48 Hours in New Orleans: Music, Beignets and Quiet Courtyards

New Orleans rewards slow walkers. See the French Quarter in the morning, before the crowds, and save your evenings for live music on Frenchmen Street. Two days is not nearly enough to know this city, but it is enough to fall for it: the smell of powdered sugar and chicory coffee at dawn, the rattle of a green streetcar under the live oaks, a trumpet solo drifting out of a club door at midnight. Here is how we spent forty-eight unhurried hours, with plenty of time left over to sit in a courtyard and do nothing at all.

Best time Feb–May · Stay 2 days · Budget $$

Before you go

February through May is the sweet spot. The weather is mild, the azaleas are blooming and the city is full of festivals. Summer is hot and sticky, and late summer and fall bring hurricane season, so keep an eye on the forecast and buy flexible bookings if you go then. If your dates overlap with Mardi Gras or a major music festival, book a room months ahead and expect higher prices.

Stay in or near the French Quarter, the Marigny or the Central Business District so you can walk almost everywhere. You will not need a car for this trip. Streetcars, your own two feet and the occasional rideshare will cover everything. Pack comfortable shoes, a light rain jacket and a small bag you can carry all day.

One more tip: reserve your dinners. The city’s best-loved restaurants, from old-line Creole dining rooms to tiny neighborhood spots, fill up quickly on weekends. Book one or two special meals ahead, and leave the rest of your eating to chance, whether that means a po’boy at a corner shop or a plate of oysters at a counter.

Morning in the Quarter

Beignets at sunrise, a walk along the river and a self-guided tour of the old courtyards and balconies. That was our plan for the first morning, and it is the single best piece of advice we can give anyone visiting New Orleans. Between about 6:30 and 9 a.m., the Quarter belongs to shopkeepers hosing down sidewalks, delivery trucks and a handful of early risers. By noon, the main streets are packed.

Start with a plate of beignets, hot and buried under powdered sugar, and a café au lait. Wear dark clothing at your own risk. From there, walk down to the riverfront and watch the barges and paddle wheelers on the Mississippi. The Moonwalk promenade is quiet and breezy in the early morning.

Then wander. Jackson Square is at its prettiest before the artists and performers set up. Head down Royal Street and Chartres Street and look up: the iron-lace balconies dripping with ferns and flowers are the signature of the Quarter. Peek through open carriage gates and you will often glimpse hidden courtyards with fountains, banana trees and old brick walls. Many hotels and restaurants let visitors step into their courtyards if you ask politely.

A short courtyard walk

1. Begin at Jackson Square and the cathedral steps.
2. Walk down Chartres Street, past the old convent and townhouses.
3. Turn onto Royal Street for antique shops and balconies.
4. Duck into any open courtyard café for a second coffee.
5. Finish on quieter Dauphine and Burgundy Streets, where locals still live.

The Garden District

Take the St. Charles streetcar uptown, walk past the old mansions and have lunch on Magazine Street. The St. Charles line is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, and the ride itself is half the experience. Grab a window seat on the left side heading uptown, pay the small fare in exact change or with the transit app, and let the city slide by under a canopy of live oaks.

Get off around Washington Avenue and walk into the Garden District. This neighborhood was built by wealthy families in the 1800s, and many of the grand homes are still lovingly kept, with columned porches, wraparound galleries and gardens full of magnolias and camellias. Most are private residences, so admire them from the sidewalk. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, with its above-ground tombs, sits right in the middle of the neighborhood. Check its current visiting hours before you go, since access has changed over the years.

Magazine Street runs for about six miles and is lined with antique stores, boutiques, cafés and po’boy shops. Find a casual spot with a sidewalk table and order a roast beef po’boy “dressed,” which means with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. Spend the afternoon browsing, then catch the streetcar back downtown for a rest before the evening.

Music at night

Frenchmen Street has three or four great clubs on one block, most with no cover charge. This is where many locals go to hear music, and it feels very different from the crowded, neon-lit stretch of Bourbon Street a few blocks away. Bands play jazz, brass, blues, funk and swing, often starting around 7 or 8 p.m. and going well past midnight.

The etiquette is simple. If there is no cover, buy at least one drink per set and drop a few dollars in the tip jar when it comes around. Move from club to club, catching a set here and a set there. The street itself often has a brass band or a pop-up art market, and the energy builds as the night goes on.

Carry small bills for tips. The street musicians are some of the best in the country.

Local guide Andre Baptiste

Andre Baptiste, who has led walking tours in the city for years, told us that some of the best music he has ever heard came from teenagers playing on a street corner. “Don’t just walk by. Stop for a song. That’s where the next generation of great New Orleans players is getting started.”

Day two and a swamp tour

On the second morning, sleep in a little, then head outside the city for a swamp tour. Many small, family-run operators run boat trips through the bayous within an hour’s drive of downtown, and most offer hotel pickup. Expect cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, herons, turtles and, almost certainly, a few alligators sunning on the banks. Go in the morning when wildlife is most active and the air is cooler, and bring sunscreen, bug spray and a hat.

Back in town, spend the afternoon on whatever caught your eye on day one. Some ideas:

• A cooking class where you learn to make gumbo or pralines
• The French Market for snacks, local hot sauces and souvenirs
• A slow walk through the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods to see colorful shotgun houses and street murals
• An early dinner of red beans and rice, crawfish in season or a muffuletta to share

End your trip back on Frenchmen Street, or in a quiet courtyard bar with a ceiling fan turning overhead. That combination of music and stillness is what New Orleans does better than anywhere else.

Don’t miss

• Beignets before 8 a.m.
• The St. Charles streetcar
• Live jazz on Frenchmen Street
• A swamp tour outside the city

Key takeaway: Mornings in the Quarter, afternoons uptown, nights on Frenchmen. Walk slowly, tip generously and leave room in the schedule for whatever the city throws your way.

Forty-eight hours in New Orleans will leave you wanting more, and that is fine. Most visitors come back. Next time, you will know where to find the quiet courtyards, which streetcar seat has the best view and which corner of Frenchmen Street has the band you have been humming ever since you got home.