Solo Female Travel to New Orleans, Louisiana – My Personal Adventure
It goes without saying, that when you are exploring the world on your own, you make safe decisions. Be mindful of your surroundings and look both ways before crossing the street.
If you’re a woman in the world and you’re considering solo travel, I hope I can encourage you to try it! There are of course pro’s and con’s to solo travel, and I’ll give you my personal take on it. I’m making it a point to travel to all the walkable cities. I’m from Los Angeles, and as you may or may not know, L.A. is HUGE and definitely NOT walkable. New Orleans however, is a great walkable city! There’s plenty to do and see, and of course, there’s the nightlife!
My Solo Female Travel Experience in New Orleans, Louisiana
If you’re considering New Orleans for a solo trip, I definitely recommend! New Orleans has a lot to offer so plan your desired activities and leave room for exploring the city. I planned a 4-day trip, arriving in New Orleans on Saturday at 1:45pm and flying back home Tuesday evening. Flight and hotel cost me around $450 with the majority of my hotel cost covered by my Chase travel points. I took a Lyft from the airport to my hotel, which cost me around $40. I stayed at The Troubadour Hotel New Orleans located near the French District. The hotel was nice enough and centrally located to various popular streets where you can find live music and shops. Anywhere I planned to explore took me roughly 15-30 minutes to walk to from my hotel.
The weekend I visited, there were several events happening such as; the annual Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival and the Saints vs Falcons NFL game. I planned for a fun filled weekend of exploration and I hoped to find lots of live music and dancing. On Saturday, I planned to attend the Gumbo Festival, I bought tickets for the Saints game on Sunday, and I booked a swamp tour for Monday! Tuesday, I left open for exploring around town before heading home.
Why I Chose To Travel To New Orleans
I chose New Orleans primarily because it was one of the top destinations I’ve always wanted to visit and because I hoped to find a booming blues/swing dance scene. New Orleans is also one of those places that you think of as offering a rich cultural experience and amazing food, so it was an easy pick!
What Is There To Do In New Orleans?
Most people think of New Orleans and immediately picture Mardi Gras, beads, boobies, and partying! Yes, there’s likely always a bustling nightlife and cleavage to be found, but New Orleans has plenty to offer during the day as well. If you like architecture, you’ll enjoy exploring the French Quarter’s iconic buildings. If you’re into spooky vibes, there are several historical cemeteries you can visit. However, don’t make the mistake I did and show up thinking you can just walk in…you have to actually book a cemetery tour! Hopefully, if I ever visit again, I’ll get to explore the historic tombs. Also, I highly recommend booking a swamp tour, it was a blast! My tour guide was super cool, and since I was the only person not coupled up on the boat, he invited me to sit up next to him. It was definitely a treat!
The Swamps
Have you ever been on an airboat? Those things are fast and loud! Our tour guide had us whipping around through the swamps, so hold onto your hat! We saw lots of little alligators, he showed us how they set bait traps to catch fish and crab, and he took us to his personal favorite quiet place. The moments that we spent gently making our way through shallow waters surrounded by trees and brush were my favorite.
You’ll learn about the history of the swamps, see amazing wildlife, discover a variety of plant life, and learn how swamp culture still thrives today. Afterward, I made my way to a local shop where they sold alligator sausage and smoked boudin, both were delicious!
If you plan to book a swamp tour, the tour bus can pick you up and drop you off at your hotel or at a designated nearby location. The swamp tour was a 10/10 experience.
The Food
Let me just start by saying this…if you’re traveling solo to New Orleans, plan your meals and all the places you want to eat ahead of time. As much as you may want to eat all the foods, you’re one person and your stomach can only handle so much (that’s what I tell myself anyway).
New Orleans is known for its flavorful Creole and Cajun-inspired dishes like Gumbo, Jumbalaya, Po’ Boys and Crawfish Étouffée. I was fortunate enough to have picked a weekend to travel to New Orleans while they were having their annual Gumbo Festival; even so, I could only enjoy so much food.
I figured I’d try the traditional New Orleans dishes, gumbo and étouffée. The gumbo was good, but not so much different than the gumbo my mom used to make, she LOVED gumbo. The étouffée however, I found to be especially delicious. I didn’t get to try the po’ boys, but they smelled amazing!
Most of the places I ate at were preplanned; I eyeballed the menu of one restaurant I really wanted to try ahead of time and saw they served braised duck with orange marmalade and a sweet potato soufflé that sounded absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I didn’t check their reservation requirements and dinner hours like I should have, so I missed out.
While I was in town I had some pretty interesting dishes; if it sounded a little outside the box of what I’d normally eat, I tried it! I stopped in at The Maison on Frenchmen Street for dinner and live music. I tried the BBQ Shrimp and Grits because never in my life had I heard of anyone putting BBQ sauce on grits! It was good and not at all what I expected. The sauce was salty and smoky, not sweet like I originally imagined it would be. To top it off, I had a piece of their Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding à la mode…delicious!
Other notable fare I had on my trip included a delectable peach glazed burger at Fetiche NOLA (a fetish-themed cocktail bar just off Bourbon Street) with a lavender lemonade cocktail, and of course, the famous beignets from Café Du Monde!
Around Town
New Orleans has a lot to offer, whether you’re looking for leisure and enjoying the sights or you prefer to party it up. You’ll likely come across street performers day and night, with their cellos, brass instruments, and makeshift drums filling the air with that old-timey jazz vibe.
You’ll find voodoo shops, art bazaars, bars, and plenty of restaurants.
At night, Bourbon and Fremont street are packed full of people. I don’t recommend walking down empty streets or alley ways alone late at night. Like many major cities in this country, there are people living on the streets, drug activity, and people suffering from mental ailments. It’s better to be safe and call an Uber or Lyft if your needing to get somewhere after dark.
I made my way over to Frenchmen street, which is renowned for its vibrant live music scene. The one thing that surprised me, however, was that there was no one dancing. Most places had a little space in front of the stage for people to get up and dance if they chose, but of all the places I walked past or peeked into, not one couple could be found on a dance floor.
I did find one place that had a swing dance lesson and live music several blocks away from Frenchmen Street. I decided to walk there, but in hindsight, I should have taken a Lyft. It wasn’t too far of a walk but once you leave the 2 block strip of restaurants and cafés, the street becomes pretty dead and dark. I passed a group of men sitting in front of a building and one of them started calling to me. I shook my head no, picked up my pace, and kept walking.
I had such an interesting experience upon arriving to this place called AllWays Lounge and Cabaret. At one side of the room was a girl sitting alone at a high-top, so I went over and sat at a table near her. Then another girl came in alone and sat at a table near us, and then yet another girl walked in and sat nearby. We all kind of looked at each other, and I asked them if they wanted to sit together. We gathered at a single table and started talking. Each of us were in town solo, two of them were there for work, me and the other for travel. I thought it was so funny how we all had the same idea to go swing dancing. We hung out, exchanged Instagram’s, and had a lovely night of dancing.
I did find it a bit hard to get a dance with someone. Most people arrived with their friend groups and would mostly just dance with each other. I asked someone about the lack of dancing at most venues and learned that the dance scene never really recovered after COVID. I did get to dance with some really fun dancers though and enjoyed conversation with the locals.
What It’s Like Traveling Alone As A Woman In New Orleans
The great thing about traveling alone for me personally, is that I can go where I want, when I want, and take as much time as I want. Wandering around New Orleans during the day felt pretty safe. The weekend I was there especially, there were tons of people in town for the football game. Let me tell you, if you’ve never been to an NFL game before, you absolutely must go, even if you’re solo! I walked from my hotel to the Caesers Superdome stadium, the street was filled with people heading to the game. The energy in the air was magnetic, and inside the stadium, electric! This was my first NFL game and I’m very happy that I chose to treat myself, 10/10 experience!
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Plenty to see and do, probably more than you can get into for a short 3 day trip.
- Great live music scene.
- The food.
Cons
- Doesn’t feel as safe at night.
- Some areas don’t look/feel quite as authentic – possibly due to heavy tourism.
- Minimal dance scene for swing/blues dancers.
Reflections: What I Gained From Solo Travel In New Orleans
This was my very first solo trip, so I was a bit apprehensive about being on my own and whether it was safe. But I know myself well enough to trust that I have a pretty good awareness of my surroundings. I also made it a point to map out the places I wanted to explore, and based on the distance, chose to either walk or catch a Lyft. I’ll admit something to you… after I landed and boarded the FlyAway bus back to town, I got very emotional. I silently cried the whole way. I had a really great time, I truly did, but there was this part of me that wished I had someone to share the trip with. Learning to enjoy life on your own can be very rewarding, but it can also trigger that part of you that wishes you had someone in your life to share all the highs and lows with. Still, I have every intention of continuing to travel solo. I don’t want to wait for anyone to be on board with me, pun intended. I want to experience all that this world has to offer, meet new people, and try all the foods. Life waits for no one, neither will I, and neither should you.
If you enjoyed reading this, please read more about my other solo travel adventures!