Help with budget trip to New Orleans

[hinodis]

My ds is playing in a jazz band in New Orleans and DH and I really want to go down and see him. We have never been there and know nothing about the area. I do know that money for a trip is a bit lean. All help is appreciated!

 

[hinodis]

Anyone?????

 

[ACS228]

I just got back from a trip to New Orleans and stayed at the Hotel St.
Marie. It was off season so the prices were incredibly cheap. They are a small budget hotel. You can also get some good deals on Bookit.com. They have a special mystery hotel deal that is cheap but the flights in the package weren't that great. There are a lot of not so expensive things to do in New Orleans. TripAdviser.com has a lot of info and pictures as well as a very helful forum. Have a great time!

 

[cindycastle30]

We have done two budget trips to New Orleans and it is a great city to visit on a budget. We stayed one night at the St Louis hotel and that was really cool. It is right off of Bourban St, if your staying with a family might not be the best though. Cost $99 with parking. Our fav New Orleans hotel is the Embassy Suites on Julia St. You are close to everything (walking distance) but still not right in the french quarter. Look at hotels.com for deals, when we went this past spring it was $99 a night with the 4th night free. This is an awesome hotel since it includes a full breakfast each morning for free. You also can go to the managers reception each night for free drinks and snacks. Plus each room is a suite so if you are traveling with kids it gives you extra room. If you drive remember to budget in parking this will run around $30 a day. Walking around is free and fun, lots of stuff to look at. Trolly's are $1.25 each way and are fun to ride on. We took our kids 13,12,11, and 7 on one trip and they loved it. Let me know what kind of things you are looking to do and I can give you some more specific info. My mother in law lives down there so we visit about once a year. Other than Disney it is our favorite vacation spot.

Liz

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

Can't reccomend a place to stay but have other ideas. You need to go to Cafe Dumond and have some beignets (they are very inexpensive and so delicious). A good place for lunch is the Charter House or you can get a muffalato from Central Grocerie. If you go during the weekend stop at the French Market, they have lots of bargains (purses, luggage, t-shirts, jewelry, etc.). If you drive watch where you park as the meter maids are heavily enforce.

hinodis where is your son playing?

 

[Telcogirl]

Subscribing

 

[hinodis]

I have NO clue about New Orleans so all of this information is very helpful. I don't even know what there is to do there. It will be just DH and I, no kiddos. Our son will be there playing in the ONU jazz band. I am not sure where he is staying.

 

[nd5056]

I'd say stay within the French Quarter area, the closer to the center, the better. Even 2 streets away from it can make a big difference when walking late night. Pre-Katrina times, there were many homeless on the streets, made the late night walks uncomfortable.

Don’t shy away from those tiny (several small tables) restaurants that don’t even have a menu, only choice is what the Chef had prepared for today.

Same goes for those small hotels within French Quarter...

EDIT: If you want the Cajun food & music experience for the city folks, visit MULATES

 

[NOLA_Tink]

I'm a native New Orleanian & I highly recommend the places below for those on a budget. I'd really like to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for coming to New Orleans to support our city. (I've hyperlinked the names, so just click the name for their website):

1. Deanie's (in the French Quarter) at lunch time. They have a great lunch menu & the food is awesome. Honestly, their stuffed crab & gumbo are some of the best in the city. Plus, they give you complimentary boiled potatoes w/ butter before your meal. The potatoes are boiled in crab boil mix & have just enough kick to make them perfect.
2. Harrah's Casino's buffet: We aren't big gamblers, but the lunch buffet here is really, really good & only $10/person during the week. The buffet is filled with over 20+ items (gumbo, Cajun food, Creole food, Italian, various comfort foods, salad bar, pasta station, and LOTS of tasty desserts- think pecan pie, bread pudding, ice cream sundaes, and more!). It's a quick walk from the French Quarter & if you do enjoy gambling, drinks are complimentary while gambling. You can also catch a street car from here & ride it down Canal Street to the cemeteries.
3. Red Fish Grill is owned by the same family that owns the very posh Commander's Palace. Dinner can be pricey, but the lunch menu is great & offers delicious items at a good price.
4. Progress Grocery or Central Grocery in the French Quater: These are the considered to be the home of the New Orleans muffelatta. They're large enough to share & very yummy.
5. Pat O'Briens is also French Quarter tradition for New Orleanians and visitors. We enjoy sipping hurricanes by the fountain & singing along at the piano bar at night. (The drinks are a little less if you order them on your own in the courtyard. Plus, they charge you for the glass, but you should get a few dollars back if you bring back your glass before leaving.)
6. Dry Dock Cafe: To get here, ride the free pedestrian ferry across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter to historic Algiers, LA (another part of New Orleans). The food is always outstanding & the ferry rides are fun & free! They also have daily dinner and lunch specials.

*Stay away from Landry's. It's over-priced & not authentic. As you may already know from the name, it's owned by the same people that own Rainforest Cafe (from Houston, TX).

 

[cindykelley]

I live about an hour and a half from New Orleans and my husband and I take our kids down there for a quick weekend once a year or so. They feel like we've gone on some grand vacation and it's really easy.

First, I would reiterate the Bookit.com suggestion. We've used the mystery hotel deal and it was a very nice place on Carondolet Street in the French Quarter. Within walking distance to lots of things to do.

Sometime while you're there, you must go to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. Doesn't cost much and it's just the thing to do while you're there. The Riverwalk area is right by the Mississippi River and you could spend a whole day just walking down the street visiting small museums, art galleries, and shops. This area is also full of street performers of all different kinds....also free of course.

Lots of times you can find half off gift certificates to the Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Zoo and the Insectarium. Another nice thing is the New Orleans Museum of Art. I'm not sure of the cost since it's free for Louisiana residents so we've never paid. It is situated in City Park which has lots of beautiful garden areas you can walk around and look at for free. Riverboat cruises are a fun way to see the city from the river...they also have food and drinks on the cruise and music to pass the time.

I could talk about New Orleans all day, but once you get down there, all the hotels have more brochures than you could ever read about things to do. If you avoid the really touristy restaurants you really don't have to spend a lot.

Hope this helps.

 

[laurafergie]

None of these are particularly expensive.

Get a Muffuletta at The Central Grocery, it's on Decatur in the French Quarter and sit down at Jackson Square to people watch or on the Riverfront to boat watch and have a picnic.

But of course, have beignets and café au lait at the Cafe du Monde.

Don't think you can't afford the famous restaurants, like Brennan's - check out lunch, much more affordable.

Absolutely make time for Bourbon St et al.. for the music, and if you go during the week, the drinks are cheap! If you just get one for the cover and just sit, no-one will bug you to buy more, unless it is busy.

I can't remember what it cost, but it couldn't have been too much, or I wouldn't have done it - but you used to could ride the St. Charles Trolley to the zoo and catch a ferry on the Mississippi River down to the Aquarium at the riverfront by the French Quarter.

Crescent City Books on Chartres St in the French Quarter is a great used book store. I have several New Orleans cookbooks from there I bought as souvenirs.

Just wander around Jackson Square and look at the art. I actually had my portrait done in pastels by an exceptional artist there, about 10 years ago. Not really "budget", but it was great gift for my mom!

Magazine St shops are less expensive than the French Quarter, but just as cool.

Don't worry about renting a car - taxis are affordable, and you won't have to pay hotel parking which can be $30+++ a day! If you find you want a car for a day, there are plenty of rental agencies right there to accommodate.

 

[nd5056]

...
5. Pat O'Briens is also French Quarter tradition for New Orleanians and visitors.

How could I forget!!!

But then again I think I know how I did...

.

 

[LanaJae]

I was there a few weeks ago and we stayed at the Drury Inn and it was beautiful! It was $99, but you can get it cheaper because we had a cruise package with free parking.

Free hot breakfast, free happy hour, free snacks, free soda, cool pool on the roof and within walking distance to most places and right next to the trolley or electric car or whatever its called.

 

[NotUrsula]

When, exactly? If your dates are close to the Xmas season, you may be able to take advantage of one of the best travel deals in the country: the Papa Noel Specials. http://www.fqfi.org/christmas/

Papa Noel rates and Reveillon Menus are available starting December 1st.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

How could I forget!!!

But then again I think I know how I did...

.

After a few of those, you'll lose your memory...and possibly your shoes, room key, & who knows what else! (J/K about the shoes. I've seen it happen to others, but I never lose my shoes in the Quarter. No way!)

 

[LanaJae]

Okay, this probably goes without saying, but we are stupid Norwegians from Minnesota.

Do not, I repeat, do not, take your children very far down Bourbon St.

For years people have been telling us we have to see Bourbon St. I thought it was bars and music and I knew about people hollering certain phrases from the balconies but I wasn't prepared for the other businesses. Lots of people knew we were going and not one of them told us to not bring the kids down there. On the way, we stopped in Memphis and went to Beale St. and I thought they might be similar, just with different music styles... oh no.

 

[Dominus]

Stay in the Marigny district. It borders the FQ. It's kinda the 'artsy' section of NOLA. There's a hotel called 'the frenchmen'. It's nothing fancy, but it's cheap and interesting. Stay waway from restaurants on Bourbon street. the food is bad and over-priced. Go to the visitors center in Jackson square and get the coupon book. Plenty of goot deals. Eat at the 'crescent city brewhouse'. It's on decatur st. and with the BOGOF coupon in the book, it's a real deal. Buy drinks at the little kiosks, they're cheaper and you can carry them into any of the bars that charge high dollar for drinks.

 

[hinodis]

None of these are particularly expensive.

Get a Muffuletta at The Central Grocery, it's on Decatur in the French Quarter and sit down at Jackson Square to people watch or on the Riverfront to boat watch and have a picnic.

But of course, have beignets and café au lait at the Cafe du Monde.

Don't think you can't afford the famous restaurants, like Brennan's - check out lunch, much more affordable.

Absolutely make time for Bourbon St et al.. for the music, and if you go during the week, the drinks are cheap! If you just get one for the cover and just sit, no-one will bug you to buy more, unless it is busy.

I can't remember what it cost, but it couldn't have been too much, or I wouldn't have done it - but you used to could ride the St. Charles Trolley to the zoo and catch a ferry on the Mississippi River down to the Aquarium at the riverfront by the French Quarter.

Crescent City Books on Chartres St in the French Quarter is a great used book store. I have several New Orleans cookbooks from there I bought as souvenirs.

Just wander around Jackson Square and look at the art. I actually had my portrait done in pastels by an exceptional artist there, about 10 years ago. Not really "budget", but it was great gift for my mom!

Magazine St shops are less expensive than the French Quarter, but just as cool.

Don't worry about renting a car - taxis are affordable, and you won't have to pay hotel parking which can be $30+++ a day! If you find you want a car for a day, there are plenty of rental agencies right there to accommodate.

What is a Muffuletta and a beignets?

 

[sylvenmaid]

I'm personally not a fan of them but a Muffuletta consists of round loaf of crusty Italian bread, split and filled with layers of sliced Provolone cheese, Genoa salami and Cappicola ham, topped with Olive Salad: a chopped mixture of green, unstuffed olives, pimientos, celery, garlic, cocktail onions, capers, oregano, parsley, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Now I am a huge fan of beignets and Cafe Au Lait. Coffee with milk and beignets are square shaped dough that is fried and powdered sugar on top. They are so warm and perfect on a colder night. Of course we don't have lots of winter weather but I always enjoyed this after a long day of shopping in the Quarter.

I also second Mulate's! The best crawfish etouffee I have eaten. Prices aren't cheap but not outrageous. I think lunch menus would be more affordable. You get tons of food for the prices. That's one thing about Louisiana is you definitely won't go hungry and you get a lot for the money. Many platters can be easily shared depending on how much you and your hubby eat. You have been given some great ideas and I love going to New Orleans. Of course I usually stay at my brother's house in Belle Chasse and drive to the city for the day. Parking can get steep. We usually park in an open parking lot near the Riverwalk.

 

[minkydog]

My sister and I did a Sisters Trip to New Orleans in June. We stayed right down in the French Quarter at Place d'Armes. It's an older, smaller hotel, very pretty, quiet and oh so comfortable. I think we paid $78-89 per night. We parked the car and walked everywhere. We could see the front of St.Louis Cathedral from our balcony, which was great because in the evening the musicians really get going. You can hear so very good(and some very bad!) jazz while you're sitting out there drinking your wine. They offer croissants, coffee and tea for breakfast. Cafe du Monde is about a block away, an easy walk. From there you go left to the French Market--if you're looking for souvenier and Tshirts, go there first. Its much cheaper.

Oh, and we took a cooking class at New Orleans School of Cooking, down on St.Louis St. . don't know if that's in your budget, but it's $27 per person for a 2-1/2 hour class. They show you how to make traditional New Orleans dishes and you get to eat them! The day we were there they taught us how to make Jambolaya, gumbo, bread pudding and pralines. We made a whole meal out of it! And if you go home and cook something from the recipes they give you, take a picture of yourself holding the dish and email it to them. They'll mail you a Diploma certifying that you have graduated from the NOSC.

We liked just walking by the Mississippi and watching the ships go by. Definitely get out there an mingle. Keep your purse close to your body and don't wear flashy jewelry. Really, we had no problem. In fact, an apparently homeless guy struck up a conversation with us in Jackson Square--he knew just about everything about the Quarter. We never felt threatened and he seemed content with his bottle-in-a-paper-bag.

Have a great time. I grew up on the Gulf coast and we used to go to NO all the time. It's changed since I was a kid, but I still love to go there. In fact, I've passed the love on to my kids! Let the good times roll!