My New Orleans Travel Guide

With the big Mardi Gras weekend fast approaching (starting tonight there will be parades every day until Tuesday), many people will be making there way down here to New Orleans for the first time. I actually received an email yesterday asking about tips on where to go and what to see here, and it’s not the first time I’ve received that kind of request. So, I thought I’d put together a post about some of my favorite places to see and things to do around NOLA. (Want tips on celebrating Mardi Gras the local’s way? Check out Miss Mischief’s Locals Guide to Mardi Gras.)

Just yesterday I listened to a cool audio walking tour made by a company called Audissey Guides. They’ve made these iPod tours for a few major U.S. cities so far, and New Orleans is one of them. What’s really cool about it is that it features a New Orleans native as your tour guide, and it walks you through a 1 hour, 1 mile tour of the French Quarter and Marigny neighborhoods. He actually mentions a lot of my favorite spots and must-see off the beaten track locations, including Lower Decatur Street and Fifi Mahony’s. You can download the audio tour MP3 here for only $10. ($1 of each tour is donated to the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, which provides health care to local musicians.)

Now, on to some of my favorite NOLA spots:

(updated as of January 2010 to reflect changes to the best of my knowledge)

Shopping:

Fifi Mahony’s – 934 Royal Street- mentioned above, this is one of my favorite stores in New Orleans. Amazing wigs and makeup selection, not to mention a fabulous staff. Things get crazy there around Mardi Gras and Halloween, but they usually have extended hours during this time of year and it’s definitely worth a visit.

Trashy Diva – 829 & 831 Chartres Street & 2048 Magazine Street – This has been my favorite store for years. Candice designs gorgeous 1930s & 40s inspired dresses, blouses and skirts. They have a killer selection of jewelry and accessories, not to mention the lingerie store, which stocks the biggest selection of real, steel-boned corsets in the Southeast. (In the interest of full disclosure, I worked here for a couple of years, but before that and since then, Trashy Diva remains one of my favorite stores, period.)

Magazine Metals & Unique Products – 2038 Magazine Street – located on the same block of Magazine Street as Trashy Diva, check out Unique Products & Magazine Metals for a great mix of handmade jewelry and art by local artists.  My fellow New Orleans Craft Mafia members Heather Macfarlane and Mark Kirk of Unique Products make amazing housewares including lights made from old Mardi Gras beads or detergent bottles. While you’re on this block, also be sure to check Branch Out for eco-friendly fashions for men & women.

Magazine Street – Washington Ave. to Louisiana Ave. – there are just too many great shops and restaurants on this stretch of Magazine Street to name them all individually. The thing about Magazine Street is it’s looongg, and the sections of great shopping are separated by blocks of residential housing and other stuff that might not be super interesting to non-locals (although there are plenty of beautiful buildings in these stretches). The area between Washington Avenue & Louisiana Avenue is one of the best areas on Magazine Street for shopping and dining. Check out Belladonna for great day spa services and housewares, Sputnik Ranch has super cool retro Western gear (as of January 2010 Sputnik Ranch is now online only, and Storyville now resides in the same building), Shoe-nami is packed full of fun and affordable shoes, Bootsy’s Funrock’n is full of fun & kitschy gifts and Funky Monkey is a great locally owned used clothing exchange. A little further down you’ve got American Apparel and Buffalo Exchange, but check out Slim Goodie’s next door for greasy diner food perfect for curing hangovers. If you’ve done all of that and you still haven’t got your fix of Magazine Street shopping, head further uptown and check out the area between Jefferson & Nashville Avenues. There are more great little boutiques as well our Whole Foods Market.

Oak Street – take the St. Charles Street car past the riverbend area up to Oak Street for a truly local experience of New Orleans. Check out Skip N’ Whistle at 8123 Oak Street for gear for both men & women or head to Fleurty Girl (8611 Oak Street) for NOLA inspired tshirts.

Dining:

Bennachin – 1212 Royal Street – yummy West African soul food. The service can be really slow, and they don’t have their own liquor license, so I recommend grabbing a bottle of wine from Verti Marte across the street and then settling in. The food is soo worth the wait though.

Cafe Du Monde – if you’ve never been to New Orleans before, this is a total must. You MUST get cafe au lait & beignets from Cafe Du Monde. Accept no substitutions. If you come in the summer, I highly recommend the frozen cafe au lait.

Juan’s Flying Burrito – 2018 Magazine Street & 4724 S Carrollton Ave – remember how I sent you to Magazine Street for shopping at Trashy Diva, Winky’s & Metro Three? Well there’s one more thing you need to check out on that block for the true NOLA local’s experience. Juan’s is Tex-Mex with some New Orleans flair. Their margaritas will knock you on your ass, but this is good food at really affordable prices. Seriously, I don’t know a local who doesn’t love Juan’s.

La Divina Gelataria – With locations uptown and in the French Quarter (right off of Jackson Square), La Divina is absolutely DIVINE. They’ve got great sandwiches and a lunch menu, but go for their out of this world gelato and sorbet, made with the freshest, and sometimes strangest, ingredients.

Plum Street Snoball – corner of Plum & Burdette Streets, uptown – I’m obsessed. If you’ve never had a New Orleans style snoball, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. The orchid cream vanilla flavor is a light and sweet delicious treat in the summer.

To do:

St. Charles Streetcar – this was out of commission for quite awhile after Hurricane Katrina, but they’ve recently got it back up and running. It’s currently running from the Riverbend area down to the French Quarter and back, and it will take you past all of the historic homes, Tulane & Loyola Universities and Audobon Park. It’s only $1.25 to ride in each direction. As a tourist, please be considerate and try to have your fare ready ahead of time, as many people do use the streetcar as a method of transportation to and from work.

Audobon Zoo and the Aquarium of the Americas – as an animal lover, these are two of my favorite big New Orleans attractions. If you’re coming with kids, I definitely recommend these.

Louisiana State Museum – again, in the interest of full disclosure, I work here. That said, this place is pretty amazing. Head to Jackson Square and face St. Louis Cathedral. See those buildings on either side? The one on the left is the Cabildo – it houses exhibits about the history of Lousiana. This is where the Louisiana Purchase was signed! That building on the right is the Presbytere. It hosts a really cool exhibit about the history of Mardi Gras, and hopefully in the fall of 2010 the new exhibit about hurricanes and Hurricane Katrina will be opening. There’s also the Old U.S. Mint, at the end of Esplanade Avenue, right by the river. This building plays host to all sorts of cool exhibits and a new jazz exhibit is in the works.

D-Day Museum – this fabulous museum has now been deemed the National WWII Museum, so it has some great exhibits about many areas of WWII history. The exhibits on the war in the Pacific are some of my favorites.

MissMischief pointed out that I should let all you crafters and costumers also know about our favorite hometown spot on the Mississippi Gulf Coast: Josette’s. This costume shop in Biloxi is HUGE and they have an amazing selection of outrageous fabrics and trims as well. Just writing about it has me thinking about how I really need to make a trip back home to go shopping for sparkly trims & notions soon.

Want more info about New Orleans? Check out my other posts about all things NOLA, see StayLocal.org for a list of locally owned New Orleans businesses, or contact me with specific questions!

(If I missed any of your favorite places in and around New Orleans, be sure to post them in the comments to let others know!)

Be sure to also check out Design*Sponge’s New Orleans Design Guide for more tips. The author of that guide has different taste than mine and offers up some great suggestions that are different than what I came up with!

Tagged as: New Orleans