Tips for traveling to New Orleans?

[WichitaDM]

Staying near canal street, 2 blocks from french quarter for a week. What are going to be some cant miss things to do? Include nightlife, restraunts, and attractions. Is there anything i need to be prepared for post-katrina still? I have never been and so am looking for some real life experience rather than just reading website reviews/suggestions. Thanks.

[RunDownHouse]

If you're farther away than 5-6 hours by car, consider flying. Other than that, I don't think there are any real tips for traveling to NO.

[Pokeraddict]

Harrah's is down by the river. You can drink 24/7 there or virtually anywhere in the quarter. Most of that area had little or no damage. If you like to gamble there is also a Boomtown Casino on the West Bank. The West Bank had very little damage as well. Just keep in mind that once you leave the French Quarter virtually everything in the city more then a few blocks off the river was flooded on that side of the river and most of what is NE, N and NW wasn't a good place to begin with. Stay downtown and you should have a blast.

[JackInDaCrak]

New Orleans locals are generally very slutty.

[Claunchy]

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The West Bank had very little damage as well.

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Eh...I wouldn't really say that. I have family in Gretna that got hit pretty hard.

Anyway, OP:

Food: Beignets and Cafe Au Lait are pretty standard for breakfast. Cafe Du Monde on Decatur is where pretty much everyone goes, but some of the smaller places in the Quarter are just as good and way less crowded.
Muffalettas at Central Grocery are also really good. As far as seafood goes, you can't really go wrong anywhere IME. It's all fresh and good and relatively inexpensive.

Nightlife: Just walk around Bourbon and get drunk on hand grenades and/or Abita beer. Uptown's also kind of a cool area if for some reason you get sick of the Bourbon Street scene.

I wouldn't recommend wasting a ton of time at Harrah's just because there are other less cool cities you can go to and sit in a casino. But to each his own.

[riverdance]

plug your nose. the city stunk before katrina, and i'm sure all that standing water didn't help.

[mason55]

I was there around this time last year. When we went we were driving across the US with no real plan, so we stopped into the welcome center in New Orleans. We got an amazing hotel room right in the French Quarter for $50/night. We ended up staying for like a week just because it was so fun and cheap.


Anyway, my point is, go to the welcome center and see if they are still doing crazy deals to get tourists to come back. I would imagine they have all kinds of good stuff still.

[WichitaDM]

To clarify i am going down there for a few weeks for the circuit event so will be spending some time at harrahs during the day and early evenings, but hope to get out most nights to the french quarter. Just a few quick questions

1)are drinks free at harrahs?
2)is parking free at harrahs? (i am flying, but a friend of mine from mobile is going and he will be driving)
3)any place specific that is a cant miss spot in the FQ? I realize its probably more of a stumble around and do whatever area, but having never been there i hafta ask. Thanks for the answers they are much appreciated.

[WichitaDM]

Oh and i forgot to ask. How much effect does katrina still have on the quality of New Orleans in the area i will be staying in (Harrahs to FQ approx) thanks

[Claunchy]

Drinks are definitely free at Harrah's, and I'm not 100% sure, but I think parking is also free.

Can't think of a "OMG U MUST GO HERE" spot in the FQ really. I guess hurricanes at Pat O'Brian's is a pretty big touristy thing to do.

Katrina has absolutely no effect on the area you'll be in. That part of NO didn't really get messed up from the hurricane, and what parts of it that did were fixed up quickly.