48 Hours in New Orleans: A Local-Style Weekend Itinerary

With 48 hours in New Orleans, spend day one in the French Quarter and on Frenchmen Street, and day two riding the St. Charles streetcar through the Garden District and along Magazine Street. Don’t rent a car. Book Preservation Hall ahead. Eat beignets before 8 a.m. to beat the line. February through May and October through early December bring the most comfortable weather.

Travon’s office sits on Royal Street in the French Quarter, so New Orleans is not just a destination for us. It is home. It is also a city that rewards visitors who slow down. Rush from one checklist stop to the next and New Orleans can feel like a crowded theme park. Give it a little room, and it becomes one of the most generous, musical and delicious cities in America.

This 48-hour itinerary is the one we would hand a friend visiting for the first time. It balances the famous sights with neighborhoods where locals actually spend their evenings, leaves space for long meals, and includes the practical details, from streetcar fares to weather and safety, that make a short trip smooth.

• 2 daysEnough for a great first visit
• StreetcarThe best way to get around
• Feb–MayBest weather and festival season
• Frenchmen St.Where the music lives

Before you go

When to visit

The most comfortable months are roughly February through May and October through early December. Spring is festival season: Mardi Gras, which falls in February or early March depending on Easter, then French Quarter Festival in April and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival over two weekends from late April into early May. Summer is hot and humid, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, peaking from August to October. Hotels are cheapest in the heat of summer, if you can handle it.

Getting around

The French Quarter, Marigny and Central Business District are very walkable. For longer hops, the New Orleans RTA streetcars are a joy. The St. Charles line, running since 1835, is the oldest continuously operating street railway in the world. Fares are inexpensive, and day passes are available through the RTA’s app. Rideshares fill the gaps, especially late at night. You do not need a car for a weekend, and parking in the Quarter is expensive.

Where to stay

For a first weekend, stay in or near the French Quarter, Marigny or the Warehouse District so you can walk to dinner and music. Our full guide to where to stay in New Orleans compares every neighborhood.

Day 1: The French Quarter and Frenchmen Street

Morning: Beignets and Jackson Square

Start early, ideally before 8 a.m., with beignets and café au lait. Café du Monde on Decatur Street is the famous choice, and the line grows fast as the morning goes on. Wear something dark: the powdered sugar travels.

Walk across to Jackson Square, framed by St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States, and the historic Cabildo and Presbytère, now part of the Louisiana State Museum. In the morning, artists set up along the iron fence and the square is calm. Step into the cathedral if it is open, then wander toward the river and the Moonwalk promenade for a view of the Mississippi’s big bend.

Late morning: Royal Street and the Quarter’s quieter blocks

Skip Bourbon Street for now and walk Royal Street, lined with antique shops, galleries and wrought-iron balconies. On many afternoons street musicians play here, and some of the city’s best performers got their start on these corners. Continue into the residential lower Quarter around Governor Nicholls and Ursulines streets, where Creole cottages and courtyards show what everyday life in the Quarter looks like. Stop at the Old Ursuline Convent, one of the oldest buildings in the Mississippi Valley, if you enjoy history.

Lunch: A muffuletta or a po’boy

New Orleans has two great sandwiches. The muffuletta is a round Sicilian loaf layered with cured meats, cheese and olive salad, and it is famously associated with Central Grocery on Decatur. The po’boy comes on light, crackly French bread, filled with fried shrimp, oysters or slow-cooked roast beef “debris” in gravy. Order it “dressed” for lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. Split one of each if you can.

Afternoon: The French Market and a museum

Browse the French Market, which has operated in some form since the late 1700s, then pick a museum. The Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal Street offers free exhibitions on the city’s history. If you want a big one, the National WWII Museum in the Warehouse District is one of the best museums in the country, but plan on at least three hours.

Evening: Preservation Hall, dinner and Frenchmen Street

Book an early set at Preservation Hall, a small, no-frills room on St. Peter Street dedicated to traditional New Orleans jazz since 1961. Sets are short, intimate and unforgettable. Tickets sell out, so reserve ahead.

For dinner, go classic Creole in the Quarter or head to the Marigny. Afterward, walk to Frenchmen Street, just past the Quarter’s downriver edge. This is where locals go for live music: several clubs on a few blocks, many with no cover or a small one, featuring brass bands, jazz, funk and blues. Wander between doors, listen for what pulls you in, and buy a drink at each place you stay. On weekend nights, the Frenchmen Art Market sells handmade work in a lantern-lit lot.

Day 2: Garden District, Magazine Street and Mid-City

Morning: The St. Charles streetcar

Catch the St. Charles streetcar at Canal Street and ride uptown beneath the live oaks. Get off around Washington Avenue for the Garden District, a neighborhood of 19th-century mansions built by Americans who arrived after the Louisiana Purchase. Walk the leafy blocks around Prytania Street, First Street and Coliseum Street. The houses are private homes, so admire them from the sidewalk.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, with its above-ground tombs, has been closed for restoration in recent years. Check whether it has reopened, or visit another historic cemetery with a licensed guide.

Brunch: A New Orleans tradition

Weekend brunch is serious business here, sometimes with a jazz trio. Commander’s Palace, the turquoise landmark at the edge of the Garden District, is the famous splurge, with a dress code and reservations essential. Plenty of neighborhood spots serve excellent shrimp and grits, grillades and biscuits for much less.

Afternoon: Magazine Street

Walk or ride along Magazine Street, six miles of independent boutiques, vintage shops, galleries, coffee shops and snowball stands in summer. It is a good place to buy something that was not made for tourists.

Late afternoon: City Park or the Bywater

Choose one:

• City Park and the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in Mid-City, with ancient live oaks, the New Orleans Museum of Art and a free sculpture garden. Ride the Canal Street streetcar toward City Park.
• The Bywater and Crescent Park, downriver from the Marigny, a colorful neighborhood of shotgun houses and murals, with a riverside park for sunset over the Mississippi.

Evening: Dinner and a final show

Make your last dinner something you cannot get at home: gumbo, crawfish étouffée in season, or barbecued shrimp, which in New Orleans means shrimp cooked in a peppery butter sauce, not on a grill. Then catch one more set of music. If it is a Sunday, look for a second line, a neighborhood parade led by a brass band and organized by social aid and pleasure clubs, which happens most Sundays outside the summer months.

If you have a Monday

Monday is red beans and rice day in New Orleans, a tradition from the days when Monday was laundry day and a pot of beans could simmer all day. Many restaurants serve it only on Mondays. Pair it with a morning visit to the Mississippi riverfront or a swamp tour outside the city. See our New Orleans food guide for 25 dishes worth tracking down.

Getting in from the airport

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is in Kenner, about 15 miles west of downtown. A taxi or rideshare to the French Quarter typically takes 25 to 40 minutes depending on traffic, and taxis charge a flat rate to the downtown area. The RTA’s Airport Express bus is a much cheaper option if you are traveling light. Some hotels also offer shuttles.

Festival calendar at a glance

New Orleans with kids

New Orleans is more family-friendly than its party reputation suggests. Kids love the streetcars, beignets, street performers in Jackson Square, the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium near the riverfront, the Audubon Zoo uptown, and City Park’s Storyland and carousel. The daytime French Quarter is fine with children. Just avoid Bourbon Street in the evening.

Day trips from New Orleans

• Swamp tours: boat tours through the bayous south and west of the city, with alligators, herons and cypress trees draped in Spanish moss.
• Whitney Plantation: about an hour upriver, a museum focused on the lives of enslaved people. It is a sobering, essential visit for understanding the region’s history.
• Cajun Country: Lafayette and the surrounding towns, about two hours west, for zydeco music, boudin and crawfish.
• The Gulf Coast: Mississippi’s beaches are about an hour east.

What a weekend costs

Prices jump sharply during Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Essence Fest and big football weekends.

A note on New Orleans culture

New Orleans is not a theme park built for visitors. It is a living city with traditions that belong to the people who keep them going. Brass bands and second lines are organized by neighborhood clubs. Mardi Gras Indians, also called Black Masking Indians, spend all year sewing elaborate beaded suits for a few days of appearances. Jazz grew here from the music of Black New Orleanians in the early 20th century. Approach these traditions with curiosity and respect: watch, listen, support the musicians and artists directly, and ask before taking close-up photos of people. You will be welcomed warmly, because hospitality is one of the city’s oldest traditions too.

Safety and etiquette

• Stick to busy, well-lit streets at night and use rideshares for longer late-night trips.
• Keep phones and wallets secure in crowds, especially on Bourbon Street.
• Open containers are allowed in the Quarter, but only in plastic cups, never glass.
• Tip musicians who play for tips. That is how many of them earn a living.
• Do not climb on or touch tombs in historic cemeteries.
• Stay hydrated in the heat. Summer humidity is no joke.
• During hurricane season, check forecasts and know your hotel’s policies.

What to skip (or do differently)

• Bourbon Street at its rowdiest: see it once, briefly, for the spectacle. Then go to Frenchmen Street for the music.
• Cheap swamp tours far from the city that pick you up at 6 a.m. If you want a swamp tour, choose a well-reviewed operator with naturalist guides.
• Driving: parking is a hassle, and the streetcar is half the fun.

Frequently asked questions