Sometimes life *cough* cough*(work) just does not give you the time to take a 2 week trip to Europe. So you have to make time to squeeze that quick 3 Day trip, so your soul can finally take a break.
This is a 2 night / 3 day New Orleans Itinerary without renting a car.
Day 1:
2:00 am: Woke up at the crack of dawn to roll out of bed, drive to the airport and catch that 5 am flight.
7:00 am: Sprinted to the next gate to catch the connecting flight
9:00 am: Landed at the New Orleans Airport
9:30 am: Decided to take a public bus into the city ( Only $2 vs. $30 Uber)
10:15 am: Hopped off the bus and then proceeded to hop on the streetcar down Canal Street. (Learned that locals do not like you to call them trolleys)
10:30 am: Arrived at The Mercantile Hotel & luckily was able to check-in.
11:30 am: Found FOOD @ Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant and enjoy some delicious food and a froze!
12:30 pm: Explored the city. ( Seen more than just Canal Street and Bourbon Street)
2:00 pm: Found the smaller Cafe du Monde that was on the Riverwalk in the mall. There was no line and the beignets were just as tasty. The iced cafe latte was also really good. We later did go to the main Cafe du Mode and we were glad we ate at the other one because the main one was a mess to put it nicely. And because of the powdered sugar and temperature outside there were one too many flies swarming around. However, they did have a to-go window, which we used to get a coffee to-go.
5:00 pm: Tried some authentic New Orleans food at the famous Mother’s Restaurant. We tried the Gumbo & Jambalaya. Not our favorite but would still recommend because they have a large menu selection.
6:00 pm: Explored some more and went to some shops.
8:30 pm: Ate a juicy burger at the Pelican Bar on Canal Street.
Day 2:
9:00 am: Breakfast at the Ruby Slipper. The Spanish Omelette, Avocado toast, and Big Easy Mimosa were solid choices. We sat outside because there was no wait and the wait for inside was 40 minutes.
10:00 am: Explored the warehouse district and Lafayette Square area which is much calmer than the French Quarter.
1:00 pm : Had a drink at the Carousel bar as well as stopping at other bars because it is New Orleans and they have so many great ones. New Orleans is known for its hurricane drinks.
3:00 pm: Late lunch at the House of Blues with Live music. Very cool building and interesting artwork inside.
4:00 pm: Visited Jackson Square, listened to some of the music and did some more shopping.
6:00 pm: We went on a ghost tour in the French District. This was probably my favorite part of our trip. The tour was done by Haunted History Tours. I will have a post later giving the full details of the tour and the paranormal experience that we encountered.
8:15 pm: Dinner at the Coterie Restaurant & Oyster Bar. The cajun egg rolls were incredible. I had never tried oysters before, I got the sample platter with three different types of broiled/chargrilled oysters. Definitely worth the try, the Bienville ones were the best out of the three.
10:00 pm: Dessert was served at Kilwins where we had really refreshing raspberry and mango sorbet.
10:30 pm: Went to the casino and only spent $5 (Big spender I know!)
11:30 pm: Packed the night before so it does not have to be done on the last day or last minute.
Day 3:
8:30 am: Ate a small breakfast at the hotel. Pastries and fruit were provided complimentary.
9:00 am: Wandered around some more near our hotel and then over near the French district.
11:00 am: Ordered another iced cafe latte at Cafe du Monde because we can.
12:30 pm: Enjoyed lunch at the Coterie Restaurant & Oyster Bar(yes again), because we loved it so much and there was no wait to sit at the bar. We ordered the cajun eggrolls again, which have Louisiana crawfish in them and an amazing avocado ranch dressing on the side. We also had an order of the mahi-mahi tacos, because they were out of them the previous night, those were also incredible. Overall 10/10 service and food.
1:30 pm: Explored some more local shops and bookstores like Beckhams Bookshop, which had multi-levels that included used books and records. Stopped at another coffee shop inside The Roosevelt Hotel and then checked out another bookstore across the street because I am a sucker for books. I was feeling inspired by the French culture in New Orleans so I bought a small French book thinking maybe one day I can read it. 🤷🏻♀️
3:00 pm: We finally made our way back to our hotel to grab our luggage and order an Uber to the airport to catch our 5:45 pm flight. (Uber cost $35)
12:00 am: Landed in Cleveland and proceeded to have the worst/longest drive home in a rainstorm 😂 welcome home!
Next visit I would for definitely sign up for the cemetery tour and travel a little farther outside of the city. If you only have a short time, you can see a lot in 2 - 3 days.
Feel free to share any tips or cool places that you discovered while in NOLA!