New Orleans · 2-day itinerary
2 Days in New Orleans: A Weekend for Grown-Ups
A weekend in New Orleans is short, so this plan keeps you in two walkable areas and skips anything that means waiting in long queues. Expect two great dinners, two kinds of jazz and at least one very good cocktail.
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Day 1: French Quarter
Arrive by lunchtime if you can.
Late lunch
Galatoire's
209 Bourbon St, French Quarter
French Creole classics in a mirrored dining room; gentlemen need jackets after 5 p.m. and all day Sunday.
French Creole cooking in a mirrored, paddle-fanned dining room that has barely changed in a century. Friday lunch is a long, lively local ritual; dinner is calmer.
Early evening
Preservation Hall
726 St. Peter St, French Quarter
A short, perfect set of traditional jazz.
The small, plain room that has kept traditional New Orleans jazz alive since the 1960s. Several short concerts run each evening with a rotating line-up of the Preservation All Stars and other house bands.
Evening
Arnaud's French 75 Bar
813 Bienville St, French Quarter
A French 75 made with cognac in a late-1800s bar.
A wood-panelled bar from the late 1800s inside Arnaud's, home to a James Beard Award-winning bar program. Order the namesake French 75, made with cognac here.
Late
Carousel Bar & Lounge
Hotel Monteleone, Royal St
Take a turn on the revolving bar.
The city's only revolving bar: a 25-seat carousel that turns once every 15 minutes, in the hotel where Faulkner, Capote and Tennessee Williams drank. Live music plays in the lounge nightly.
Day 2: Beignets, Bywater and Frenchmen
Early sugar, a backyard afternoon, a music night.
Morning
Café Du Monde
French Market, Decatur St
Go early to beat the line.
The 1862 coffee stand for beignets and café au lait with chicory. Touristy, yes, and still worth it early in the morning or late in the evening when the line is short.
Afternoon into evening
Bacchanal Wine
600 Poland Ave, Bywater
Pick a bottle, order cheese and small plates, and sit in the garden while the band plays.
A wine shop with a big backyard: pick a bottle, add cheese or small plates and settle in under the lights while a band plays. Live music every night.
Night
d.b.a.
618 Frenchmen St
Frenchmen Street, a short ride back: brass, blues or jazz, and a long drinks list.
A comfortable bar with a deep beer and spirits list and live bands from brass to blues. Big local names play here as well as rising acts.
Late
The Spotted Cat Music Club
623 Frenchmen St
Across the street for one more set.
A small, crowded jazz club on Frenchmen Street with traditional and swing bands from late afternoon until late. People dance; nobody minds if you just listen.
Everything here was checked in September 2026. Music line-ups, hours and prices change often in New Orleans, so confirm before you go and bring cash for the bands.
Questions people ask
What can you do in New Orleans in 2 days?
Spend day one in the French Quarter (Galatoire's, Preservation Hall, Arnaud's French 75 Bar, the Carousel Bar) and day two on beignets, a Bywater wine garden at Bacchanal and live music on Frenchmen Street.