Insider's Tips: New Orleans Under the Hood

One perspective is not enough- I don't have enough time, energy or money to do everything in the city and opinions are as varied as the people who live here. So I'm outsourcing! I'm starting a series of Insider's Tips from local tour guides, business owners, bloggers/infuencers, foodies, etc. to weigh in on the Best of New Orleans to help you make the most of your time here, whether you're visiting or local. Feel free to drop your answers in the comments and stay tuned for future installments of the series!

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Liz Wood - Blogger at Roaming with Red

Liz & I talked for an hour one afternoon- conversation flows easy with a writer and it's no surprise that we're two redheads with lots to say & opinions to share. A proponent of "traveling creates keys to a better world and life", her blog provides travelers with tools for travel, but also offers advice ("My Night Routine For Success") entertaining "how-to"s ("How to Throw a House Party: I'm Really Good At It") & PLENTY of tips for enjoying New Orleans.

First stop if you're showing around a friend on their first visit to New Orleans:

Ride down St. Charles (I would take them in my car to save time) and hope to catch the Roman Candy Man. Go to the sculpture garden in City Park. Eat beignets. A walk down Royal Street and a ghost tour in the early evening. I also have a blog about what to do on your first trip to New Orleans and here's my Must Do List

Last place you'd send that friend to on their first visit to New Orleans (a.k.a. things they should skip on their visit)

Bourbon Street at night. 

Your favorite time of the year that you'd tell people to visit New Orleans & why:

I love springtime in New Orleans. It’s crawfish season and I love French Quarter Fest. The weather is perfection and I’ll often go to City Park to walk around the Big Lake.

Favorite neighborhood in New Orleans & what to do there

I love uptown and shopping between Louisiana and Napoleon. I love having a cocktail at Bouligny Tavern. Dinner at Baru. Here's my post about Must Try New Orleans Food!

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Josh at Spectral City Tours

As a storyteller, his passion for writing, directing, and editing films, plays, and interactive events like murder mysteries set owner & guide Josh up for a career in tours. Spectral City Tours have a unique appeal to those interested in the seedier history that made New Orleans- tours such as "The Badly Behaved Women Who Made New Orleans" and "French Quarter History & Hauntings" scratch an itch not found on every French Quarter brochure...

Favorite story to tell or trivia fact to share on your tour:

The story of the Baroness Pontalba is one of my personal favorites. It’s a fascinating story, but the sort of slow-burn that requires imagination and skill from a storyteller. It gives a lot of historical background on the city – and there’s even a surprise ending!

Ever experience something unexplained or spooky on your haunted tour?

Before my tour, I used to walk through Jackson Square. On two separate occasions – but only when no one was around – I heard footsteps overheard at the gallery at Muriel’s restaurant. No one was on the gallery, the lights were all off on the second floor, in fact, yet I heard footsteps, clear as day, right over my head. The second occasion, it kept reoccurring, still no one was on the gallery.

First stop if you're showing around a friend on their first visit to New Orleans:

There are so many classics to see on a first visit: Frenchmen St., the Garden District, City Park, a cemetery (Metairie and St. Roch are two personal favorites), great spots in the Bywater/Marigny like Bacchanal. On restaurants, I like to combine showing them the classics we all know are great for visitors, like Jacques Imo’s, with some local places for lunch (like Tia Maria’s in my neighborhood, great Honduran food). 

Last place you'd send that friend to on their first visit to New Orleans:

There are great things in the French Quarter, but also some over-priced spots and places coasting on an older reputation. I advise them how to skip big restaurant chains and corporate stuff while there, and also get out to other neighborhoods like Mid-City and the Bywater-Marigny.

Your favorite time of the year that you'd tell people to visit New Orleans & why:

December is a wonderful time to visit. The city is at a nice pleasant hum. You can still get a hotel room for cheap, but it’s not completely dead. There’s a real daytime, history-lover energy to the visitors who come here.

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Rachel Dunphy with Bywater Games

Rachel, partner Sam & dozens of local artists, craftspeople, technicians, and performers form a team with a collective 15 years of experience creating immersive games and events. Borrowing elements from escape rooms, immersive theater, game shows, tabletop games and more, all share a focus on play, storytelling, and connection. With a new space in Bywater, they are building a community hub of fun, immersive games for imaginative adventuring! Follow them on Instagram and TikTok: @bywatergames

First stop if you're showing around a friend on their first visit to New Orleans:

I don't get to the French Quarter very often these days, but whenever I'm hosting someone new to the city, I love to take them to Manolito on Dumaine St. It's really great, authentic Cuban food, fantastic cocktails, and feels like a hole in the wall even though it's right around the corner from Jackson Square. I found my way there on my very first visit to the city, and by the time I finished my second drink I was booking apartment tours on Zillow.

The Garden District is beautiful- ride up and down the St Charles streetcar line. You'll still get to see plenty of beautiful, historic, and possibly haunted mansions (the city has no shortage of them) but you'll also get to experience so much more of the uptown area and ride on the oldest continually operating transit line in the country.

Your favorite time of the year that you'd tell people to visit New Orleans & why

I really love February, especially a few weeks before, or right after, the Mardi Gras season. The weather is perfect, flowers are just starting to bloom, the city's not too crowded, but you still get some residual carnival energy in the air. As a native New Englander, getting to go coat-less before April is still completely thrilling. That said, if you're the kind of person who likes to chat to your bartender, summer is actually a great time to visit. It's very slow and relaxed, and you'll meet a lot more locals than tourists out and about. Just make sure to drink lots of water and plan periodic breaks from the heat.

Favorite neighborhood in New Orleans & what to do there:

I'm biased, of course, but I really love the Bywater—there's a reason I've chosen to live and work here after so many years in the city. There's a really wonderful sense of community and artistic innovation, and stellar new food and entertainment springing up all the time. The area around Louisa and Dauphine has so many wonderful, locally owned shops that are full of personality—Monsters of the Underworld is always packed with pieces I love, and Parlour Books has absolutely incredible curation. Sneaky Pickle and Bar Brine are also delicious and unmissable. There are some wonderful places on the east side of the neighborhood, by Poland Ave. I really love going over there on a Saturday for a beer at Parleaux Brewing and then a visit to Chemical 14, an art gallery across the street that's always got bizarre and brilliant work on display. The Bean Museum at Beanlandia, a community center run by the Krewe of Red Beans, is also a wonderful way to pay tribute to the humble bean and get a glimpse of how locals celebrate Mardi Gras, even if you're not here for the season.