Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one MASSIVE party! Fashion rules go out the window, alcohol can be carried openly down Bourbon Street, incredibly talented musicians serenade every corner, and women decide that shiny plastic beads are worth going topless for. There are multiple ways to “do” Mardi Gras, and I spent hours carefully planning to make sure that we safely got to experience everything New Orleans had to offer! Save yourself some time and use this itinerary as a template for your own trip!
If Mardi Gras in the middle of winter isn’t your thing, try somewhere warmer with “5 Amazing Days in Sunny Miami, FL“.
Wednesday – Travel Tips and Hotel Review
I worked Tuesday night going into Wednesday, our travel day, so we slept during the day before flying out of St. Louis around 7 pm! This is one of my best planning tips for vacationing as a travel nurse (click here for that article!). We both snagged window seats on our Southwest flight to nap before arriving in New Orleans around 10 pm! After a 20-minute Uber into the city and dropping off our bags at the hotel, we found some Willie’s Chicken for dinner (more on that gem later) and tucked into bed.
Our hotel: Maison Dupuy
We chose this hotel because it is located in the historic French Quarter, close to both Bourbon St (the party street) and Canal St (the main parade route). Our room was definitely “historic,” maybe even slightly dated, but it was spotlessly clean, and the bed was very comfortable! The bathroom was small but clean, and the shower was average with good water pressure. Housekeeping services and the concierge were friendly and happy to help with anything we needed. They have a small room with drinks, snacks, and basic necessities for purchase. For my full review on TripAdvisor, click here.
We pre-booked online via Expedia in December, which gave us the option to pay for the entire hotel cost at check-in. We’ve utilized the book-now-pay-later function multiple times for long trips when our accommodations need to be booked far earlier than we can afford. Free cancellation is usually offered up to 2 weeks prior to your check-in date! However, use this option with caution: you need to be able to swipe a credit card at check-in for the entire total of your stay! Our hotel was $170 for the first couple nights we were there, but it jumped to $404 per night once Mardi Gras weekend hit. Be prepared to spend around $500/night if you want to stay in the French Quarter during the peak season. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is serious business, so be prepared to spend more on your accommodations.
Thursday – New Orleans African American Museum
Fair warning, we slept in EVERY day and napped EVERY afternoon! As night-shifters, we looked forward to all the sleep we were going to get during this trip. No shame whatsoever.
After sleeping in, we walked to the river and enjoyed brunch at Cafe Beignet on Decatur Street. There are multiple locations in New Orleans, but ours had breezy open-air seating in a beautiful old building! The food was great, and the view was fabulous. We didn’t have to wait in line at all, easily snagging seats by the windows.
We were determined to walk anywhere that was less than 30 mins away, so we set off with drinks in hand to find the New Orleans African American Museum. Located in Tremé, the oldest African-American neighborhood in America, the museum aims to “preserve the history and elevate the art, culture, and contributions of African Americans in New Orleans” (noaam.org). We spent over an hour here looking through preserved historical photographs, walking through their interactive exhibits, playing jazz on a turntable, and watching an excellent documentary on segregation and the fight for freedom in New Orleans. We would highly recommend going to the Tremé neighborhood to visit this museum!
We found some fantastic BBQ at Pig Out Nola on Toulouse St near our hotel, and their pulled pork cheese fries were to die for! We actually went back again at the end of our trip too!
Friday – Creole Cooking Class and Frenchmen St Pub Crawl
Today we decided to switch it up a bit and cook our own lunch! The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is home to Deelightful Roux School of Cooking, and we had a blast learning to make an authentic Creole meal! Chef Dee and her sous-chef Candy are New Orleans natives and kept us laughing as they taught us to make jambalaya, smothered okra, and bananas foster. I had never made shrimp before, so learning to prep and cook them was a step outside my comfort zone. Chefs Dee and Candy were patient with our inexperience, encouraged us to try our best, and provided a beautiful table for our group to enjoy our meal. There were two other guests in our group, which left plenty of tasks for everyone. Whether you’re an experienced cook or a microwave aficionado, you can learn and participate in the class! Chef Candy even took pictures for us, attached in the slideshow below!
After trekking back to the hotel and taking a (long) nap, we met tour guide Pandi on Frenchmen St for a pub crawl. She led our group through music clubs and cocktail bars to enjoy the incredible talent that graces the historic street every night! The Airbnb Experiences tour included a beverage, a shot, and a glimpse into the real musical culture of New Orleans. For only $40 per person for three hours, I thought this was a steal! We danced the night away with new friends from all over the world, including multiple people from the UK. Highly recommend this tour!
Saturday – Airboat Adventures Bayou Tour and Van Gogh
This was the coldest day of our trip (40 degrees), and we had an outdoor bayou tour planned. We bundled up as best we could and took a 45 min bus ride out to the bayou! We prebooked tickets the week prior on the Airboat Adventures website and chose the “large airboat” option. There were multiple other options, including a smaller airboat and a huge ferry-style boat, but we were happy with the option we chose! For $60/person, we shared an airboat with 15-20 other people but felt like we still had plenty of space. Our boat went FAST once we pulled away from the dock; definitely an adventure tour! We were lucky to see one large gator, a turtle darting into the water, and a bald eagle with her babies in a nest high in the trees. Our recommendation: go on a warm day! Unless the boat stopped to admire the scenery and in the sunlight, the wind in our faces was very cold! Also, according to Airboat Adventure’s website, “alligators are tough to find when temps drop below 70 degrees, no matter what time of year, but they can be found throughout the winter on warmer days.”
Although you can attend in multiple large cities across the country, we chose to spend our free evening visiting New Orlean’s Van Gogh Experience. Renderings of Van Gogh’s most popular paintings were displayed, and the exhibit was very museum-like until we reached the end. An immersive experience awaits at the end of the Van Gogh exhibit in each city, and this one was very relaxing! I attached some pictures below to show you how the walls change constantly, over a loop of about an hour. This is an easy photo opportunity with plenty of space for kids to (quietly) burn off some energy!
We got stuck by a parade on the way back to Bourbon Street from the Van Gogh Experience, and we couldn’t get back into the French Quarter for over two hours! We couldn’t squeeze through the crowds to get close enough to catch throws, so we went to The Roosevelt Hotel Bar to kill time. The parades are gorgeous and extravagant, but you definitely want to plan accordingly before you go to one. For fantastic tips directly from a New Orleans local, click here!
Sunday – Professional Photoshoot and Cemetery Tour
One of my FAVORITE activities to book on a trip is a professional photo shoot! Airbnb Experiences offers photoshoots in almost every city for around $50 per person. We booked a photoshoot in New Orleans for $50/each two weeks prior to the actual trip. Colton and I have done this in cities like Las Vegas, Nashville, San Francisco, etc. I love booking these because I don’t have to stress about getting high-quality photo memories of my trip: the photographer does all of that for me! Even if you’ve never had a photoshoot before, I highly recommend trying this. This is who we booked with both this year and last year!
Next, we toured St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, one of the most historic cemeteries in the area. Famous occupants include New Orleans voodoo queen Marie Laveau, civil rights activist Homer Plessy, and legendary chess champion Paul Morphy.
The only way to visit the cemetery is to book a tour online. I expected the cemetery tour to be expensive or difficult to get tickets for, but I was pleasantly surprised that it only cost $25 per person! We booked online six days in advance, more last-minute than I prefer, but they had plenty of options left. Our tour guide was clearly experienced and comfortably shared stories about the cemetery’s occupants. He waited for everyone in the group to catch up between stops, encouraged taking photos, and left ample time for questions. This tour is outdoors by nature, so watch the weather!
Monday & Tuesday – Lundi Gras & Mardi Gras
While we planned to go out on Lundi Gras, both of us were tired, and Jordan requested a rest day. We stayed in our hotel room, watched movies, and only ventured out onto Bourbon Street to find food! Doordash, Uber Eats, and other food delivery services can’t function in the French Quarter as it gets close to Mardi Gras because all the streets close for parades. Uber rides are the same way, so be prepared to walk or stay put if you stay in this area of town.
On Mardi Gras, we explored, walked around, peeked in shops, and ate food! Mardi Gras in New Orleans is intense, so I highly recommend scheduling naps and/or times to just wander the quieter areas of the city. Since we didn’t have pre-planned activities for this day, here are a few of our favorite restaurants that we enjoyed!
Cafe Maspero – $1 daiquiris served all day long and DELICIOUS beignet fries! They open doors on two sides of the restaurant to create an open-air vibe, so we happily snagged the last table with a good view!
Pig Out Nola – We went here on Thursday already, but the food was solid with no wait time, so we happily went back again! They don’t serve alcohol, but they have Coke products with refills allowed and plenty of seating available (indoor and outdoor).
The Will and the Way – Late-night snacks, outdoor seating with heaters, an extensive wine and cocktail menu, and daily happy hour. If you go here, check out the Polaroid photo we took to add to their wall!
Chemin à la Mer – “With panoramic views of the Mississippi River, enjoy a curated menu of Louisiana fare expertly executed with French technique,” located within the Four Seasons hotel. Our new friend Jeff added us to his reservation, and we stayed here for hours! Our service was fantastic, but make sure you skim the menu online before you book. (My suggestion: Go at sunset for the best view!)
Wednesday – Tattoo Appointment and Packing Suitcases!
Jordan got a tattoo in Salem, Massachusetts when we visited last year, so she suggested getting tattoos in New Orleans before we left! She made us each an appointment via phone two weeks prior at Electric Ladyland, a tattoo parlor in the Marigny neighborhood near the French Quarter. With hundreds of positive reviews, Electric Ladyland runs 8-10 tattoo stations as well as a piercing station. We had appointments for 4 pm, and we only waited about 10 minutes to start our tattoos. They do take walk-ins but be prepared to have a longer wait! My artist, Josh, was patient with me as I got my first tattoo and got the exact result that I wanted!
After getting our tattoos and grabbing food on the way to our hotel, we packed our suitcases and went to bed early for our 6 am flight. We got plenty of rest and fully recovered from the Bourbon Street madness before we flew back home!
Have you ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Got restaurant suggestions for my foodie heart? Drop them below or shoot me a message!
More of my detailed itineraries:
My Itinerary: 5 Amazing Days in Sunny Miami, FL
My Itinerary: 3-Day Witchy Halloween Weekend in Salem, MA
