Budget · 3-hour walk · New Orleans
The French Quarter in three hours
The cathedral square and the old market, the antique street, and the live music strip at the end.
The French Quarter is thirteen blocks by six and almost entirely intact, which makes it one of the best walking neighbourhoods in the United States. Royal Street is the one to walk for the architecture and Bourbon is the one people photograph; this route does both in that order, and finishes on Frenchmen where the music actually is.
The route, stop by stop
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Jackson Square
The cathedral facing the square is the oldest continuously active in the country. Artists and readers set up along the railings daily.
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French Market
Trading on this site since 1791, which makes it the oldest public market in the country.
30 min here Walk here → -
Royal Street
Antique shops, galleries and the best cast-iron balconies in the quarter. Closed to cars in the afternoons.
25 min here Walk here → -
Bourbon Street
Loud, sticky and unavoidable. Walk it once, at night, then go one street over.
20 min here Walk here → -
Frenchmen Street
Three blocks just outside the quarter where the locals go for live music. Three or four venues a block, most with no cover.
30 min here Walk here →
More in New Orleans
Every walking route in New Orleans, or the full New Orleans guide for where to stay and what a day costs.