French Quarter

New Orleans is a party town: the one place in the US where you can booze in the streets and the bars never close.
After all, with plenty of affordable attractions and easy-going vibes, it is called 'The Big Easy' and the city's motto is "Laissez les bon temps rouler," translates to "let the good times roll."
The first thing we planned to do was visiting the French Quarter. It takes ninety minutes to two hours if you just walk without browsing shops, bars, and markets.
The architecture here is lovely and you can take in all the history of a past era.
It is filled with numerous tourist-friendly stores, bars, restaurants and more.
The street performers are pleasant, and the historical sites are worth a look, as well.
There are some parts which are absolutely amazing and gorgeous and historical.
There is also a big difference between day and night in New Orleans.
In the morning it looks gorgeous with all plants and flowers hanging from lovely balconies, street musicians at any corner, artists and fortunetellers in Jackson Square, boats sailing along the river, sweet and cakes shops, bakeries and grocery's smell.
At night, when things get crazy, there is a completely different show.
Beggers, homeless people, dirt, urine, bad alcohol and vomit smell.
Such a big contrast between beautyful and squalid.
Bourbon Sreet is unbearable with massive crowds of tourists and overwhelming noise. It's nothing but t-shirt shops, singing and shouting tourists, overpriced drinks that are watered down and general filthiness.
Go instead to Royal Street or Decatur Street if you like antiques and you are looking for some nice restaurant.
We went one night to Frenchmen Street looking for some decent jazz. We were almost harassed by drunk persons that were outside of the jazz clubs trying hard to persuade people to go inside.
We thought it would have been much better and safer to go back to Canal Street and we left.
Final warning for people visiting the Quarter : never walk or visit alone, but always be with friends or family.
We had mixed feelings : we felt both pleased and disappointed about it at the same time.

The French Quarter is a lot more than Bourbon St, or Royal, or Bienville, or many of the other more well trafficked streets. Highly recommend coming out in the early morning and walking through some of the quieter streets to the west of the main tourist streets- the quarter is a nice and quiet neighborhood- very charming. Early morning is also your main chance to get great photographs.

There is not much to say, you go there to drink, eat, and buy useless souvenirs. You need to pace yourself on the drinking or you might become one of the many viral videos of Bourbon street. Don’t go to any of the museums unless they are free it doesn’t worth the money. You may want to stay within a walking distance because the traffic is horrendous. I made the trip, I enjoyed it, and I will go somewhere else next time…

The week my husband and I visited there wasn’t anything going on, so we got to walk around without checking out the area without the crowds, which if you haven’t done so you should give it a try. It’s great to be able to walk into a restaurant without huge lineups and browse through stores.
We had a lot of fun, and would definitely visit again.

First week of August 2020, things are quietly opening, although bars remain closed. Local businesses and restaurants are extremely welcoming and cordial, nighttime guided tours (after the summer sun fades a bit) are flourishing. Food and walkabouts have been perfect, even if the usual city din has diminished a bit in recent times.

I’ll just go ahead and say it, there is no more culturally and historically unique and interesting city in the entire United States than New Orleans. The food, tone, colors, smells, textures, people, sights of this city make it a mandatory visit if you’re even remotely close by. It’s just so much fun and such a culture of its very own, and you must visit New Orleans if you can!

We were really looking forward to visiting New Orleans but couldn't wait to get out of the place.

The place stinks of urine everywhere, probably due to no public toilets. The level of deprivation is astounding. You are stepping over unconscious drug users on practically every corner. Then there is the smell of weed everywhere. We witnessed a women exit from a shop on Canal Street in the middle the afternoon, squat down and pee in the doorway. There was also a women passed out on the pavement with injection marks at 10.00 am with her skirt around her waist and no underwear on. Aggressive beggers everywhere. We are fortunate to have visited many cities in Europe and America but have never felt so uneasy after 6.00 pm as we did in this city. It seems to have a bad undertone. The pavements are falling to pieces everywhere and having to constantly watch your footings. The rubbish is piled up and stinks.

The only plus was our hotel was fantastic (NOPSI) and the majority of the music we watched was great. However that alone is not a reason to visit. Apparently the city has gone hugely downhill since hurricane and COVID.

I would not recommend this place at all unless in the next couple of years it addresses its issues.

Several places come to mind when describing the French Quarter. It has the energy and crowds of Times Square, the people watching of South Beach, the bar scene and nightlife of Vegas, the music of Nashville or Memphis and food which stands alone in its diversity. Then you mix in the stunning Spanish and French architecture, with buildings painted the colors of the rainbow, and put it alongside the Mississippi River with a paddleboat or two in the water, and some horse drawn carriages navigating the streets and there you have it. The French Quarter - don't miss it.

Easy to find pay parking. Park in one of the big lots and take off walking! Lots to see. Take comfortable walking shoes!! Go early to avoid the bigger crowds which tend to sleep in and come out after noon! Take lots of pictures!

The French Quarter has many personalities and at night the week before Mardi Gras it is getting wound up. Loved the energy and the street performers - and there is always a place to eat, drink, and be merry!