Most three-day New Orleans itineraries are really one-day itineraries repeated three times, because they never leave the French Quarter. The Quarter is worth a day. It is not worth three, and the city that people fall in love with is mostly somewhere else: the oaks on St. Charles, City Park at the top of the streetcar line, Treme.
This plan gives the Quarter its day and then goes. You can read the whole thing free, no account.
Day 1: the war museum, then the Quarter
- The National WWII Museum, four hours. It is the best museum in the city and it is not close, so it goes first while you still have the energy for it. Fifteen minutes by car from the Quarter afterwards.
- St. Louis Cathedral, forty-five minutes. The triple spires are the city's skyline image.
- Jackson Square, one minute's walk. About an hour among the artists and performers.
- Cafe du Monde at the French Market, four minutes on. Forty-five minutes. Beignets, café au lait, powdered sugar on everything you own.
- The French Market, ninety minutes to finish.
Four of those five are within a few minutes of each other, which is what makes the Quarter easy and also why people never leave it.
Day 2: uptown, the streetcar and the Garden District
- Audubon Park, ninety minutes under the live oaks.
- St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, ninety minutes. This is a stop, not a transfer. The oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, rolling past the mansions, and riding it end to end is the point rather than the means.
- Commander's Palace, two hours. Brunch, jackets, the whole institution. Book it well ahead, and check the current dress code before you go.
- Garden District, two minutes' walk. Two hours of nineteenth-century houses and Lafayette Cemetery from the outside.
- Contemporary Arts Center, fifteen minutes by car. Seventy-five minutes. Closed Tuesdays.
Day 3: City Park and Treme
- New Orleans City Park, three hours. Larger than Central Park, with live oaks that predate the city having a name anyone would recognise.
- Hurricane Katrina Memorial, nineteen minutes by car. Half an hour, and it deserves the quiet.
- Besthoff Sculpture Garden, back in City Park. About an hour.
- New Orleans Museum of Art, one minute's walk. Two hours. Closed Mondays.
- Treme, seventeen minutes by car. Ninety minutes in the oldest Black neighbourhood in America and the ground jazz actually came from.
Which day to run first
Two closures on consecutive weekdays, and they catch the two arrival days you would least expect:
| You arrive | Run them | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 1, 2, 3 | nothing collides |
| Monday | 1, 3, 2 | day 2 would land on Tuesday and the arts centre shuts |
| Tuesday | 1, 2, 3 | nothing collides, day 2 lands on Wednesday |
| Wednesday | 1, 2, 3 | nothing collides |
| Thursday | 1, 2, 3 | nothing collides |
| Friday | 1, 2, 3 | nothing collides |
| Saturday | 1, 3, 2 | City Park would land on Monday and NOMA shuts |
Five of seven are fine as written, and both exceptions take the same fix: 1, 3, 2.
The counterintuitive part is that arriving on a Tuesday is not a problem here, even though something is closed on Tuesdays. Day 1 has no closures at all, so a Tuesday arrival pushes the arts centre to Wednesday on its own.
Getting around
This is not a walking city outside the Quarter. Days 2 and 3 use a car or rideshare for the longer moves, and the streetcar for the pretty ones. Tap a contactless card or the app for streetcar rides and transfers are free within ninety minutes. Carry a small amount of cash for the smaller vendors, though most restaurants take cards.
Two stops in this plan need booking before you arrive, Commander's Palace being the obvious one.
If you have a fourth day
In our four-day plan the extra day leaves the city entirely for Oak Alley Plantation up the river: one stop, one whole day. That is not a quirk of New Orleans, it is what a fourth day does everywhere we have built plans. Here is what a fourth and fifth day actually buy you.
The rest of the city
45 vetted places in New Orleans sit behind this plan, with real coordinates, hours and travel times. Browse them all, or build the trip for your own dates.