3 Days in New Orleans: French Quarter, Jazz & Bayou Adventures
Updated: Sep 27
Here’s exactly how we spent three days exploring the French Quarter, listening to live jazz, cruising the Mississippi and heading into the Louisiana bayou, with plenty of New Orleans food and history along the way.
In This Guide
Take our 3-Day New Orleans Quick Guide with you on your trip.
Planning Your 3 Days in New Orleans
Trip Essentials
Time needed: 3 days
Best area to stay: French Quarter
Getting around: Walk within the French Quarter, use the historic streetcar for longer trips and Uber or taxis when needed.
Do you need a car? No
Best for: First-time visitors, families, couples, food lovers, music lovers and history buffs.
Three days gives you enough time to experience several very different sides of New Orleans without trying to squeeze everything into one packed itinerary.
You can explore the French Quarter, hear live jazz, spend time on the Mississippi, learn more about the city’s history and still get out into the Louisiana bayou.
Day 1: French Quarter, Mississippi River & Live Jazz
Morning: Café du Monde & the French Quarter
Start your first morning with one of New Orleans’ best-known traditions: a café au lait and a paper bag of warm beignets from Café du Monde.
Serving New Orleans since 1862, it’s one of the city’s most iconic institutions. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, the icing sugar will probably end up all over your clothes. But it’s still worth doing at least once.
From there, spend the morning exploring the French Quarter on foot.
Rather than rushing from attraction to attraction, slow down and notice the details that make this neighbourhood so distinctive. Beyond Bourbon Street, you’ll find quiet courtyards, colourful buildings, historic architecture, street musicians and local artists.
Keep an eye out for:
Jackson Square
St. Louis Cathedral
Royal Street
Chartres Street
The Old Ursuline Convent
Wrought-iron balconies and hidden courtyards
Row of Three Tip: Royal Street ended up being our favourite part of the French Quarter. It had much of the character we associated with New Orleans, but with art galleries, street musicians and a more relaxed atmosphere than Bourbon Street.
Lunch: Try Classic New Orleans Food
Before choosing lunch, it helps to understand that Creole and Cajun food aren’t quite the same thing.
Creole cuisine developed in New Orleans and has strong French, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences. Cajun cuisine developed in rural Louisiana and tends to be more rustic.
For classic New Orleans comfort food, Mother’s Restaurant is an easy option. It’s particularly well known for po’boys, debris roast beef and fried chicken.
Row of Three Tip: If you order the fried chicken, allow extra time. It’s cooked fresh to order, so the wait can be longer than for some of the other dishes.
Afternoon: Cruise the Mississippi River
After lunch, head towards the riverfront for a Mississippi River jazz cruise.
We cruised aboard the Steamboat Natchez, and seeing New Orleans from the water gave us a completely different perspective on the city.
The Mississippi played an enormous role in New Orleans becoming one of America’s most important trading ports, so being out on the river adds context to a lot of the history you see around the city.
Our cruise also included live jazz and travelled downstream towards Chalmette Battlefield, where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815.
For us, it wasn’t simply a sightseeing cruise. It was an easy way to combine history, music and one of the city’s most recognisable experiences.
Planning note: Cruise vessels and schedules can change, so check what is operating when you book.
Evening: Dinner & Live Jazz at Snug Harbor
If there’s one evening experience we’d recommend to a first-time visitor, it’s dinner and live jazz at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro on Frenchmen Street.
Before we arrived in New Orleans, we kept hearing the same advice: if you want to experience live jazz, make time for Frenchmen Street.
We booked dinner before the show and arrived early enough to have a relaxed meal. I ordered the shrimp and grits before we made our way into the small music room.
Watching musicians perform only a few metres away was completely different from seeing a larger concert. The room was intimate, the music was excellent and the whole evening felt distinctly New Orleans.
It became one of the most memorable nights of our USA trip.
Row of Three Tip: If you’re choosing between another night on Bourbon Street and an evening of live jazz, we’d choose the jazz.
Day 2: Streetcars, New Orleans History & Hurricane Katrina
Morning: Ride the Historic St. Charles Streetcar
Start the day aboard the St. Charles Streetcar.
The route dates back to the 1830s and passes through some of New Orleans’ most attractive neighbourhoods, beneath enormous live oak trees and past historic homes.
Even if you aren’t using it purely for transport, the streetcar is an experience in itself and an easy way to see a different side of the city beyond the French Quarter.
Late Morning: St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
One of the things we found most fascinating in New Orleans was learning about the city’s above-ground tombs.
The burial traditions here are influenced by several factors, including the city’s low-lying geography, high water table and European cultural traditions.
At St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, rows of elaborate above-ground tombs create one of the most recognisable landscapes in New Orleans.
The cemetery is also associated with Marie Laveau, the legendary New Orleans Voodoo Queen. Much of her story has become mixed with myth and folklore, but she remains one of the city’s most famous historical figures.
Entry is restricted to approved guided tours, so this is one experience worth organising in advance.
Lunch: Dooky Chase’s Restaurant
If your timing allows, this is a great opportunity to visit Dooky Chase’s Restaurant.
Founded in the 1940s and closely associated with the late Leah Chase, the restaurant became much more than somewhere to eat.
During the Civil Rights Movement, it served as an important meeting place for community leaders and activists at a time when segregation restricted where people could gather.
Today, it remains one of New Orleans’ best-known Creole restaurants.
Row of Three Tip: Book ahead if Dooky Chase’s is high on your list. It can be difficult to secure a table at popular times.
Afternoon: Understanding Hurricane Katrina
After a morning focused on New Orleans’ older history, the afternoon takes a more reflective turn.
One of the experiences that changed how we understood the city was our Hurricane Katrina tour.
Before visiting New Orleans, we had seen documentaries and news footage from Hurricane Katrina. What we hadn’t fully appreciated was the complexity of what happened after the storm.
Our tour covered:
how the levee failures occurred
why some neighbourhoods flooded much more severely than others
how communities responded in the aftermath
the lasting impact Katrina continues to have on the city
We came away with a much deeper understanding of the disaster and its ongoing effect on New Orleans and its communities.
It also gave us context that we simply wouldn’t have gained by exploring the city independently.
Evening: Dinner at Muriel’s & the French Quarter After Dark
Finish the day with dinner at Muriel’s Jackson Square.
Its location overlooking Jackson Square makes it an easy place to slow down after a full day exploring the city.
After dinner, take another walk through the French Quarter.
If you haven’t seen Bourbon Street after dark, this is a good opportunity to have a look. If you’re travelling with children, I’d go earlier in the evening before the area becomes much busier.
Looking for More Live Jazz?
If you’re keen for another jazz experience, here are a few great options:
Preservation Hall: Our pick for families, thanks to its shorter performances and daytime or early evening shows.
The Spotted Cat Music Club: A relaxed Frenchmen Street favourite with fantastic traditional jazz.
d.b.a.: A lively venue featuring jazz, blues, and local musicians.
Day 3: Louisiana Bayou & a Final Night in New Orleans
Morning: Explore the Louisiana Bayou
One of the highlights of our entire New Orleans trip was our airboat tour with Airboat Adventures.
We added hotel pickup and drop-off from the French Quarter, which meant we didn’t need to hire a car or organise our own transport.
Once out in the wetlands, the experience felt completely different from anything we had done in the city. One of the highlights was getting a close look at a young alligator in the Louisiana bayou.
Book the Small Airboat
If your budget allows, we’d recommend paying extra for the smaller airboat.
It’s still a shared experience, but the smaller group size made it feel much more personal and gave everyone a better view.
Row of Three Tip: This was one upgrade we were very glad we paid for.
Evening: One Last Night in New Orleans
For your final evening, resist the temptation to squeeze in another major attraction.
Instead, take one last walk through the French Quarter.
Listen to the musicians around Royal Street and Jackson Square, admire the balconies draped in ferns and look through the courtyards tucked behind the historic buildings.
It’s these smaller details that stayed with us just as much as the major attractions.
If you’re travelling without children, you could finish the night with a drink at the Carousel Bar inside Hotel Monteleone.
The revolving bar is one of the city’s classic cocktail experiences and a fitting place for a final Sazerac or French 75.
How Much Does 3 Days in New Orleans Cost?
Activity prices change regularly, but these are useful ballpark figures for planning your budget.
Activity | Approximate Cost |
Mississippi River jazz cruise | Check current cruise pricing |
Airboat adventure | From around US$89 pp |
Premium/smaller airboat | From around US$119 pp |
Cemetery tour | Around US$45–60 pp |
Hurricane Katrina tour | Around US$45–60 pp |
Snug Harbor jazz | Ticket plus meal |
St. Charles Streetcar | Check current RTA fares |
Prices are a guide only. Check the official websites for current pricing before booking.
Is 3 Days in New Orleans Enough?
Three days isn’t enough to see everything New Orleans has to offer, but it is enough for an excellent first visit.
We had time to explore the French Quarter, try some of the food the city is famous for, cruise the Mississippi, hear live jazz, learn more about Hurricane Katrina and leave the city for a Louisiana swamp tour.
What surprised us most was how much more there is to New Orleans than Bourbon Street.
The music, architecture, food and history give the city an identity that feels completely different from anywhere else we’ve visited in the United States.
And if we went back, the first thing we’d book wouldn’t be another sightseeing attraction.
It would be another night of live jazz.
Planning More of the USA?
New Orleans is only one part of a much bigger USA trip. If you’re planning more time in the States, these guides may help:
Short on time in Florida? This one-day Miami itinerary covers South Beach, Art Deco, Biscayne Bay and Ocean Drive.
Planning New York from Australia? This guide breaks down what a week can really cost, including accommodation, food, transport and attractions.
Before you go, read my practical guide to ESTA, tipping, sales tax, travel insurance, cards, eSIMs, baggage fees and other things Australians should know before travelling to the US.
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