ladylisa

Next week I will be holidaying with my UK girlfriends in New Orleans, we have a hotel booked in the French Quarter, to say I am excited to hang out with my buddies is the understatement of the year

My questions are these: having never visited 'the Big Easy' before I am looking for any advice on good things to see and do in and around the city. We will obviously be partaking in some of the immense nightlife so if you know a good bar/restaurant or two let me know. We would also like to take a steam boat down the Mississipi if you can recommend a good tour company. I am also keen to know about crime. I have already decided to leave my boulder of an engagement ring safely at home however I have heard and read that some areas of the city are dodgy to say the least. I have a guide book but there is nothing like someone who has been there. The weather I believe will be between 40 and 60 degrees which sounds bloody fantastic to me at the moment as I freeze to death in Wisconsin. Anyway before I pop can anyone who has visited said city give me any little pearls of wisdom.

Yosser

40 - 60 degs? thats what were getting in Texas and I'm still freezing me hairy plums off!

Got to give it to you northern nonces, -20 is just a tad on the "frigging unreal cold temp gauge".

Sarah

Hi Lisa,
I've been to New Orleans twice and its ACE! The french quarter is probably the best bit, it does stretch out into other areas, if you walk down Bourbon Street it does go all the way down and into a gay district and also a bit of a red light district with lots of 'gentlemens clubs' but even the trannies out on the street are alright, there isn't really a whiff of anything dodgy in the French Quarter mainly because there is always a big police presence ( well there was both times I went) and the police are far more approachable and friendly than your average US copper.
There will loads of ads and flyers in your hotel about swamp tours, and cruises down the mississippi. The first time I went I didn't bother going on anything as I was a bit suspect and thought they were a bit pricey but the second time I went on a swamp tour and it was excellent, well worth the money. It lasted two hours and saw loads of aligators and the like, you do need a car to get there though, some tour companies will run buses to pick you up but that bumps the price up. Another area to see is the Garden District where all the rich people live. New Orleans is quite a big example of the gap between rich and poor as one side of N.O is pretty rough and scary and the other is very very affluent, Anne Rice the famous N.O writer lives there and Elton John has a big house too. The garden district is pretty nice with lots of shops and you'll see some of the amazing cemeteries along the way aswell. Make sure you take a trolley back from the garden district to your hotel as its a fair walk and the trolleys are frequent and decently priced.
There is a good restaurant just off Bourbon Street called "The Gumbo Shop" which serves gorgeous cajun and creole food. Have a Po'boy sandwich or a Crawfish sandwich as they are gorgeous! One of the best bits I thought was that not only are the drinking laws really relaxed (you can walk down the main street sucking on a hurricane - a big N.O cocktail) but its the only place in America I've been to where if you forget your ID you don't need to run back to the hotel and pick up your 12 different types of ID to prove you're over 21 as you don't generally get asked for proof of age at all - YAY!
Erm..well thats all I can think of right now, I can go and have a look at some of the leaflets from my trip there that I've got lurking somewhere in my apartment if that'll help. Let me know. Hope I've been of help!
Sarah

NJ_Dave

I was in New Orleans last February and had a great laugh. The two restaurants I recommend are Bella Luna (reservations required) and Bacco. Both are quite expensive, but very high quality. As for bars, anywhere on Bourbon St. is a good laugh. Pat O'Briens and Tropical Isle are absolute musts, but I'd also recommend Bourbon St. Blues Company (which does 3 for the price of 1 drinks offers). I was also recommended to do a graveyard tour and a swamp tour, but did not get time to do these as I was on a tight schedule the weekend that I was there. But I do hope to go back there this summer and do some more of the touristy stuff (if I can drag myself away from the bars on Bourbon St.). One thing I did get around to was visiting the aquarium, which was pretty good fun. As for crime, I never saw any while I was down there. Plenty of weirdos hanging about, but it was Mardi Gras, which tends to bring them all out.

ladylisa

Sarah thats fab information. I'm glad you liked it there I cannot wait to go. I saw a bit of the french quater on a programme the other day and it looked so much fun and relaxed, however when mentioning it to my friend in England she said yes she had also seen a documentary about the rocketing crime and violence, her boyfriend decided to switch to another channel in the end...

ladylisa

[QUOTE=dbickle]I was in New Orleans last February and had a great laugh. The two restaurants I recommend are Bella Luna (reservations required) and Bacco. Both are quite expensive, but very high quality. As for bars, anywhere on Bourbon St. is a good laugh. Pat O'Briens and Tropical Isle are absolute musts, but I'd also recommend Bourbon St. Blues Company (which does 3 for the price of 1 drinks offers).

Restaurants and bars noted

grapefruit&milk

Hi Lisa and y'all--

I'm an American newly posting to this forum after reading it for several months. I enjoy reading the perspectives of Brits in America--just as I enjoyed hearing from friends about their time living in the UK.

Aside from some short time in Germany and Mexico, I've lived in the northern states all my life but moved to New Orleans four months ago for a job. It's a great place to vacation, that's for sure, and I enjoy hosting friends when they come down to visit. One friend remarked that the city ends up seeming like the world's biggest unintentional resort city--that's a fair description I'd say!

I can't think of any other city in the world that has such distinctive cultural elements, and (due to the relentless tourism machine) many others agree. I'm still charmed by the city after four months of living here--it's possible I'm still in the honeymoon period though I know certain aspects (food especially) are unlikely to wear thin any time soon.

Lisa, coming from Wisconsin you're likely to welcome the weather! It's cold here right now at a bone-chilling 50F, not enough to make the Spanish moss brittle but enough to get locals complaining about the cold and for them to worry about pipes freezing... Two weeks ago I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but the odd warm spell is over and now we have North American bitter winter cold. Still, you'll enjoy the warmth and the fact that the city remains very very green even in the dead of winter.

French Quarter doesn't get old to me...most tourists just enjoy rowdy Bourbon Street though the locals unsurprisingly won't step foot on it--they prefer the rest of the Quarter. But Bourbon is good for people-watching, even if you aren't into the widespread hedonism on display! During Halloween the weather here was in the mid 80s and let's just say people's costumes didn't leave much to the imagination...

The fine politicos of the untarnished alabaster fortress that is Louisiana state government are helping to make sure the city remains a criminals' den. Apparently crime has been on the decrease here lately (as it has in essentially all American cities) but the decrease has been much slighter than elsewhere and the base levels of crime have always been so much higher. The city has a dubious top ten distinction in most crime scores. But you're not likely to wander into the bad areas (mostly housing projects) or you're likely to know when you're in a bad one because it'll look bad. Most violent crime in New Orleans is gang-related--crime against tourists is very uncommon and generally just involves pickpocketing, and German tourists for some reason are targeted the most!...are you a blonde?

Other restaurants you should check out are indeed the Gumbo shop for a lower-cost option. Far more upscale but worth the money are Muriels, Palace Cafe, and Bayona. Port of Call has hamburgers that make them seem like haute cuisine. And don't forget the beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde, open all night long. Also be sure to go to Preservation Hall for good cheap New Orleans jazz in an intimate setting.

Other nice sites outside of the French Quarter are the Marigny neighborhood (to the east of the Quarter and less touristy but many good restaurants and live music), the Garden District mentioned before, Autobon Park, the D-Day Museum, the Art Museum's scuplture garden, and the restaurants and stores in Uptown, around Tulane campus.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions! I'm happy to help people out to maximize their fun in a city that certainly knows how to let the good times roll...

cindyabs

Cafe du monde mai oui!! Also a place called Mama's or Momma's for breakfast southern style. Tujaques (sp?) for some excellent gumbo-it'll warm the cockles of your heart, it's the oldest restaurant in N'awlins (as the locals pronounce it). A good bar-the Red Door. We had a fantastic dinner at the Pelican. In fact come to think of it, everything was fantastic there foodwise.

ladylisa

Thanks for all the great recommendations everyone. I will make sure I try and look as many of them up as I can.