New Orleans, USA

Traveling to Louisiana

Visiting the Southern states has for a long time been a dream of mine. Renting a car and make a roadtrip through hillbilly cities exploring more unknown places and find hidden gems. Unfortunately it did not became true this time but I managed to visit one place that has been on my bucket list for a very long time, New Orleans. I was flying in from Zürich through Miami with Swiss and had a great experience in their Boeing 777 business class before I continued with American Airlines and for another two hours sleeping my way through in their comfy business class seats. Arrived, took a Lyft (always a smart idea to check Lyft and Uber when in US since the price of rides differs a lot) and fell asleep in the cozy hotel bed. Next morning I woke up ready to explore.

French quarter

The sun was shining and with over 33 degrees already at 9 am when I went out for breakfast hunt it was hot. First goal was to visit the French quarters and it was fantastic. Much bigger than I could imagined and although catering to tourists there was a lot of unique handcrafted items and art galleries to check in. With a bigger bag and larger amount on my credit card I would have ended up with some paintings.

But instead I stopped by for refreshing drinks several times to cool down.

A friend of mine that recently been to N.O recommended a bar called Erin Rose and they had some nice frozen drinks for just a few dollars. Truly American spirit in there so of course I made some new friends and being of Swedish heritage always makes the Yankees to talk about their far away relatives that immigrated from the North.

I kept on collecting steps and checked out the famous landmarks such as St Louis Cathedral.

Shopping

Although the dollar exchange rate is not that favorable anymore I always buy gifts to myself when going there. I was cashing in a birthday gift I got several years ago and of course some clothes. US brands are still much cheaper than in Europe and when coming to the counter to check out it’s not uncommon you get another 20-30% off your purchase due to some special, your birthday week or whatever. In central New Orleans there is a mall, Riverwalk outlet which is worth a visit and also the view towards Crescent city bridge is great from the terrace at the mall.

Algiers point

Going around in the city of New Orleans is very convenient even if you don’t have a car. For just 3USD you can buy a day pass giving you unlimited rides on the tramway, busses and boats. From the riverwalk you can take the boat over to Algiers point which is a more working class neighborhood but I fell in love with it. So charming. And there is a nice riverside walk “Walk of Jazz”.

And the houses. Like movie scenes everywhere and I could have moved in without a doubt. People were also very friendly and welcoming.

Best thing was definitely a taco place Barracuda I got recommended. Wow! Too bad I was not more hungry so I could only fit one taco just for the sake of it. It was an old gas station that now got renovated to a taco place.

Sightseeing running

No city trip is complete without a sightseeing run. One morning I headed out in my running shoes to explore City park and one of the famous cemeteries. It was really an enjoyable run in terms of sights but it was burning hot and I had no water so make the math yourself to get the point. This would definitely be a city where I would have loved to run a marathon in. Flat, many green areas and a lot to see. The city park even had a train and a miniature airport for model planes.

And then

Definitely a place worth going to. I would say two days in the city to enjoy to the max without stressing around and if you want to get further out add an extra day. One day is possible to manage but although I am a quick sightseeing person I would say two. Then N.O also have all these festivals and Mardi Gras in March. Have you been or is it on your go to list?