While visiting my best friend Elle in Florida, we decided to take a road trip to New Orleans for the weekend! I have always wanted to visit New Orleans so I’m really glad I got the chance to visit with Elle. It was a super quick trip but we manage to squeeze in so much! New Orleans is such a cool city with so much culture and color around every corner. It’s one of those cities that has something beautiful to photograph everywhere. Totally Instagram worthy! 😉 In this blog post, I’m sharing where we stayed, ate, and the places we visited.

What To Do

French Quarter

I absolutely loved exploring the French Quarter. This area is so colorful and the architecture is amazing! We visited on the weekend and we saw several crowds walk by playing music in the streets which was really cool. The most popular streets in the French Quarter are Royal Street, Bourbon Street, and Decatur Street. Those streets are where you’ll find the best architecture but they are also very crowded! I actually enjoyed exploring the lesser know streets more. I love that everywhere we walked, we could hear jazz music playing through the bars. There is so much culture in this city!

St. Louis Cathedral/Jackson Square

The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square is the oldest cathedral in North America, named after St. Louis the King of France. The cathedral is truly beautiful and it totally reminds me of something you would see in Europe, complete with gardens. Jackson Square is full of tourists because it’s located right next to the French Quarter. It’s also very close to the popular Cafe du Monde, a famous spot for beignets just across the street from Jackson Square!

Garden District

The Garden District is such a beautiful neighborhood to explore. It’s full of colorful homes ranging from cottages to grand historic mansions! The streets are lined with oak trees which really give off that southern feel. The more popular streets to explore are St. Charles Ave with it’s lush gardens and Magazine Street where you’ll find all the trendy bars and restaurants.

Commander’s Palace

The Commander’s Palace located in the Garden District has been a New Orleans landmark since 1880. It’s famous for its numerous dining rooms and amazing food. I only admired it from outside because I wanted to get some pictures of this photogenic spot. Had we had more time, I definitely would have eaten here for the experience!

Buckner Mansion

Buckner Mansion is located in the Garden District, not far from the Commander’s Palace. It’s actually the house where they filmed American Horror Story Coven, my second favorite season of American Horror Story. If you’re an AHS fan, it’s definitely pretty cool to see! There are actually a lot of ghost stories told about this historic mansion so it’s very fitting for AHS. This is the address if you want to visit: 1410 Jackson Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130.

Lafayette Cemetery

Lafayette Cemetery is also located in the Garden District! It’s amazing how much there is to see in that area. Lafayette Cemetery is a historic 19th century cemetery with really cool above-ground tombs. It’s pretty cool to browse through! The cemetery is open from 7am-3pm. New Orleans actually has several cemeteries so if you can’t make it over to the Garden District, you can also check out St. Louis Cemetery (where voodoo queen Marie Laveau is buried) near the French Quarter, St. Roch Cemetery, and St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Eat a Beignet!

You can’t leave New Orleans without trying a beignet! If you don’t know what a beignet is, it’s basiclly fried dough kind of like a doughnut, with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. They are so yummy, especially with coffee! The most popular spot for beignets is Cafe Du Monde, near Jackson Square but it’s always extremely crowded. We opted for Cafe Beignet on Royal Street. They also have a location on Bourbon St and Decatur St.

Where To Stay

Cambria Hotel

We at the beautiful Cambria Hotel in the Warehouse District of downtown New Orleans. It was in the perfect location, just a ten minute walk from the French Quarter. Our hotel room was absolutely gorgeous and had an amazing view of downtown! I loved the skull wallpaper that matched the window drapes and the bathroom. The lobby was also beautiful with a great lounge area, a bar, and a restaurant. They also have a Grab and Go Market where you can grab some drinks or food to go. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened our armoire to find a coffee maker and refrigerator. I thought that was a very clever use of space! We also had our car valeted by the hotel which was very convenient. I definitely reccomend this hotel for a visit to New Orleans!

Where To Eat

The Country Club

We had dinner at The Country Club in the Bywater area of New Orleans. I loved dining at the Country Club because it had a very elegant feel to it. Every room was gorgeous with beautiful draperies, unique art pieces, and floral murals painted across the walls. They even have a cabana lounge and pool in the backyard! We started dinner off with the macaroni and cheese which was amazing! Elle ordered the Rabbit Stracci and I ordered the Pan Roasted Louisiana White Shrimp. The Creole spices were so delicious! This is definitely a spot worth visiting.

St. Roch Market

The St. Roch Market is a food hall with 12 vendors serving different types of food and drinks. Elle and I ordered a few different plates from several stalls which we loved because we got to try a wide variety of food! I love the interiors of this historic market. It has kind of an industrial feel with tall ceilings and pendant lights. The black and white color scheme is very chic too! We ordered the crab cakes from Elysian Seafood, the Gumbo Ya-Ya, and the Fritai from Fritai. Everything was amazing but I’d say my favorite was the Fritai! This is the perfect spot to visit with a group because everyone can order what they like. When we visited the market was packed, but there are plenty of places to sit inside and outside.

It was such a quick trip, but I absolutely loved New Orleans! I would love to go back someday and explore more of the French Quarter and the Garden District. Have any of you been to New Orleans? I would love to know!

Don’t miss my New Orleans Travel Diary on YouTube!

XOXO