WonderLost
2 Days in New Orleans
„It feels like you`re outside the United States, right?” is what another tourist says to me.
He is so right!
New Orleans takes you to another place, to another world and away from where you are.
New Orleans wasn´t on my bucket list before I came to the United States, but so weren’t other cities and so far, I LOVED THEM ALL.
I decided with a friend together to go to New Orleans as a weekend trip and we ended up going in December 2023.
New Orleans is a city in Louisiana at the Mississippi and has a humid, subtropical climate and therefore usually enjoyable temperatures in December.
Where we stayed
We arrived at a Friday night, after we both flew out of our home base right after we finished our daily work as Au Pairs. We reunited at the airport in New Orleans and took an Uber to our Hostel.
We stayed at the HI Hostel in New Orleans, which is located on Canal Street in the Central Business District. It’s pretty easy to get around from there since you’re in the center of all tourist attractions.
Hostelling International is a non-profit organization with more than 2.650 Hostels around the world. HI provides a safe stay, clean rooms and many opportunities to connect with people from other countries.
Day one
On Saturday, we started with breakfast at the Hostel, since it’s included in your stay.
We had booked the Hop on Hop off Bus tour for that day in advance, since it’s a great way to explore and see cities when you don’t have a lot of time. The map of the bus tour was also our guide to decide in which order we are going to see all the attractions. Since the Hostel was close to one stop on the Canal Street and the stop at one of the famous cemeteries, we decided to walk to the St. Louis Cemetery No1. The entry to the cemetery is only possible with a guided tour, which costs $25.
We decided to not do the tour, but that’s totally up to yourself, if you want to do it or not. We then grabbed a Coffee at Backatown Coffee Parlour and hopped on the bus.
At the Central Business District, we decided to get off the bus and walk around for a little bit.
The next bus came 30 minutes later and we drove to the Garden District. The Garden District is a very cute district. You can go window shopping, have some food in “artsy” restaurants and walk around the neighborhood to see the beautiful architecture.
Our last planned stop for Saturday was the Art District. We were a little disappointed in the Art District, since we expected some street painting and more architecture. But that’s the point with expectations while you travel. It’s never how you think it will be. It’s either more beautiful or not at all what you expected – and that’s okay. The Art District has a lot of Art galleries you can visit, but we weren’t really interested that day. So, we took the next bus to the French Quarter and walked around the French Market. This market is very touristic, but they have a lot of local art and food soled there.
On the way to the next bus stop, we walked through the Frenchmen Street. If you don’t like the smell of Cannabis and being around clubs and bars, you better avoid the Frenchmen Street. But this street is part of New Orleans and its history, as well as culture.
New Orleans is a city, that is alive day and night.
We took the last bus, after we waited in the heat for a very long time, to the Louis Armstrong Park and enjoyed the golden hour there.
Saturday night was the most challenging part of our whole trip.
First challenge – We were searching for restaurants that had healthy and vegetarian food.
Second challenge – We needed to find a restaurant where people under twenty-one were allowed.
Believe it or not, we ended up eating at the Hard Rock Café on Bourbon Street. Not our first choice, but the best we could find after a long and hot day.
Meanwhile, it got dark outside and we walked down the lively, loud and colorful Bourbon Street to get ice cream at Sweet Saint.
It wasn’t too late when we got back to the Hostel, so we decided to play some board games and get a good night sleep for our last day in New Orleans.
Day two
Sunday was the opposite of Saturday. It was windy, gray and cold. But it was kind of cool to see the city in both ways. We walked down the Royal Street, stopped in a few shops and just enjoyed the city. After walking on the Royal Street for a while, we reached the LaBranche House. I’m sure you have seen photographs of this beautiful building before. We were standing on the opposite site of the street for a while to get a chance to take a picture without other people on it.
Shortly after getting to the LaBracnhe House, we made it to the St Louis Cathedral. If you’re on Royal Street, you will see the back of the Cathedral. We walked around to see the church from the front and to walk through the Lafayette Park in front of it. You can take pictures of just the church, or from the higher platform on the other side of the street to see the perfect alignment of the park, the Andrew Jackson statue and the cathedral.
Now you just have to turn around to see the Mississippi. And you’re right next to Café du Monde. The line to get a seat at Café du Monde is usually pretty long, which is why we decided to wait at the take-out line. We shared the famous Beignets and it’s totally worth it to try them!
Our trip slowly came to an end and we decided to stop at another Café to warm up, before we walked up the Bourbon Street back to Canal Street.
As we reached the Canal Street we turned to the left and walked to the mall and crossed the street to walk the way back. We grabbed lunch at Breads On Oak, which is a vegan bakery and had a great lunch. The food was very delicious and it was a perfect ending to our trip to New Orleans.
