Trip to New Orleans on a budget

[Tiggeroo]

My college dd and I would like to take a short trip to New Orleans. How inexpensive do you think we could do this, not counting air fare. How much time would be enough? Any suggestions on budget hotels, what tours to take, etc?

 

[Tiggeroo]

bump. Maybe somebody has some links I could look at.

 

[suzannen]

Tiggeroo,
I can't recommend a hotel, I've always been for a conference at a specific hotel, but have you checked out citysearch's website for hotels and attractions at http://neworleans.citysearch.com.

I can say that if you go, you should try Mother's Restaurant for either lunch or dinner. It's a cafeteria style deli with some of New Orleans best po' boy sandwiches and very inexpensive. There are often lines, although it moves fairly fast and the food is terrific.

I've also heard there are some great cemetery tours in New Orleans that are fun with a lot of history, but haven't been able to do one myself.

Hopefully, someone else will be able to give you more info. It's a great place to visit and EAT!!

 

[suzannen]

Sorry, somehow I got posted twice and I can't get it to delete.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Here are a fewlinks for you:

www.nola.com
www.insideneworleans.com (not my fave, but ok)
www.digitalcity.com, then select New Orleans

Depending on where you want to stay (in the Quarter, Uptown, etc.), what type of transportation you will have (rental or using public trans), etc will all factor into you budget. Also, the food here is awesome!! Definitely plan to try some of our local faves!

 

[arminnie]

Check out B&B New Orleans (800) 729-4640

I've used them MANY, MANY times and have gotten some great deals. No parking fees, no extra tax and breakfast included. One time when there were NO rooms to be had in the city we got a two bedroom little apartment off of magazine for less than $100 a night. We could walk to lots of great restaurants.

You can have some fabulous meals without going to all of the "name" restaurants. If you stay away from chain food it will probably be great as people in N.O. take their food very seriously.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I was hoping to use public transport. I heard that is fairly accesable. I had thought about staying in the Garden section. Heard it was a compromise between the high price of being in the quarter and getting too far away. We are thinking of early May. How hot is it then? Is 3 nights 4 days enough time to enjoy ourselves. If I get a good room price we could add a day. We figured doing the cemetaries, dd wants to hit museums and churches, maybe a water trip of some sort, oh and of course, restaurants. Any local small places I would love to know about. Do we need to pay for a tour to do the cemetaries or can we get a guide and do it ourselves? We'll also do a ghost tour.

 

[RUDisney]

Several years ago, we stayed at the Dauphine Orleans. It was lovely... and inexpensive. You can see it at www.dauphineorleans.com and with a AAA card, you can get a better deal than what is posted. We stayed for $79 per night. Dauphine St is in the quarter and is a block off of Bourbon St. They have a jittney that will take you to the river. We got a shuttle from the airport and didn't use any transportation while we were there. We're trying to go back in October of this year. There is a conference that I might attend. I've already started to work on my boss.

 

[Tiggeroo]

RUD - that place looks perfect. How did you get that price. Their listed price is twice that right now. What sort of shuttle did you get from the airport. Was it run by your hotel or like a taxi or mears.

 

[arminnie]

Public transportation is really pretty good. Unlike the cable cars in SF (which are mostly a tourist attraction with long lines) the locals actually use the streetcars. If you stay near St. Charles out of the quarter (Garden District) it is very easy to use the street cars. I suggest you get a pass - I think they have them by the day. If you are in the quarter you can use the streetcar to go out of the quarter but probably don't need a pass.

May will be hot but more like mid-80s than 90s hot. The last weekend in April and the first weekend in May is Jazz Fest. I love Jazz Fest but it is more expensive at that time and a lot of the hotels have minimum night requirements.

I'm not sure about cemetary tours, but I do know that you need to be very careful about going to some of the cemetaries. There have been tourists mugged at some of the remote ones.

Again if you are trying to save money I would try New Orleans B&B - I haven't used them in 3 years since I now stay with friends, but I used to stay in a beautiful home filled with antiques right off St. Charles for about $50 a night total.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Thanks so much Arminnie. I'm going to call them today and see what they have to offer. I'm hoping they can tell me whether the location they recommend is what I'm looking for. I would have loved to go for Jazz Fest. I'm a parrothead and last year JB showed up and played. That would have been so cool. Not to mention all the acts listed for this year. But dd doesn't get out of school til the last day of the fest.

 

[RUDisney]

We got that rate by calling the hotel directly and with our AAA card. I just had to show them the card at checkin to get the rate. We went in June, so that may have made a difference, too.

We got the shuttle in the airport, just like Mears.