48 Hours in New Orleans: Where We Stayed and How We Got Around

You'll take afternoon naps without a worry, you'll enjoy a good night's sleep. ~ Proverbs 3:24

We're in the home stretch. If you are just joining me for our 48 Hours in New Orleans, you should check out the first two blogs; What We Did and Where We Ate. This blog will tell you where we stayed and how we got around The Big Easy.

Where did we stay?

· VRBO ~ Any time we are going to be staying somewhere for more than a couple days, we look into VRBOs in the area. We like having a little more room to spread out and I like being in a local neighborhood instead of in a busy, tourist area. You do have to do some research to make sure you stay in a safe area but we haven’t been disappointed yet and our trip to New Orleans was no different. We found this adorable, 2nd floor apartment on Algiers Point. It was an older home so it had a lot of charm (if not a lot of bathroom space) and its location couldn’t have been better for our needs. This cute little place was about 2 blocks from the ferry so we could literally leave the house 5 minutes before the ferry was due to leave and make it with time to spare. We were also 2 blocks from Congregation Coffee Roasters and about 3 blocks from the Dry Dock Café and Travolino’s Pizza. If you are planning a trip to New Orleans, I highly recommend you check out Algiers Point and specifically, Tina’s cute, purple house. We will certainly try to book this place if we go back.

How did we get around?

Once we parked our car on Algiers Point, we didn’t get back in it until we were leaving New Orleans. Not needing to drive was a big part of our decision to stay on Algiers Point. New Orleans is a very walkable city so our plan was to use the Ferry, walk and use the streetcars.

· Algiers Point/Canal Street Ferry ~ The ferry leaves Algiers Point at the top and bottom of the hour and takes you to Canal Street which is basically the dividing line between the French Quarter and the Garden District. It is $2 per person and you must have exact change for your party. Once the ferry leaves, it only takes about 5-10 minutes before you are across the river. Once you’re ready to go back, the ferry leaves from Canal St at 15 after and 15 to the hour. This was such an easy way to get back and forth and was well worth the money since it was also a new experience.

· Streetcars ~ NOLA also has a great streetcar system to get you around the city. The day we spent strictly in the French Quarter, we just walked but the next day when we started in the Quarter and spent the afternoon in the Garden District, we used the streetcars. If you happen to follow our same itinerary and go from the French Market area to the Garden District, get on the streetcar at the Dumaine Station (at Decatur and Dumaine, turn left towards the river) and get off at the Bourbon St stop. Once there, cross the street and get on the St Charles street car at the Canal at Carondelet stop (across from the CVS), this is the end of the St Charles line so you should have an empty car to get on so you can sit down the whole way. If you are planning to go to Lafayette Cemetery #1, Commander’s Palace and/or to look at the mansions, I would recommend getting off at the Washington Ave stop. Once you get off the streetcar, turn left and walk down Washington Ave, about 1 block down you’ll see The Rink and Lafayette Cemetery #1. On the way back to The Quarter, I would try to get back on the streetcar as close to Washington Ave as possible because the trolley fills up pretty quickly and you may end up standing most of the way back to Bourbon St. For us, the streetcar ride wasn’t the lovely ride down St Charles Street I was hoping for because it was so packed due to French Quarter Fest. I think it is typically not so crowded and a much better experience.

· GoMobile ~ If you will be using the Ferry and/or the Streetcars, I highly recommend getting the GoMobile app on your phone. You can get your tickets ahead of time so you just have to scan your phone instead of paying cash and we were able to board the streetcar faster as they had a line for passes and a long line for cash. You are also able to get Integrated passes which allow you to board the ferry, streetcars, and buses as many times as you need to for the day. We used the Integrated 1-day pass our second day there since we knew we would use the ferry and board streetcars multiple times. The only thing to keep in mind with the mobile pass is that you have to go to the app and click that you are boarding within a few minutes of getting on the ferry/streetcar/bus. It did make it so easy and you can just buy everyone’s pass all together so you just have to scan 1 device, 1 time when boarding.

So there you have it! Our 48 hour, whirlwind trip to New Orleans. As I said, it wasn’t exactly the trip we had envisioned but it was still pretty great. The kids really enjoyed the experience and I think they are both ready to go back during a quieter time so they can fully enjoy (and snapchat) the architecture. I think they will need to book that trip once they’re older because Curt and I have been enough and want to explore new areas of the world. I hope you are able to visit New Orleans in the near future and further hope that sharing our experience will help you plan yours.

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, please share your favorite experience with us. Also, if you are planning a trip and have more questions, I would love to hear from you!