New Orleans before Mardi Gras

Had the pleasure if visiting New Orleans in February. The city was still buzzing from the Superbowl and getting ready for Mardi Gras and the weather was just perfect for walking around and sitting outside listening to the music! Grab a taxi from the airport as they are set fares into the city of $36 for one or two people you will pay more if there is more of you. We stayed on the edge of the French Quarter so just great for getting out and about to visit all the bars and restaurants of the French Quarter. Pop into the Legends Park to listen to bands and try the Beignet that New Orleans is famous for (make sure you grab plenty of napkins!!!). The bands change every hour or so which means you get a great selection of music to listen to over glass of something. But New Orleans is not just about the French Quarter. Taking the hop on hop off bus around the city shows that the Garden District is worth a visit for wandering and taking in the bars, individual shops and restaurants. The mansion houses were decorated ready for Mardi Gras…was like Christmas. We went down to Jackson Square and visited the New Orleans museum which gives a good overview of the history including how the hurricane Katrina affected them. There was a great section full of Mardi Gras costumes which were way more elaborate then I thought they were! We visited the most fantastic WW2 museum and I would recommend taking the time to visit there and have lunch in the restaurant afterwards - definitely worth a visit. Take the oldest streetcar journey down to the ferry port and take the ferry across to Algiers point for a visit. It is a quiet place with a couple of bars and shops as quite residential and good for dog walking, joggers and just peace and quiet and views of the New Orleans skyline. Use the normal streetcars down to the casino area of New Orleans. Seemed to have been modelled on Las Vegas with the Ceasars Palace casino open to all. You can get a pass from certain shops that gives you unlimited travel on the streetcars so worth if you plan to use them a lot, though they are only $1.25 per person per journey. We also sailed down the Mississippi on a Jazz cruise - that was such a great experience with the music playing floating along watching the skyline changing.

We were there for 4 nights and that was just about right in February as it was not too busy. Want to visit? Then get in touch with me.