Home Walking tours by city New Orleans
Self-Guided Walking Tours in New Orleans
The French Quarter is not French — almost all of it burned in 1788 and 1794 and was rebuilt under Spanish rule, which is why the ironwork balconies and courtyards look nothing like Paris.
That is the sort of thing that changes a walk entirely, and you would never guess it from the buildings alone. New Orleans is a city where almost every surface has a story attached and almost none of them are signposted. The Quarter is thirteen blocks by six, flat, and walkable in an afternoon — but the Garden District, the Marigny and the cemeteries are what make it a city rather than a set.
Takes about a minute. New Orleans is already filled in — choose your time, pace and interests and the route is planned around them.
What to build a New Orleans walking tour around
Jackson Square and St Louis Cathedral
The oldest continuously operating cathedral site in the United States, facing a square that was a parade ground and an execution site.
The French Quarter's ironwork
Spanish colonial in origin. Cast iron came later, in the 1850s — the delicate lace patterns are Victorian, the simpler wrought iron is older.
The Garden District
Built by Americans who were not welcome in the Creole Quarter, so they built bigger, on former plantation land, a streetcar ride upriver.
The St Charles streetcar
Running since 1835, the oldest continuously operating street railway in the world. The olive-green cars have no air conditioning by design.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
Above-ground tombs, because the water table is too high for burial. Families reuse tombs across generations — the heat effectively cremates.
Frenchmen Street
Where the live music actually is. Locals go here rather than Bourbon Street, and have for decades.
Three routes worth walking in New Orleans
The French Quarter, beyond Bourbon
Royal and Chartres rather than Bourbon, the courtyards, the Cabildo, the French Market and the Mississippi levee walk.
Garden District and the streetcar
The St Charles line uptown, the mansions, Lafayette Cemetery and Magazine Street back down.
Marigny and Frenchmen Street
The Creole cottages, the Crescent Park riverfront and Frenchmen's music blocks in the evening.
Practical notes for walking New Orleans
- Terrain and surfaces
- Flat — the highest natural ground is the river levee. Pavements are cracked and root-buckled almost everywhere, and the heat and humidity from June to September are the real constraint.
- Best time to walk
- February to May and October to November. Summer is 32°C with 90% humidity and daily thunderstorms; hurricane season runs June to November.
- Driving here
- The Quarter is best on foot but driving opens up the River Road plantations, the Barataria swamp boardwalks and the Lake Pontchartrain causeway.
- Size
- New Orleans, Louisiana, United States — population about 380,000.
Neighbourhoods worth a route of their own
Not just walking
The same route planner covers New Orleans on foot, at a run, by bike, by car and with wheelchair-accessible routing that avoids steps and kerbs rather than simply relabelling the walking route. Pick the way you are getting around and the stops, distances and timings are planned for it.
Start one now for New Orleans: driving tour · wheelchair-accessible route · cycling tour
Or read more: self-guided driving tours · accessible tours · audio tours
Questions about walking New Orleans
Is the French Quarter safe to walk?
The busy central blocks are heavily policed and generally fine; awareness matters more after dark and on the quieter edges toward Rampart Street. Standard city caution, and travel in company late at night.
Why are New Orleans cemeteries above ground?
The water table sits within a couple of feet of the surface, so buried coffins floated. Above-ground tombs solved it, and the Louisiana heat inside them means a tomb can be reused by a family every year or two.
What is a self-guided walking tour?
A route you walk on your own schedule, with the commentary delivered to your phone instead of by a guide. There is no meeting point and no group — you start when you want, stop as long as you like at anything that interests you, and skip anything that does not.
How is this different from a guided walking tour?
A guided tour runs to someone else's schedule and someone else's route, and it covers what the guide covers. This builds the route around the time you actually have, the pace you want to walk at and the things you said you were interested in — and it will wait as long as you like at any stop.
Can I do a driving tour instead of walking?
Yes. Walking, running, cycling, driving and wheelchair-accessible routing are all supported, and each uses routing built for that mode — a driving tour follows roads and sensible parking, a walking tour uses paths and crossings.
Other cities
- Self-guided walking tours in New York City
- Self-guided walking tours in San Francisco
- Self-guided walking tours in Boston
- Self-guided walking tours in Washington, D.C.
- Self-guided walking tours in Chicago
- All 43 city guides
A 24-hour pass is $6.95 and covers unlimited tours. Joining someone else’s tour is free.