New Orleans In One Day: 11 Fun Things To Do (2024)
Want to know how to see the best of New Orleans in one day? We’ve got you covered with all of our favorites!
There are so many amazing things to do in New Orleans in one day, but this itinerary takes you to all the highlights including historic spots and the must try foods and drinks.
You can see our full one day itinerary in this video on our YouTube Channel.
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Fun Things To Do In New Orleans In One Day
To make the most of just one day in New Orleans, here is the best itinerary to see and do it all.
1. The New Orleans RTA Streetcar
Bright and early at 8 am, we started our day on the RTA streetcar to the French Quarter.
We bought day passes for $3 each, which was an awesome deal to get us to the other side of town efficiently.
The line ends just before the French Quarter, so you’ll have to walk a little to get to your destination, but it took us less than 30 minutes to get from our hotel in the Garden District to Cafe du Monde.
2. Cafe du Monde
This iconic restaurant is a must-visit.
They are known for their Beignets as well as their Cafe au Lait.
We did an order of 3 Beignets each and JP tried the Cafe au Lait all for $11.25.
This was easily one of the cheapest breakfasts we’ve ever had on vacation.
This place can be very busy, so try to stop by before the breakfast rush at 9 am or wait until after 11 am or so.
They are typically open 24 hours, but while we were there they had limited hours.
As a side note, as delicious as these Beignets are, I had heartburn the entire rest of the day after eating them.
So if you get heartburn or acid reflux, bring your medicine!
3. Jackson Square
Directly across the street is the famous Jackson Square.
This is perfect place for photos of the iconic St. Louis Cathedral.
There are plenty of benches to sit and people watch and there is plenty of grassy areas to sit and have a picnic if you’d like.
Jackson Square is also the place to go to get a carriage ride through town!
4. New Orleans Royal Carriage Rides
I highly recommend making advance reservations for this!
We booked ours for the first morning tour.
We figured since we had never been in the city and didn’t know the layout, this was the perfect way to get acclimated for the rest of our trip!
The tour always goes through the French Quarter, but you’ll also get a tour of a second area depending on what you book.
We toured Marigny since that is all that was being offered at the time.
But you’ll also be able to go to the St Louis Cemetery.
These tours last roughly an hour – ours was about 9:45 am to 10:45 am.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your New Orleans Royal Carriage Ride Through The French Quarter Today!
5. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
Before we arrived, we created a list of all the iconic foods and drinks we HAD to try while we were in New Orleans.
We mapped it out to see what made the most sense logistically so we could be as efficient as possible with this.
Since there were so many drinks on our list, we usually stuck to just sharing 1 drink at each place.
Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop’s claim to fame is that it is said to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the US.
It was built between 1722 and 1732.
The must-try drink here is the Voodoo Daiquiri, also known as the “Purple Drank”.
It is a grape flavored frozen daiquiri spiked with bourbon and Everclear.
I generally am not a fan of grape flavored anything, so I didn’t have high hopes, but it was still pretty good.
It was actually refreshing since it was humid after the short rain in the morning.
However, it’s not a drink that I ever need to have again.
I can at least say I’ve had it!
I don’t remember what the exact price was but we spent $13 including a tip.
6. Omen Psychic Parlor & Witchcraft Emporium
What better place for a psychic reading than New Orleans!
We opted for a couple’s reading and we loved it.
She started with tarot cards and did a set of 3 readings.
One for each of us and one as a couple.
Each card represented how we view the other in our relationship, how we view ourselves in our relationship, and a few other things that I’ve forgotten already.
I think there were 4 or 5 cards total for each one.
Some of the things we got out of that reading are that we will always rise above the haters – and we knew EXACTLY what that was talking about.
After that reading we were able to ask for a reading for any specific questions we had.
This was the most interesting part for us.
More About Our Psychic Reading In New Orleans
We did not discuss anything before going in since we had no idea how it worked or what kind of questions we could even ask.
We found out once we got there that we had an hour.
After the initial reading this left us with about 15 minutes for other questions.
So JP immediately says “Will she re-marry after I die?”.
Anyone that knows me will not be surprised by the reading that followed!
I will essentially be a hermit.
One and done for me!
So after that, I decided to ask my own question – what is my outlook on children?
I have always very adamantly NOT wanted children.
I was curious what the “universe” had to say about it.
The reading we got looks over the following 6 months and she said the topic of children would come up around July and August.
Funny enough, when July rolled around, my sister found out she was pregnant with her 4th child.
How Psychic Readings Work
So when you do a psychic reading, they tell you that you shouldn’t take anything said as a 100% certainty that it will happen.
It is more so a reading of the current energy you are putting out into the universe.
You still have to do the work to make something happen (or not happen).
7. NOLA Po’ Boys
After our reading, it was about 12:30 pm, so we were ready for lunch!
We knew we would be having Po’ Boys for lunch, but we hadn’t quite decided on where.
At first we thought maybe Johnny’s Po’ Boys since it was one of the closer locations, but they happened to be closed that day.
We ended up going to NOLA Po’ Boys instead, which put us closer to our next stop.
We each ordered a Fried Shrimp Po’ Boy.
I got mine with no spices and no pickles, JP ordered a regular spicy Po’ Boy.
It was a ton of food and I wish we could’ve shared one, but I don’t eat anything spicy or with pickles.
It wasn’t too expensive though – we spent about $35 for both sandwiches, drinks, and a tip.
8. St. Louis Cemetery
These cemeteries are closed off to the public unless you are on a guided tour.
We didn’t have time for a tour, but we decided to go see the cemeteries to see what we could see from the outside.
It is completely walled except for doors/gates on a couple sides, which you can barely see through.
So hopefully one day we’ll go back and do a tour and see it all!
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your St. Louis Cemetery Tour Today!
9. National World War II Museum
From here, we took a Lyft over to the World War II Museum since it would’ve been almost a 45 minute walk.
There are a lot of interactive things to do here and you get assigned an identity as you enter.
As you go through the museum you get to find out if you made it through the war or not and what accomplishments you had along the way.
This place is really nicely done and I highly recommend it if you have the time.
We only stayed for about an hour, but you could probably spend about 3 hours or so if you spend more time reading everything.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your National World War II Museum General Admission Ticket Today!
10. Carousel Bar
We needed to get to the Carousel Bar before it opened at 4 pm, which is why we only spent an hour at the World War II Museum.
For this bar, you’ll want to line up at least 30 minutes before the bar opens to get a spot at the Carousel Bar.
If not, you’ll have to wait in line until another party is done.
We were able to get in and out in an hour.
This bar actually rotates continuously like a carousel and the top is designed to look like a carousel.
They are known for a couple of their drinks here too, so we were able to knock a couple things off our list here.
We tried the Vieux Carre, which originated at the Carousel Bar and the Sazerac, which is the official drink of New Orleans.
I personally did not care for either one.
They are too strong for me!
The Vieux Carre is made with rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, Benedictine liqueur, pimento aromatic bitter, and garnish.
The Sazerac is made with absinthe, a sugar cube, cold water, bitters, rye whiskey, cognac, and garnish.
11. New Orleans Jazz Dinner Cruise
We had to check in for our dinner cruise at 6 pm, so we had about an hour to kill to get from the Carousel Bar down to the river.
We zigzagged through the French Quarter, saw a band playing, and took a stroll along the river while we waited for our boarding time.
Once onboard we were able to choose to eat immediately or wait for the second round of dinner about an hour later.
We opted for first dinner.
Dinner started with a Natchez Tossed Salad and a cup of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, as well as bread service.
For the entrees, you get a little bit of everything – Baked Chicken and Bayou Seafood Pasta, with Herb-Garlic Fingerling Potatoes and Green Beans Almondine as sides.
Vegetarians have the option of Pasta Primavera as an entree instead.
For dessert we had White Chocolate Bread Pudding and Bananas Foster!
The best part is that it was all you can eat, so they will bring more of anything you want!
Our cruise lasted until 8 pm and went up and down the Mississippi River.
They had a live Jazz band and we got to watch the sunset!
I highly recommend this on one night of your New Orleans vacation.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your New Orleans Jazz Dinner Cruise Today!
Where To Stay In New Orleans: Club Wyndham Avenue Plaza
Club Wyndham Avenue Plaza is located in the Garden District and is just a short streetcar ride to the French Quarter.
We love this hotel because the rooms have a kitchen, dining table, separate bedroom, and a work space.
You can see a full walk-through of our room here in this video on our YouTube Channel.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your Club Wyndham Avenue Plaza Stay Today!
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Conclusion: Fun Things To Do In New Orleans In One Day
There are so many fun things to do in New Orleans in one day that it’s hard to narrow down exactly what to do.
For more ideas on things to do in New Orleans and the surrounding area, check out our other itinerary which includes places like Mardi Gras World, Oak Alley Plantation, and more iconic restaurants.
