A weekend in the French Quarter. What to do?

Question

I will be spending an upcoming weekend in new orleans French Quarter. What are some things I should do to get a feel for it? Attractions? sight seeing? restuarants? I need as much infor as you can give! Thanks

Answer 1

Definite musts:

Johnny's Poor Boys off of Decatur around the corner from the French Market Inn

Cafe du Monde for beignets.

The French Market....cheap souveniers can be found here for way less than on Bourbon Street.

A Voodoo and Cemetary tour....walking tours, cheap and very informative!

Erzulies Voodoo store....on Royal Street. Wonderful handmade soaps and perfumes. Next door is New Orleans Perfumes.....been there over 100 years...check out their shop. All perfumes made right there, and they can make one justfor your chemistry too.

Grandpa Elliot and Stoney B - street blues musicians....you can usually find them on Royal Street near the A & P grocery.

Spend some time just relaxing in Jackson Square, but avoid the "readers" out there...most are frauds.

Go see Jimmy Thibodeaux at the Krazy Korner on Bourbon....Friday and Sat from 2-8. Authentic Zydeco...only band in town right now doing the real deal. LOTS of fun...you won't want to leave.

Yo Mamma bar and grill...across from Preservation Hall....and around the corner from the Krazy Korner....GREAT burgers!

Central Grocery.....the original Mufalletta sandwich...must see it to love it. It's down by the French Market.

Oh...so much to see and do. I am getting carried away...but I have been there many times now...so I know the good stuff.

Take the free ferry to Algiers....nice neighborhood, and visit Mardi Gras World...they show you how the floats are made.

Also, The Voodoo Spritiualist Temple, on Rampart.....Priestess Miriam is a GEM. Very interesting person...and a gifted consultant too.

OK...so for food....you can also go to The Gumbo Shop....old place....the best gumbo in town. For oysters...Acme oysters or Desire...all in the French Quarter. All are affordable too.

If you want to go fancy....try any of the Brennans restaurants...I love The Palace Cafe for lunch...it's on Canal. They invented Bananas Foster - YUM-O!

Get over to Preservation Hall....a must see. No food or drinks, smoking or flash cameras allowed. It's music the old way....good stuff. I definite must see. Be prepared to wait in line, sit on the floor, and have a great time.

Pat O Briens....the only Hurricane in town worth having. Don't get those cheesy one's from the machines. Pat O's is the only way to go for that!

OK, I will stop now. Like I said, I could go on for days....weeks. Love that town, and so will you.

P.S. Don't listen to Shadowangel or anyone else who would cause you to doubt going. There are no bodies around where you will be. Honestly, you won't notice anything is wrong if you are in the French Quarter. I was just there in October, and on weekend the town is as great as ever. I commend you for choosing to spend your money in a town that needs it so badly.

Answer 2

Some of these peoplez wayyyy over exagerate !.. New Orleans is a great place. I go EVERY weekend for entertainment and have never had a problem with crime or seeing dead bodies lol.

If you are a tourist .. you will most likely not see much of what Hurricane Katrina caused... unless you specifically go out looking for it. It effected many locals.. not tourists.

as for crime.. I've never had a prob.. but always play it safe. most of the time i take my purse.. but I usually go to the quarter during the day... if i go at night and i know it wont be crowded then i'll hide my purse in the car or leave it at home. If i know it will be crowded .. i take my purse with me. Dont want in areas that aren't well lit.

as for things to do.. i would highly recommend taking a cruise on the Natchez.. you can take an afternoon tour of the mississippi while listening to great jazz or cajun music while eating lunch. http://www.steamboatnatchez.com/

i also recommend any tours by these guys.. http://hauntedhistorytours.com/
I went on their Garden District .. cemetary.. and haunted french quarter tour .. and they were all GREAT ! for the haunted history tour.. you should go at night.. the 8:00 one.. to get the feel for it.

also.. go to the French Market. go anywhere and eat some gumbo or jambalaya. Then go to Cafe Do Monde and eat some beignets (pronounced BEN-YAYS) and drink their amazing coffee.

Infront of the st louis cathedral you'll find horse and carriage rides..

you'll find all of this if you just walk through the french quarter..
theres endless to do...

HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD TRIP AND Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler ! (let the good times roll)

Answer 3

If you just have a weekend, I suggest you just hang out. Walk through the Quarter, stop where you like. Jackson Square always has lots of free entertainment. Bourbon Street is basically a series of bars interspaced with t-shirt shops and restaurants- there's much more to see than you can squeeze into a weekend, and it's all good. Have a drink at Tujaques, coffee and beniets at the Cafe DuMonde, and definitely stop at Donna's for red beans and rice and live music. If you want a more contemporary scene, hit Frenchmens Street just outside the Quarter. Stay out of Louis Armstrong Park, which is closed at night and dangerous the rest of the time. Just relax, keep your head on straight, and enjoy! Lessez le bon temps roulez!

Answer 4

Eat at the Acme Oyster House for sure. Also the Progress Grocery which is the place that invented the Muffaletto Sandwich. They are small and real grocery that dates back from the early 1900's and have all sorts of great deli stuff in there as well. The French market itself is great and get some Beignets with the Cafe-au-Lait at the Cafe du Monde, which is the oldest operating restaurant in the U.S. The trolley cars are supposed to be back in service and you have to ride the one down St. Clarles to the end near Claiborne. Lots of great bars and such, but most of the best ones are on the edge of the quarter where more locals go. Watch out getting too far off Bourbon or Canal on foot as once you leave the French quarter itself you are in no-man's land literally and will find out about New Orleans famous crime rate first hand. Other than that don't let me scare you off as New Orleans is a fabulous place . Has it's bad spots like any major city. 9th ward is someplace that everybody who has the chance should drive or ride through as unless you were at Hiroshima when the bomb went off you will never see anything like that in your lifetime. Certainly not here in the U.S. Tipitinas down on Tchoupatoulas (shop a too lass) St. should be open as well if I remember right. Best place to go hear music and hand out in the city to me. I sure hope they are still going. The fun of New Orleans is simply walking around and finding the places to go and things to do on your own as whatever your own interests are they will find something in the places that you walk past. The best food in the U.S. and probably some of the best outside of Europe as well. Friendly people and warm weather. Just don't give the cops any trouble. They tell you "once" to do something and that is it. Second time involves cracking your head or hauling your down town. :-) You have probably seen how they handle the Mardi Gras crowds on the Cops tv show. They don't take no stuff off nobody. One of the old Cops episodes that I love seeing in reruns has a guy in a 280 z being chased around New Orleans when he goes out of control and lands upside down in a canal. The cops get out of their cars and are standing around saying "Sure hope that guy can get out of that one". They weren't going in after him. hahaha He did crawl out and was promptly arrested. Man I love that city!!!!

Answer 5

The poster above me made a lot of great suggestions. I would like to add that IMHO, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to the Garden District. The garden district includes the area's grandest homes and as the name suggest, spectular gardens. The author Anne Rice lives there. There are various tours of the area that you could take or venture out on your own.

Cemetary and Haunted Places tours are very popular there as well.

Have a great time!

Answer 6

I agree with nott & sood, some of the posters are just being idiots.
Just stay with a crowd and you'll be OK.

MORNING/AFTERNOON:
Caf̩ du Monde (everyone does this Рbeignets are a right of passage for visitors)
http://www.cafedumonde.com/main.html
French Market (behind Café du Monde)
Jackson Square, Jackson Brewery
http://www.jacksonbrewery.com/
http://www.jackson-square.com/
The aquarium is nice if you like aquariums.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/main.html

NIGHT:
Just walk through the French Quarter (stay with the crowds). Something will entertain you.
Popular nightspots:
>Tipitina’s
http://www.tipitinas.com/default.asp
>Pat O'Brien’s
http://www.patobriens.com/
>House of Blues
http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/houseofblues/

Those are just a few things. Just walk with the crowds/tourists and go inside a place that looks interesting.

As for restaurants. Just too many. If there are people there, it is probably good.
Gumbo Shop
Mother's
Acme Oyster House
Brennan's or K-Paul's (not if you are on a tight budget - reservations)
.

Answer 7

I am from Louisiana darlin and I suggest that you wait about 10 years before you even attempt to go take a visit. Places are still coming up with bodies, people are suicidal, and you don't even hear in the news what really happens out there. I know I am from there and I have friends that live on the out skirts of New Orleans and have to work there. Don't go unless you have family there. Also, I would not go to any where to eat near the quarter unless they are expensive to eat there. I would not trust it at all. When I went there a few months back (only because I had to fly there for a funeral to attend) I went to one place because my friend drove by and it was not pretty. They are still cleaning up a mess that the gov't does not want to help out. Want to see what happens in the area just go to the local paper online. Here is just at least one and you will get an idea. Don't go...if you don't know the place you will really get into harms way.

Answer 8

Eat breakfast at the Quarter Scene restuarant. I recommend the Carribean waffles.

Answer 9

It aint called the Big Easy for nothing. Just stroll down the Quater and do whatever floats your boat. All I can tell you is make sure you eat! Beingets, muffalottas, red beans and rice, gumbo, Popeye's. JUST EAT!!

"In the North they eat for sustenance,
In the West they eat for fuelin',
But here in Noo Wallins the food's so good
We eat to sto the droolin'.
Just try some gumbo, some etouffee
They'll send you to infinity,
Garlic, Onions, and sweet bell peppers
Is the taste of the Holy Trinity." -Charlie Smith

(Actually the Holy Trinity is garlic, bell peppers, and celery!)

Answer 10

take a gun because you'll probably get mugged. go ahead call me a raciest that’s easy to do. just visit any new Orleans news site and it will validate this comment.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)
New Orleans has seen a rise in violent crime in recent months as hurricane evacuees return to the city. In June, after five teenagers were shot to death in one night, National Guard troops and state police were sent to the city to help police, a mission they will continue through December. As of Tuesday, the city's homicide count for the year stood at 128. With a population around 187,000, that translates into a per-capita homicide rate roughly 10 times the national average. Most of the crime has been in areas not frequented by tourists, but the French Quarter has seen its share of violence. The neighborhood was the scene of a macabre murder-suicide in early October when a man allegedly chopped up his girlfriend and cooked her body parts in an apartment above a voodoo temple before leaping to his death from a hotel rooftop.