New Orleans has been on my bucket list for years. More specifically – Listen to Jazz in the French Quarter. I always knew I would go, it was just a matter of when. After seeing Taylor Swift in Pasadena, my sister and I knew we needed to see her again and Louisiana seemed like the perfect place. Here is our New Orleans Travel Guide. We researched extensively and feel pretty good with everything we were able to do in our travel guide.

We flew in on Thursday night, in time to be blasted by the 90 degree weather and 80 percent humidity. It was so nostalgic to be back in the south (I served an 18 month mission for my church in MS and LA). We did the first logical southern thing and found a bowl of gumbo for. I highly recommend Gumbo Shop.  The food was good, the place was packed, and everything was reasonably priced. We couldn’t end our first night in New Orleans without a stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets.

Day 2: We had one of the most delicious breakfasts ever at Ruby Slipper. We had the eggs benedict and stuffed french toast. After, Meghan had to work all day so I started my day at the Mardi Gras World Museum. The warehouse is a working company that not only builds many floats for Mardi Gras, but they are also commissioned by Disney Parks for their floats and Ride Props. The tour lasted around an hour and I learned so much. I definitely recommend going. 

After the museum, I  walked around the French Quarter and through miles and miles of neighborhoods. The architecture is to die for and the buildings are some of the cutest I have ever seen. It was a fun leisure morning stopping to enjoy the street musicians, watching the fortune tellers, and experiencing some of the best people watching ever. 

Meghan finally finished work and we headed to dinner at Mahony’s Po- Boys, where had classic Po-Boys and then headed to Bourbon Street for the experience. We had fun walking up and down, but were done pretty quick. We walked off a side street and stumbled upon a second line ( a wedding celebration/parade through the streets). It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. After walking around, we decided to visit a must eat dessert place Sucre. We had the gelato, and while it was good, I think if we were to ever visit again, I would choose a different delicious looking pastry. 

Day 3: We had a slow morning getting ready for our swamp tour and waiting for the bus to come and get us. We took a tour with Cajun Encounters and it was great. The bus ride to Slidell took about an hour and the swamp tour was around 2 hours. I would highly recommend the swamp tour. We saw over 10 alligators, learned a ton of history, saw wild raccoons super close, and river houses. We loved it. For Dinner, we had one of the best meals of the whole trip- Faubourg Bistro. This tiny little 4 table food place hidden in the back of a bar. 

Saturday night was the concert. Taylor Swift- what more can I say. She is my favorite and being in the Superdome was awesome. 

Day 4: Ruby Slipper was so good, we had to go back. It was just as good a second time. We made our way over to the Garden District to look at all the old houses. This neighborhood was darling. We stopped by Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 and walked around for a bit. After we rode the Cable Car to Audubon Park. On our way back, we stopped by Creole Creamery and had some of the most delicious Ice Cream ever. Do yourself a favor and try it out. We made our way back to our hotel to get our stuff to go. We had a quick dinner at the Flying Burrito (which I do not recommend at all) and headed back home. 

We loved our time in New Orleans and definitely think it is a place to add to your must travel list. We hope this New Orleans Travel Guide helped you on deciding what to do in New Orleans.