The ultimate 3-day travel schedule in New Orleans for first visitors

New Orleans is a city that bubbles with every turn of excitement and history. With some of the most delicious food and drinks in the country, great music and very entertaining nightlife, it is a city that deserves to be at the top of every travel schedule!

Although 3 days may not sound that much, you can certainly get a good taste of the best of New Orleans with this travel schedule.

Make ends meet in New Orleans + where to stay

Many of the best things to do in New Orleans are within walking distance of each other. I strongly recommend staying in a hotel near Bourbon Street and to walk to as many destinations as possible in this post. We had stayed in the Royal Sonesta Inn while we were in New Orleans and were on top of all the action.

Pro -tip: if you are not planning to stay outside all night and want a decent night’s rest – request to stay in a room that is not opposed to Bourbon Street. We had to sleep with earplugs in because our room was directly on Bourbon Street and partying does not stop for at least 6 hours!

For the places that are too far to walk, you have a few different options ..

I personally used Uber as places too far to walk. Renting a car in New Orleans can be expensive by parking. It is much more cost -effective to refrain from the rental car and to walk as much as possible.

Another option is to take the public bus, you can view this site for a list of all available rules. This includes 4 tram lines – what a fun and unique way can be to explore the city!

The ultimate 3-day travel schedule in New Orleans

Day 1 – Arrival in New Orleans & Go Exploring + see a jazz show

We arrived in New Orleans on our first day of the afternoon. We were checked in at our hotel and then took a walk through Bourbon Street and then to the French neighborhood. There is a lot to see here! We walked and stopped at a few bars and restaurants to get an idea of ​​the city.

This would also be a great day to go through a ‘behind the scenes’ tour Mardi Gras World. Tours leave every half hour between 9 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. and are only an hour long.

Once you have had the chance to do a little walk, eat and drink, you go to a live jazz show! We actually ended up in our hotel, because the Royal Sonesta Inn has a great jazz bar that is called ‘the Jazz Playhouse’. However, if you are not a fan of hanging out in a hotel – then I recommend viewing this list for some more cool places to see live jazz in Nola.

Day 2 – Food Tour + Haunted History Tour

The most important thing to do during your trip to New Orleans is to eat as much as your body can handle safely! The food in Nola is just great. From Po’boys to Gumbo and Jasmbalaya to Beignets – My mouth is just thinking water.

One of the best ways to get a taste of all the best food in New Orleans is To do a food tour.

I have taken personally This food tour And thought it was great!

If you really want to go completely, combine your food tour with a cocktail tour to also get a taste of the best alcoholic drinks of New Orleans!

The Food Tour only takes a few hours, so we used the rest of the day To shop in the French neighborhood And do a little exploring. There are many nice shops in this area. (Also take a drink for the walk! You can take alcohol to go to New Orleans!)

Another highlight of this trip was Take an ongoing Haunted History Tour (like this). This can best be done at night + you can take alcoholic drinks with you for your spooky walk through the city. (They even let you stop to fill your drinks halfway through, haha.)

Day 3 – Tarot – Card lecture + Garden District & Cemetery Tour

We woke up this morning to get a Tarot card read in Rev. Zombies Voodoo Shop – it was a nice experience! Whether you believe in things like this or not, I recommend trying it out while you are in New Orleans. I would fall into the category ‘not -believers’ when it comes to ghosts and lectures, but I have to say … our lecture here was creepy accurate!

One of the weird accurate things that our reader told us was that someone who was very close to us in our family was pregnant and had not yet announced it … Low and left behind the day after we got home from New Orleans, my sister -in -law told us she was just discovering that she was pregnant! (I told her we already knew – our Tarot Card reader had told us, haha.)

Remark: Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo Is the most popular place to get a lecture, but it was completely booked for the whole time we were here, so make sure you call and book in advance.

Then go to one of the famous cemeteries of New Orleans. St. Louis Cemetery no. 1 is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans and the last resting place of Marie Laveau “The Voodoo Queen”.

Another option is to combine Lafayette Cemetery no. 1 with a tour of the Garden District – an area that has evolved from plantations to landscaped gardens to streets in the suburbs.

End the night with dinner at Brennan’s (make sure you save space for their banana mosquitoes dessert) and then go to Lafitte’s Black Smith Bar for an evening full of drinks and pleasure – try a “hurricane” here! *Another nice option would be to end A dinner cruise Your last night in Nola!.

• Need some restaurant recommendations for New Orleans? Check out this post!