New Orleans
Garden District
Mary Hammel / Unsplash
Antebellum mansions, Magazine Street boutiques, and cemetery tours — the upscale residential counterweight to the French Quarter.
The Garden District was built by the American merchants who settled upriver from the Creole French Quarter in the 19th century and competed to build the most extravagant mansions on the continent. The result is a neighbourhood of extraordinary antebellum architecture — including Anne Rice's former home on Prytania Street — set on wide, oak-canopied streets. Magazine Street runs its length with six miles of independent boutiques, restaurants, and antique shops. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is the neighbourhood's own above-ground cemetery and is included in every NOLA cemetery tour itinerary.
Scores
Walkability
Transit
Price
Local feel
Nightlife
Family-friendly
Centrality
What you gain
- ↑Architecture walks: the Prytania and Coliseum Street mansions are among the finest surviving examples of antebellum residential architecture in the United States — entirely free to walk and photograph
- ↑Commander's Palace on Washington Avenue: one of America's greatest restaurants, serving Creole cuisine at a consistently exceptional level since 1893; the Saturday jazz brunch is one of the great dining experiences in any US city
- ↑Magazine Street: six miles of independent shops, galleries, and restaurants that cater to the neighbourhood rather than tour groups — the best street in New Orleans for browsing without an agenda
What you sacrifice
- ↓Night-life requires a Lyft or the streetcar to the French Quarter or Frenchmen Street — the Garden District quiets down after 10pm
- ↓Magazine Street boutiques can feel expensive; this is an upscale residential neighbourhood and prices reflect it
- ↓The St Charles streetcar is the main transit link — picturesque but slow; getting to the French Quarter on time requires planning
Best for
Avoid if
Other New Orleans neighbourhoods
Frenchmen Street live music, local bars, and the neighbourhood New Orleans musicians actually live in.
Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, and Cafe Du Monde — the most famous neighbourhood in America, for better and worse.
The National WWII Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and a restaurant scene that rivals the French Quarter — with far less noise.
Know where to stay — now find when to go.
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