sit a working swamp, two River Road plantations with opposite stories to tell, a state capitol with a free 27th-floor view, and a Cajun food culture that has nothing to do with the gumbo you just ate. Not every one of these earns a full day away from the city.

New Orleans 2 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Two days is enough for the French Quarter and one real museum day, nothing more, so this itinerary skips the swamp tours and plantation drives entirely and puts the National WWII Museum, a guided cemetery tour, and real live music ahead of Bourbon Street. If you get a third or fourth day, our New Orleans 3 Day Itinerary and New Orleans 4 Day Itinerary build directly on this same plan.

New Orleans 3 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Three days keeps the same Quarter-then-museum spine as our New Orleans 2 Day Itinerary and adds a third day for the cemetery tour, a river cruise, and the Marigny and Bywater, the neighborhoods where the city’s actual jazz culture lives. Need more time still? The New Orleans 4 Day Itinerary adds Treme on top of this exact plan. Book these before you go:

New Orleans 4 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Four days is the first version of this itinerary with real breathing room: the same French Quarter, museum, and cemetery days as our New Orleans 3 Day Itinerary , plus a full day in Treme, the actual birthplace of jazz, and Magazine St’s antique row. The New Orleans 5 Day Itinerary adds City Park on top of this exact plan. Book these before you go:

New Orleans 5 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Five days keeps every day of our New Orleans 4 Day Itinerary intact and adds a slower fifth day at City Park and Bayou St. John, the quiet, un-touristed half of the city most three and four day visitors never see. The New Orleans 6 Day Itinerary builds one more day on top of this same plan. Book these before you go: The National WWII Museum ticket , $36 adult, half a day minimum.

New Orleans 6 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Six days keeps the full five-day spine from our New Orleans 5 Day Itinerary and adds a sixth day built for actually slowing down: Mardi Gras World’s warehouse tour, a food-focused walk, and a second, unhurried pass through whichever neighborhood you rushed the first time. The New Orleans 7 Day Itinerary adds one more day of wrap-up on top of this exact plan.

New Orleans 7 Day Itinerary (No Traps) Seven days is the full spine: everything in our New Orleans 6 Day Itinerary , plus a final day built around the Canal St Ferry to Algiers Point and a farewell brunch, entirely inside the city. If a week feels like too much city and not enough Louisiana, that’s a different trip; this one stays in New Orleans on purpose. Book these before you go:

New Orleans: 8 Worth Doing (and 3 to Skip) Most New Orleans trips get built around Bourbon Street, and that is the fastest way to spend four days in the wrong city. The real New Orleans is the National WWII Museum, a guided walk through St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, Frenchmen Street after 9pm, and a St. Charles streetcar ride into the Garden District, not a daiquiri in a plastic yard-glass.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1: Worth It? You cannot walk into St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 anymore. That surprises a lot of first-time visitors who show up expecting a free wander among above-ground tombs and instead find a locked gate and a sign pointing them toward a paid tour. The short answer: yes, it’s worth the $33 and 45 minutes, but only if you go in understanding exactly what you’re paying for and why the door closed to solo visitors in the first place.