Going to New Orleans and Need Advice

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MN Blue Skies

MN Blue Skies

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Eric and I are headed to New Orleans the beginning of May.

Questions:
  We need recommendations for a CG or RV Park
  What are the top must see and things to do including food, music, and local attractions.
  We plan to be there four nights and three days.  Is that enough time?

Looking forward to your advice.  Thanks!
 
 
https://www.fqrv.com/ 

We have stayed at the French Quarter RV Park about five times. Very nice.

https://centralgrocery.com/  You HAVE to get a Muffuletta sandwich!!!

http://www.cafedumonde.com/locations/  You HAVE to get Beignets here. It's right across the street from Central Grocery.


There is a tour of a warehouse where they build floats for the parades. About one hour and full of neat information. Ask at the RV park where it is...within about a mile of the French Quarter RV Park.


Three days is OK.
 
The important thing to remember about New Orleans is that most of the what to see and do tourist district is within about a 1 mile long strip of riverfront, running roughly from the French Market to Riverfront outlet mall, going inland 3-4 blocks in places.  The tourist district is well patrolled by police, but this does not mean any any way that it is crime free.  Beyond this area you are dealing with one of the highest crime rate cities in the US.  There are a few exceptions that are outside this perimeter, some, just barely outside as the tourist zone is expanding a little to the south end of this range in recent years, perhaps as far as the Business 90 bridge, which includes the convention center and National World War II museum.

The RV park that is closest to the tourist district is the French Quarter RV resort, which is within walking distance to the tourist area, I have never used it, but from what I know that is all it has going for it.  Another popular in town RV park is Pontchartrain Landing RV park and marina.  If you like state parks there is also Bayou Segnette State park which has about 100 RV sties, and is a about 10 miles from the main tourist area.
 
I plan on getting to New Orleans sometime, and when I do I want to see this band in the French Quarter. They are called Tuba Skinny and play traditional New Orleans jazz.  Here is an example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYHqEkljTXA
 
Depends on what you like, close to everything or not. 

We prefer the stay at St Bernard State Park.  It is about 15 minute ride to the tourist area, and you will have to pay to park in tourist area.  The park is very quiet and not crowded, except for Mardi Gras.  There is a very good restaurant near the State park with food as good or better then you will find in the tourist district called Charlie's restaurant.  We eat lunch in NOLA and dinner at Charlie's if eating out.  If you decide on the State Park no matter what GPS says use I-10 to I-510/47/Paris Rd. Follow that to Left on 46, then follow GPS the rest of the way.

Things to see:  Cafe DuMond, main tourist drag, Garden District, Bourbon St, and outside of town tour an old Plantation. 
 
MN Blue Skies said:
Eric and I are headed to New Orleans the beginning of May.

Questions:
  We need recommendations for a CG or RV Park
  What are the top must see and things to do including food, music, and local attractions.
  We plan to be there four nights and three days.  Is that enough time?

Looking forward to your advice.  Thanks!
Click to expand...

Never enough time to see it "all".  ;)

We really like The Bayou Segnette State Park (will be there in March). Driving & parking in town-- especially the main tourist areas-- can be challenging. From Bayou Segnette it's a short drive to the ferry where there's on street parking for free and the ferry ride over to the French Quarter area is only one dollar.

In town, definitely think about getting an overview by riding the trolleys. The route that goes along St. Charles passes by many amazing homes.

As I'm far from an authority on NOLO I'll be watching here for additional recommendations from others.
 
IMO the World War II Museum is a must see. I would go to New Orleans just to see that. One day doesn't do it justice... https://www.nationalww2museum.org


As far as eats are concerned, if it's fine dining you're after (and expense is no object), you can try Mr. B's Bistro, Arnaud's, Brennan's, or Court of the Two Sisters. At lunch a Muffaletta from the Central Grocer is tops and you can follow it up with coffee and beignets across the street at the Cafe du Monde. 
 
On the point of New Orleans food, be aware very little food in New Orleans is Cajun food, the vast majority is Creole food, or some sort of Creole mashup.  Cajun and Creole are two very different thing. See https://www.louisianatravel.com/articles/cajun-vs-creole-food-what-difference which I feel greatly understates the difference due to the very different flavor profiles for each.  If you want to try real Cajun food, and even a bit of cajun culture / music in New Orleans I would suggest checking out Mulate's near the riverwalk.

Ike

p.s. Since this thread started my wife and I started talking about driving the RV down to New Orleans one weekend in March (it is about a 250 mile drive from here)
 
We were just there for a week staying at Pontchartrain Landing. If you have Passport America, it's $41 a night with full hook-ups and you can get either a pull through site or a back in waterfront site. They have trees between the sites for privacy. Very nice place with entertainment like live bands and free bingo with prizes. On site restaurant/bar with great food.

We got the 3 day New Orleans Pass, but it's also available for other numbers of days. Groupon has so many deals on NOLA tourist attractions as well so buy ahead of time for a great deal. If you pay full price for anything, you're paying too much. The Adventures in New Orleans bus tour and the Queen Creole Paddlewheeler boat were very educational and informative, two of the best tours we've been on. I highly recommend doing at least the bus tour, it was very comprehensive and included a cemetery, every district in the city, celebrity homes, and a stop at Cafe Du Monde in City Park. We had an amazing tour guide, very knowledgeable and entertaining.
 
Such great suggestions!  Keep them coming.

Does anyone remember the TV commercial showing people sitting at a picnic table enjoying a big pan of "something" (Crawfish and corn on the cob, etc. ?  Maybe a seafood fish boil?) with Zydeco type music playing in the background.  I want that experience.    ;)
 
One word on discounts in Louisiana, people with America the Beautiful federal passes that are from states that accept these passes in their state parks can get 50% off camping at state parks in Louisiana.  What this means is residents of Louisiana, Arkansas, Maryland, or Delaware that have the $80 per year Accesses pass can get 50% off camping fees, and people from these same states, except Delaware with the Senior Pass can get 50% off camping fees.  Though this does not include day access fees.  For the State parks around New Orleans this in effect turns about $40 per night on the weekends into $21-$22 per night.
 
Isaac-1 said:
One word on discounts in Louisiana, people with America the Beautiful federal passes that are from states that accept these passes in their state parks can get 50% off camping at state parks in Louisiana. 
Click to expand...

Hello Issac-1.  I'm from Minnesota and have a National Parks Disability Access Pass.  Do you happen to know if Louisiana State Parks honor that pass and give a  50% discount at the state parks?
 
I don't think so, as from what I have seen of the state park web site, the person must be from one of the 3-4 states that themselves accept the America the Beautiful pass in their state parks.  See https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-parks/frequently-asked-questions/index#Discount
 
    Max and Eric, we stayed at a park in Westwego, just on the other side of the river from New Orleans, and took a ferry to downtown when we wanted to go to see the French Quarter.  Here is the Good Sam write up of the park: https://www.goodsam.com/campgrounds-rv-parks/details/default.aspx?cgid=910000147
    It was a few years ago, but my recollection is that it was a clean well run park.

Ed
 
Just enjoyed NOLA over the New Year's break.  Stayed at  Pontchartrain Landing - no discount about $60 a night.  Clean, excellent staff, decent food and music at their clubhouse.  BEST DEAL is the daily shuttle ($6) to French Q, roundtrip. (Cab like $40 RT) There is nothing do to around Landing itself.  The drive thru and waterfront sites are best, the area they call 'buddy' (near boat ramp, to your left as you enter) is just a field.. I would avoid. The rest of park and people we really liked.
  many times for business, my first trip as a Tourist and we really enjoyed.  Cooking school (not hands on) for $30 a person was couple hours of learning and humor and great eating.  We did use the hop on hop off.. ugh $100 for 3 days.. but use it enough and listen to the different guides and you can get a real taste of the city.  Royal Street (runs parallel) to Burbon, is art shops, antiques.  Walk the Garden District.  We did not go to WWII museum however heard positive.  Pretty hard to find 'bad' meal in the area.  Enjoy. 
 
We booked 5 nights at Pontchartrain Landing, now we just need to figure out all we want to do. Looking forward to our stay.
 
SMR said:
We booked 5 nights at Pontchartrain Landing, now we just need to figure out all we want to do. Looking forward to our stay.
Click to expand...

You'll be in NOLA about a month ahead of us.  Please let us know what you end up doing.  Both likes and dislikes.  Thanks!
 
We just returned from New Orleans a week ago. Both the wife and I are natives of the area and visit family still residing there.
We usually stay at Bayou Segnette State Park in Weswego in a 33ft 5th wheel. The park currently is offering a 50% discount for age 62 and over. Winter Seasonal rates last week were $25/day. 50% off meant a very low rate. The discount is applied when you check in, not when you make the reservation.
All sites are back-in, most are 50ft+. 50A, with water, free wifi. No full hookups. Laundry room use is free, clean bathhouses. It's a basic state park but very quiet and safe. We've stayed there on all our trips, multiple times each year, for the last 20 years or so.
If you choose to reserve at one of the state parks for multiple days, I suggest you make your reservation for your stay but only pay for the first night. The balance can be paid when you check in. If there is a change in plan, you're only out the one night's cost.
If you want to preview the campground, go to google maps for the address and then go to street view and drive the park. You'll see each site clearly.
Non rush hour traffic, you can be in the French quarter in 15 minutes. As with any big city, stay aware of your surroundings to be safe at night.
Hope you have a wonderful stay and experience.
Laissez les bon temps rouler!!
 
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