One Week in New Orleans Without a Car

Why a week works differently when you leave the car at home

Most visitors see New Orleans in three or four days and treat it as a checklist: Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, a plantation, a swamp tour. A full week without a car asks a different question — not how much of the region can you cover, but how well can you get to know the city itself. This itinerary stays inside New Orleans proper: the French Quarter, the Garden District, Tremé, the Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, Mid-City and Algiers Point across the river.

Everything outside that ring — the River Road plantations, the swamps south and west of the city, Cajun country around Lafayette, the Gulf Coast — is deliberately left out, because reaching any of them means a rental car or an organised day tour with hotel pick-up. If you want one of those days, an operator can add it without you ever driving; this plan simply does not build one in.

There is no rail link and no metro to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, or anywhere else in the city. Getting around New Orleans without a car means the RTA streetcar and bus network, the Canal Street ferry, ride-hailing apps, and your own feet — the French Quarter itself is only about 13 blocks by 6, genuinely walkable end to end. See do you need a car in Louisiana and getting around New Orleans by streetcar for the full mechanics before you go.

Day 1: Arrival and the French Quarter grid

Land at MSY, roughly 18 km west of the Quarter and about 25 to 40 minutes by road depending on traffic — there is no train or metro option, only a taxi, a ride-hailing app, a shared shuttle or the slower RTA route 202 bus. Full detail at from MSY airport to the French Quarter.

Once settled, spend the afternoon simply walking the grid of the French Quarter: Jackson Square, St Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytère, then Royal Street for its galleries and antiques rather than Bourbon Street’s bars. Finish at Café du Monde for beignets and chicory coffee before the evening crowd arrives. A gentle first night: dinner nearby, an early stop on Bourbon Street if you’re curious, then bed. See French Quarter walking guide for a route that avoids backtracking.

Day 2: The Quarter after dark, and its history

Morning at the French Market and Decatur Street, then the Presbytère’s Mardi Gras exhibits if the crowds on Day 1 were too thick to linger. In the evening, join a guided walk that covers what a self-guided stroll cannot: the ghost stories, the architecture, and the darker history under the balconies. The Ghosts of the French Quarter Walking Tour runs after sunset and moves through the same blocks you covered by daylight, told very differently.

If you prefer a version that folds in a cemetery stop, the 3-in-1 French Quarter, Cemetery and Voodoo Tour is worth comparing first. Note that St Louis Cemetery No. 1 can only be visited with an authorised guide — there is no independent access — so a guided stop is the only way in; see cemeteries of New Orleans visitor guide.

Day 3: Tremé and the birth of jazz

This is the day the week-long pace pays off: a three-day visitor rarely makes it to Tremé, just north of the Quarter and walkable from it, one of the oldest African American neighbourhoods in the country. Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square are where much of the city’s music began, and the neighbourhood’s museums and murals tell that story directly — see Tremé and the birth of jazz and African American heritage in New Orleans.

In the evening, walk or take a short ride-hail to Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny, the strip locals actually point visitors toward for live music, as distinct from Bourbon Street. Compare the two properly first at Frenchmen Street vs Bourbon Street. If a brass band happens to pass as a second line, remember it is a neighbourhood event, not a staged show — watch from the side, don’t join uninvited.

Day 4: The Garden District and the St Charles streetcar

Ride the St Charles streetcar — the oldest continuously operating street railway in the world — uptown into the Garden District and its antebellum mansions. Walk the quiet, oak-lined streets slowly rather than photographing every house, and stop at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, whose above-ground tombs are one of the city’s most photographed sights and, unlike St Louis No. 1, can be visited independently at posted hours.

A guided version fills in what the plaques don’t: the Tombs and Mansions of the Garden District tour covers both the architecture and the cemetery’s history in about two hours, and the City Cemetery Tour and Garden District Stroll is a slower alternative if you’d rather linger. See Garden District and the streetcar guide and Garden District walking tours before choosing.

Day 5: Mid-City, City Park and the ferry to Algiers Point

Take the Canal Street streetcar out to Mid-City and spend the morning in City Park — one of the largest urban parks in the country, with the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden set among live oaks. It’s a full change of pace from the Quarter’s density, detailed at City Park and the sculpture garden.

In the afternoon, head back toward the river and take the Canal Street ferry across to Algiers Point — a short, cheap crossing with one of the best views back at the skyline, and a neighbourhood of its own small shops and quiet streets. This is exactly the kind of half-day a three-day itinerary has no room for. Evening: the Warehouse Arts District and, if WWII history interests you, the National WWII Museum deserves an afternoon on its own another day — see the National WWII Museum visitor guide.

Day 6: An organised day out, or a deeper city day

This is the day where, if you’re tempted by the plantations, the swamps, or Lafayette, you can take it without touching a rental car: a tour with hotel pick-up and drop-off handles the road entirely, and this itinerary doesn’t detail which one to choose or spend the day describing what’s outside city limits — that’s covered on the destination pages for the River Road plantations, bayou country and Cajun country if you want to add it.

If you’d rather stay in the city, this is a good day for the museums you skipped — the museums of New Orleans guide — or a slower loop back through Bywater’s murals and coffee shops downriver from the Marigny. In the evening, a different angle on the ghost-story theme: the Haunted Pub Crawl mixes several French Quarter bars with the same folklore the walking tours cover, at a more social pace.

Day 7: A last slow morning, and departure

Keep the last day light. A final walk through whichever neighbourhood you liked best — many visitors find themselves back on Royal Street or drifting toward Frenchmen Street one more time — and a last coffee at Café du Monde or one of the smaller Marigny cafés. Time your departure with the same lack of rail link in mind: budget the same 25 to 40 minutes to MSY as on arrival, more if you’re travelling during Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest season when the streets and the roads to the airport are busier. See is the streetcar easy for visitors for a last check on timing if your flight is early.

What this week leaves out, on purpose

Nothing here involves driving, and nothing assumes you’ll rent a car. That means Oak Alley, Whitney Plantation, the Barataria Preserve’s swamp boardwalks, Lafayette’s Cajun and zydeco scene, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are outside this itinerary’s scope, even though they’re all within a two-hour drive of the Quarter.

If a week feels long for the city alone and you want to add one of them, do it as a single organised day trip with hotel pick-up rather than trying to self-drive — but that’s a different plan from this one. For a shorter, denser version of the city-only week, see three days in New Orleans; for the car-based alternative, four days: New Orleans and a plantation.

FAQ: doing a week in New Orleans without a car

Is a week too long for New Orleans if you’re only staying in the city?

Not if you slow down. A week lets you add Tremé, Mid-City, City Park and Algiers Point to the usual French Quarter and Garden District core — neighbourhoods a three-day visit rarely reaches on foot or by streetcar.

How do you get from the airport without a rental car?

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) has no rail or metro connection. Options are a taxi, a ride-hailing app, a shared shuttle, or the RTA route 202 bus, which is cheap but slow and not built for heavy luggage.

Can you visit the plantations or swamps without driving?

Only with an organised tour that includes hotel pick-up and drop-off. This itinerary leaves them out entirely, but any of the days can be swapped for one if you want to add a single trip outside the city.

Is the RTA streetcar enough to get around the city?

For the areas this itinerary covers, yes: the St Charles, Canal Street, Riverfront and Rampart–St Claude lines plus the bus network and the Canal Street ferry reach the French Quarter, Garden District, Mid-City, Tremé’s edge and Algiers Point. A multi-day Jazzy Pass is worth it over a week.

Do you need a car for Frenchmen Street or Bywater at night?

No, both are walkable from the French Quarter and Marigny, though a short ride-hail is sensible late at night rather than walking long stretches in the dark, as is standard advice anywhere in the city.

Can you visit St Louis Cemetery No. 1 on your own during this week?

No. St Louis Cemetery No. 1 can only be entered with an authorised guide; an independent visit is not possible. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District can be visited independently at posted hours.