What To Do On a Long Weekend in NOLA

1. Explore the French Quarter

Royal Street, my favorite street in the French Quarter, has colorful balconies with hanging flower baskets and street-performing jazz bands. You'll find the famous Carousel Bar & Lounge at Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street too, where they have really good Pimm's Cups. Make sure to walk to Jackson Square, a beautiful historic park perfect for taking a stroll or having a picnic. 

My favorite thing about New Orleans was all the live jazz music on Royal Street & Frenchman Street! You can tell that the musicians really have a passion for jazz music and it's such a unique & fun sound, it just makes you smile and want to dance.

2. Try all the food

To be honest, I tried everything I was supposed to during my time in NOLA (jambalaya, gumbo, po boys, even a Creole Benedict) and kind of realized that I'm not a huge fan of Cajun food. Here's what I loved: shrimp po boys, beignets with hot chocolate from Cafe Du Monde, the buffet brunch at The Court of Two Sisters and the hot dogs from Dat Dog.

3. Go out on Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is a shit show of drunk people. My friends and I went out there on Friday night and had so much fun, but went to Frenchman Street on Saturday for some more low key vibes.

4. Walk around the Garden District

The Garden District is a gorgeous neighborhood of antebellum mansions and southern charm. We walked around for an hour admiring the houses and got drinks afterward at The Avenue Pub, a brewery with a daily tap beer rotation.

5. Take a boat to the bayou

This was a really fun way to see alligators and to our surprise, wild pigs.