taffie77

I think we're about 99% decided to go to New Orleans for Christmas. It'll be fun to see the other end of the Mississippi Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations, and of course I would be interested to hear about any particular experience of Christmas. Thanks

sir_eccles

Green Goddess? Commanders Palace would probably be amazing but you might need to have made your reservation last year! I would say a reservation would be essential wherever you go.

Middlemore

I was there last Christmas while working on a cruise ship.
From what I remember its a town in two halves.
The tourist area is great, go ride the tram, or a horse-drawn buggy, go see the cathedral, etc.

But there is also a more sinister side, I went to walmart and when I left, the cop in the parking lot called a cab for me, he say there was no way I should be walking around that part of town.
About 11am as I recall.
And when I think about it, I don't recall any other walmart having a resident cop in the parking lot.

Stay in the French Quarter, and stay north of hwy-90

tinaflorida

Sounds like you were in the Lower Garden District Wal-Mart. Yeah, that's not such a good area. However, you can venture away from the Quarter and still be very safe. Anywhere along St. Charles Ave and Magazine Street is fine. A lot of the mansions along St. Charles are beautifully decorated for Christmas.

New Orleans is beautiful at Christmas, there's so much to see, both in the Quarter and elsewhere.

Check out this link, they have a lot of events and info listed.
http://issuu.com/neworleansonline/do...ode=doublePage

I highly recommend Christmas at the Oaks, you can take a red street car to City Park, or if you don't want to walk it's a short cab ride away.

taffie77

Thanks for the responses. We've still not booked anything, but there still seems to be plenty of accommodation availability.
I doubt we'll have much time to venture further than the French Quarter, there seems to be so much to do. I've had a look at those restaurants sir_eccles and both look great, but I've yet to check availability. We'd definitely make reservations for Christmas Day, and probably the other evenings too.
Last year we went to Vegas, and talked about going again but we're planning on going for the Rugby 7s in February instead....

kirstyp

I loved New Orleans!

When I was there last year we went to a restaurant called The Gumbo Shop http://www.gumboshop.com/ - would highly recommend! We also stayed at the Best Western on North Rampart which was nice and a good walking distance from the French Quarter and felt safe, having said that we were told for safety to stay out of the park opposite the hotel after dark.

The ghost and vampire tours are pretty fun too if you're into that sort of thing!

Have fun!

jemima55

We, too, were warned not to wander about out of the tourist area, even distances that we thought of as easily walkable. Some very dodgy, and decent areas are side by side and its not always easy to tell when you've crossed from one to the other.
That said, the Garden District is beautiful, and also the "shotgun houses" are really pretty. I recommend taking taxis or hiring a car if going any distance.
The New Orleans Art gallery was worth a visit.

The Horticulturalist

The best meal Ive ever eaten - anywhere- was in Bayona which is a lovely little restaurant in the Quarter. Everything about it was fabulous, the restaurant, the servers and the food, oh my! http://www.bayona.com/

We went for the lunch option there which was a little cheaper, but after we'd eaten there and discovered how fabulous it was we decided to go back the next day for dinner, but it was Sunday and it was closed

jemima55

Our best meal was at Cafe Degas on Esplanade Ave! Bit out of the centre, though.

Jaxbar

I'm going for New Year and was there in October we live 200 miles away so go quite a lot. Last time I planned it really well and did lots of things that including in and out of the French Quarter.
some suggestions

Pat O Briens for a Hurricane
House of Blues
The Maple Leaf to see the Rebirth Brass Band a $20.00 cab fare but worth it.
Nola (Emerils) restaurant expensive but good.
A movie tour that was awesome, there are tons of movies being made at any one time in New Orleans
Cafe du Monde for the beignets
The French Market
The Clover Grill for breakfast and an experience.
At New Year I plan to go to Frenchmen street to catch some jazz while DH goes to the Saints Game, have got into Treme (HBO series) which is a good education fro all things New Orleans.

Just look up things to do in New Orleans on Tripadvisor and follow other peoples advice .

Oh and Drury Inn in Business district is cheap with free alcoholic drinks nightly, breakfast and evening buffet.

taffie77

Oooo, lots of lovely advice thank you

I'm looking at these guest houses, probably the one on St Ann (looks like it used to be A Creole House Hotel) - http://www.frenchquarterguesthouses.com/stpeter-en.html
It looks like we could walk to a few places there, including the Gumbo place that Kirsty recommends. It's also conveniently close to the Voodoo Temple

BL - I didn't know that you could see things to do on Trip Advisor. I occasionally look at hotels there, but take everything with a hefty pinch of salt

I'd like to visit a plantation and/or do a trolley tour. Does anyone recommend any of the following?
http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/welcome.html
http://www.graylineneworleans.com/

sir_eccles

Seconded.

Coops does awesome jumbalaya.

Biscuit Palace is a nice place to stay, but it is close to Bourbon.

sir_eccles

A friend of mine just posted this on her facebook:

http://nola.eater.com/archives/2012/...-dive-bars.php

I think I've only been to two (Abbey and Saint) though it's possible I've been to more without knowing/remembering.

The Horticulturalist

We went to Laura plantation, Oak Alley is nice too.
Try vrbo.com for self catering apartments and houses, I always ask what their best price inclusive of taxes and fees are and usually get it for less than is advertised, but that's usually for non-peak times.

tinaflorida

Sorry it's taken a bit for me to respond to this thread, been a bit busy!

I highly recommend this! I've had a couple of rough days at work because I stayed out too late at the Maple Leaf watching Rebirth.
Make an evening of it and eat at Jacques'imos next door before you hit the Maple Leaf. There are a bunch of other fun shops on Oak St. as well, but most of them close at 6pm. Oak St. is a very cool, funky little area.

If you want to continue the party before you leave the Oak St./Carrollton area, check out Cooter Browns, a few blocks south on Carrollton after St Charles. Or you could try Snake & Jake's, one of the bars in sir_eccles' link:
http://nola.eater.com/archives/2012/...-dive-bars.php

I also love Frenchmen St. The Spotted Cat has no cover before 8pm, might be worth checking out. Also, Snug Harbor has a cover for their blues club, but you can eat dinner in their restaurant and listen to their live music over the PA while you eat. GREAT burgers and jacket potatoes, and try a Monsoon!