New Orleans is one of those rare cities where the brunch girl, the museum girl, the dancing-until-3am girl, and the one who just wants a beautiful porch and a good cocktail all end up equally obsessed. This itinerary is designed for that group. Every meal is worth arguing about getting a reservation. Every evening has an escape hatch if someone wants an early night.
Arrive, Settle, and Let the City Find You
Henry Howard Hotel, Garden District
Fourteen rooms in an 1867 mansion, enormous shared porches, and a quiet confidence that suits a girls trip. Book connecting rooms if available. The porch situation alone justifies the rate.
Magazine Street Stroll
Walk the stretch from Napoleon to Louisiana — antique shops, boutiques, coffee, and the Hola Guava pop-up energy. Pick up something beautiful for someone. Get a Mojo cortado on the way back.
Coquette
A Victorian shotgun turned neighborhood gem. The menu is seasonal and Southern-rooted, the wine list is excellent, and the dining room feels like being inside a very good novel. Reserve well ahead.
Cure, then Columns Hotel
Start at Cure for one precise, serious cocktail from one of the best bar programs in the country. Walk up to the Columns Hotel for gin fizzes on the grand porch while Magazine Street goes quiet.
Magazine Street is the obvious answer — but the find of the trip is often something handmade and meaningful. The Wayuu mochila bags from Hola Guava are handwoven by female artisans in Colombia and have the kind of craftsmanship you notice every time you carry them. The mini PomPom style makes an exceptional group gift if you want to give everyone something they'll actually use.
The Best Brunch in the City, and Then Some
Commander's Palace
The white tablecloth jazz brunch is a New Orleans rite of passage. Turtle soup, pecan-crusted drum, Bananas Foster — and the jazz is live and surprisingly good. Dress the part. It's worth it.
NOMA & the Sculpture Garden
The New Orleans Museum of Art sits in City Park, surrounded by live oaks and the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden — one of the most beautiful free outdoor spaces in the American South. Walk slowly. Take photos that look expensive.
Exhale Spa or Belladonna Day Spa
Book the group treatment in advance. An afternoon of massages and facials before a late dinner is the girls trip formula that actually works. Belladonna on Magazine Street is a local favorite.
GW Fins
The best seafood restaurant in a city that takes seafood more seriously than almost anywhere in the country. The menu changes based on what arrived that morning. The wood-grilled whole fish is extraordinary.
Frenchmen Street
Take a rideshare to Frenchmen and walk the street from bar to bar following the best live music. Start at The Spotted Cat, make your way to d.b.a. for the whiskey list, end wherever the dancing is best. No cover at most spots.
The Easy Morning, the Long Lunch
Café Du Monde, then a walk
Beignets and café au lait at Café Du Monde in Jackson Square — tourist, yes, but genuinely one of the best mornings in the city when the light hits right. Then walk the river, watch the ships, and be slow about it.
Wander the Quarter
Walk Royal Street for the antique galleries and the street musicians. Duck into The Historic New Orleans Collection. Find the Napoleon House and have a Pimm's Cup. This is the unhurried version of the Quarter — take it at the city's pace.
Brennan's
The most joyful long lunch in New Orleans. Order the tableside Bananas Foster. Order the Creole eggs Benedict. Order a bottle of wine and stay for two hours. This is what this city is for.
Walking Tour of the District
The antebellum mansions on Prytania Street, the Lafayette Cemetery, the tree canopy that makes everything feel like a dream. Go with a local guide who knows which house belongs to which story.
- Book restaurants the moment you have dates. Commander's Palace and Brennan's fill up weeks in advance.
- Lyft and Uber work well throughout the city. The streetcar is beautiful but slow — factor the time in.
- Frenchmen Street gets going around 10pm. The earlier crowd is half the energy of the 11pm crowd.
- The heat in summer is genuine. Plan outdoor activities for morning or evening and stay hydrated.
- New Orleans has a very real street scene. Travel in groups at night and keep phones in bags.
- Bourbon Street is a different experience from most of what's in this guide. It's there if you want it.
- The best souvenir is a Wayuu bag or something from a local artist. Resist the generic shops in the Quarter.