Heads up: a number of the hyperlinks on this website are affiliate hyperlinks. If you click on and make a reserving or buy, I’ll make a fee (at no further price to you). I companion with firms I personally use and the $$ goes in the direction of creating extra superior, free journey content material.
While most individuals go to New Orleans for the French Quarter and get together vibes, my favourite a part of town is the leafy Garden District, which is thought for its tree-lined streets and exquisite mansion houses. It’s a really peaceable space and feels prefer it’s worlds away from the chaos of Bourbon Street.
Exploring the Garden District ought to take about half a day and is unquestionably price together with in your New Orleans itinerary. To enable you plan your go to, I’ve put collectively a listing of the very best issues to do within the Garden District, in addition to data on easy methods to get there.
Where is the Garden District?
The Garden District is positioned southwest of the French Quarter within the eleventh Ward of New Orleans. This leafy neighborhood is a part of Uptown New Orleans, that means upriver from the Mississippi River. Its official boundaries are St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south, and Toledano Street to the west. You can see the place it’s on a map right here:
It’s a couple of fifteen minute drive from the French Quarter or a 50 minute stroll. If you journey by streetcar, the journey ought to take round half-hour.
How to Get to the Garden District, New Orleans
To get to the Garden District from the French Quarter, take the historic St. Charles Streetcar (inexperienced and brown), which runs 24 hours a day, seven days per week. If you don’t need to take public transportation, it’s also possible to order an Uber or hail a taxi.
The finest manner to purchase tickets for the streetcar is by downloading the Le Pass app, which lets you examine schedules and buy tickets. A single experience prices $1.25, however for those who plan on using it just a few instances, you should buy a Jazzy Pass for limitless rides. A single day cross prices $3, so for those who plan on using the streetcar, bus or ferry greater than 2 instances, it’s price it.
If you may’t obtain the app then it’s also possible to purchase a single ticket in money from the driving force if you board the trolley, or you should buy tickets from merchandising machines alongside Canal Street and sure shops across the metropolis.
In the French Quarter you may catch the streetcar from the nook of Canal Street and Carondelet Street, or on the nook of St. Charles Street and Common Street.
The finest cease to get off the streetcar if you attain the Garden District is St. Charles at Washington, which is near Lafayette Cemetery No 1. However, there are quite a few stops alongside St. Charles Ave so it doesn’t matter an excessive amount of which one you select.
When you attain your cease, simply pull the twine above the home windows to inform the driving force you need to get off.
Why Is It Called the Garden District?
The Garden District was developed within the nineteenth century, extra particularly from 1832 to 1900. The space was as soon as residence to quite a few plantations, which have been finally offered off in parcels to rich newcomers who didn’t need to reside within the French Quarter with the Creoles.
The district was deliberate by New Orleans architect Barthelemy Lafon and initially featured solely two homes per block, every surrounded by a big backyard. This is how the Garden District obtained its title!
Eventually a number of the tons have been subdivided with extra homes constructed. This is why you’ll see a wide range of nineteenth century mansions interspersed with homes from the late Victorian interval.
Things to Do within the Garden District, New Orleans
As I discussed beforehand, you may get off the streetcar anyplace on St. Charles Ave however most individuals go for St. Charles & Washington as a result of it’s near Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. From this cease, you may simply wander across the tree-lined streets of the Garden District as the realm could be very walkable. Below are a number of the high issues to do within the Garden District.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
FAQs About Visiting the Garden District, NOLA
Apparently Sandra Bullock and John Goodman stay within the Garden District. Nicholas Cage, Anne Rice, Peyton Manning’s household and Beyonce & Jay-Z have additionally owned houses there sooner or later or one other.
Yes, the Garden District is completely price visiting! It’s my favourite a part of New Orleans as a result of it’s so peaceable, inexperienced and exquisite.
Yes, the Garden District is completely walkable. That’s the great thing about it! The streets all have pavements so you may wander round and admire the beautiful mansions and gardens.
Yes you may drive by way of the Garden District in New Orleans. The roads are organized in a grid sample and the cross streets (roads working north to south) are one-way. Avenues similar to St Charles Ave, Coliseum St and Magazine St are two-way. Driving by way of the Garden District you’ll have the ability to see loads of oak bushes and mansions by way of your automotive window.
If it’s your first time visiting New Orleans I might keep close to the French Quarter since that is the place all the main points of interest are. You’ll most likely spend most of your time round Bourbon and Frenchmen Street, so it’s finest to remain shut so you may simply get round on foot.
The Garden District is a 30-minute streetcar experience away, so for those who keep there you’ll should commute on the streetcar or spend cash on Ubers. That being mentioned, the Garden District is beautiful and really peaceable, so that you received’t be woken up by road noise. If you don’t thoughts spending time touring to and from the French Quarter, then you might actually take pleasure in it.
A Final Word
The Garden District is gorgeous at any time of yr and is likely one of the finest issues to do in New Orleans. If you’re visiting NOLA in summertime the climate can get highly regarded and humid, so I’d counsel visiting within the morning after which cooling off at a lodge pool through the afternoon!
For extra inspiration, try my USA journey information, which options my newest weblog posts, itineraries and sensible data for touring the USA.