New Orleans Off Beaten Path: 6 Day Itinerary
Six days extends the 5 day plan across the Mississippi on the Canal Street Ferry, then back through the Warehouse and Arts District for the city’s contemporary gallery scene. Still no rental car for any of it. The 7 day plan adds one flex day on top.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | French Quarter icons and the National WWII Museum |
| 2 | Garden District, City Park’s free sculpture garden, and a food hall dinner |
| 3 | Treme, the Backstreet Cultural Museum, and Frenchmen Street |
| 4 | Bywater and Marigny: a mural walk, Creole cottages, and Music Box Village |
| 5 | Uptown and Carrollton: Audubon Park and the Tulane end of the streetcar |
| 6 | The Canal Street Ferry to Algiers Point, then the Warehouse Arts District |
Book these before you go
- Reserve National WWII Museum tickets to skip the box office line
- Book a St Louis Cemetery No. 1 guided tour for the famous tomb over the walk-in alternatives
- Reserve Preservation Hall seats ahead of a specific set
- Book the Steamboat Natchez jazz cruise for one of the free evenings
- Compare Garden District hotel rates for a quieter six-night base than the Quarter
Day 1: French Quarter icons and the WWII Museum
Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral are free and calmest early. Cafe du Monde closes nightly and reopens at 7:15am, not a 24 hour spot. The National WWII Museum, a multi-building campus at $36 adult, earns a genuine half day. Preservation Hall takes advance bookings through its own calendar and GetYourGuide for the evening.
Day 2: Garden District, a free sculpture garden, and a food hall
The St. Charles streetcar reaches the Garden District’s antebellum mansions along Prytania Street. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is closed to the public in 2026, viewable only from the gates on a guided tour; St Louis Cemetery No. 3 and Metairie Cemetery stay open to walk-ins. NOMA and the free 11-acre Besthoff Sculpture Garden fill the afternoon; St Roch Market covers dinner at $10 to 18 a plate.
Day 3: Treme, the Backstreet Cultural Museum, and Frenchmen Street
Treme is the oldest African-American neighborhood in the US and the actual source of the brass-band sound Bourbon Street imitates. The Backstreet Cultural Museum , $25 adult, $20 local, senior or veteran, $15 ages 12 to 16, $10 under 12, free at 5 and under, covers Mardi Gras Indian suits and jazz funeral traditions. A Sunday second-line may pass through if timing allows. Evening is the Frenchmen Art Market and a no-cover jazz set.
Day 4: Bywater and Marigny, a mural walk and a musical village
Piety, Chartres and Royal Streets carry Bywater’s murals and its run of Creole cottages and shotgun houses. Music Box Village , open Friday 6 to 10pm and Saturday through Sunday 10am to 3pm only, suggested donation $15 adult, $5 for kids 5 to 17, closes entirely without a listed event.
Day 5: Uptown and Carrollton, past the Garden District
The St. Charles streetcar continues past the Garden District into Uptown and Carrollton, past Tulane and Loyola, to Audubon Park, free and quieter than City Park. Carrollton’s Oak Street has a small strip of restaurants with almost no tourist traffic.
Day 6: Algiers Point by ferry, then the Warehouse Arts District
Take the Canal Street Ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers Point, a short, cheap crossing with the best skyline view of the French Quarter available anywhere, then wander the neighborhood’s quiet historic cottages before the return crossing. Back on the east bank, spend the afternoon in the Warehouse and Arts District, home to the WWII Museum and a genuine concentration of contemporary galleries in converted warehouse buildings, most free to walk into. Close the day back along the riverfront near the French Market for dinner.
Is the Canal Street Ferry worth a special trip, or just a commute?
Both. It’s a working commuter ferry to the West Bank, but the ride itself, a few dollars and about 15 minutes each way, gives a view of the Quarter’s skyline from the river that no land-based viewpoint matches, and Algiers Point on the far side is a genuinely quiet historic neighborhood with almost no tourist traffic.
Do the Warehouse District galleries charge admission?
Most don’t. The Arts District’s contemporary galleries are free to browse during open hours, unlike the WWII Museum a few blocks away; treat a gallery walk as the free counterweight to a paid museum day.
Take the ferry over in late afternoon rather than midday; the light on the Quarter’s skyline from the Algiers Point side is considerably better a couple of hours before sunset.