How to Spend 3 Days in New Orleans

PRACTICAL WANDERLUST

Beignets. Jazz music. Festivals. Ghosts. Gumbo. New Orleans is famous for about a zillion things, and all of them are well worth taking a trip to the Big Easy!

3 days is just enough to get a taste of New Orleans. It’s enough time to eat plenty of Creole food, befriend some ghosts, learn about the fascinating, complex history and culture, and explore New Orleans’ most beautiful neighborhoods.

Beignets at Cafe Du Monde

Late night is the best time of day to visit Cafe Du Monde’s most popular location without any lines, and trust us – the pillowy, sugar-topped beignets will help you stay awake.

Tour a Plantation

Learn about Lousiana’s dark and complex history by visiting a plantation that’s been transformed into a slavery memorial. It’s an emotional tour, but incredibly impactful and important.

Dinner at Gris-Gris

A fried oyster Po-Boy at Gris Gris, one of the best things we ate during our 3 days in New Orleans!

Visit the French Market

There’s delicious food, every manner of souvenir – this is the BEST spot to shop for edible souvenirs like hot sauce, spices, and beignet mix – and a huge selection of wares handmade by local artists and craftspeople.

Take a Ghost Tour

This is the LaLaurie house, the most haunted house in New Orleans. Its story is so creepy and horrifying that I won’t repeat it here… but let’s just say that this photo was the closest I was willing to get.

Take a Food Tour

Food tours are the most efficient way to combine sight-seeing, eating as much as possible, and learning a bunch of interesting stuff, and we try to take one everywhere we go.

Walk the French Quarter

The French Quarter is filled with shops, restaurants, bars, and live jazz music! You'll have fun exploring during and after hours too.

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