Every city has its tourist traps, and New Orleans has a few. Most of them aren't bad, exactly. They're just the crowded, overpriced version of something locals do better a few blocks away. Here's where we'd send you instead, from people who have watched the lines form out the window of our Chartres Street shop for years.
One note before we start. We're not trying to talk anybody out of a good time. If the thing you came for is a Hurricane on Bourbon Street, go get one. We'd just hate for you to fly home thinking that was the whole city.
The Beignet Line on Decatur Street
The original Café du Monde in the French Quarter is a New Orleans institution, and the powdered sugar is the same as it's always been. The problem is the line. On a Saturday morning it can snake down the sidewalk while you stand in the sun waiting for a table.
Locals do one of two things. Go early or late, when the place is half empty and the waiters move fast. Or drive out to the Café du Monde in City Park, which opened in 2019 inside the park's old Casino building. Same beignets, same chicory coffee, and you can walk them off under the oaks afterward. Say hello to the Singing Oak while you're there.
If you get home and miss the smell, our Coffee & Beignet Candle is the next best thing. Beignet Socks also exist, for the truly committed.
The Live Music on Bourbon Street
You'll hear plenty of music walking down Bourbon, and a lot of it is cover bands playing the same songs you'd hear at a wedding in Ohio. Nothing wrong with that. But New Orleans is a music city in a way very few places are, and the good stuff tends to be somewhere else.
Frenchmen Street is the usual answer, and it's still a great one on a weeknight. On a Saturday it fills up with people who had the same idea you did. If you want to hear music the way locals do, head to a neighborhood club. The Maple Leaf on Oak Street has been throwing shows since the '70s. Tipitina's is the house Professor Longhair's fans built. Check the WWOZ calendar for what's playing the night you're in town, and don't be afraid of a show that starts at 11 p.m. That's early here.
Our Listen To Your City shirt was made for people who go looking.
The Dinner Cruise on the River
The steamboats along the riverfront are pretty, and if you want a jazz brunch on the Mississippi, it's a fine way to spend an afternoon. But if what you really want is to be out on the river and see the skyline from the water, there's a much cheaper way.
Take the Algiers Point ferry from the foot of Canal Street. It's run by the RTA, it costs a couple of dollars, and the crossing is short enough that you can do it on a whim. On the other side, Algiers Point feels like a small town that happens to have the best view of downtown. Walk the levee, grab a drink at a corner bar and catch the ferry back at sunset.
Uptown, the levee at the Fly does the same job for free. Bring something to sit on.
The Swamp Tour Bus
A lot of swamp tours sold in the French Quarter include a long bus ride out and back, and some put you on a crowded boat with a lot of other people pointing at the same gator. Some of them are great. Do your homework and you can find a small operator who knows the water.
If you just want to see the swamp, though, you don't need a tour at all. The Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, is a short drive south of the city, and walking it on your own is free. A heads-up: the National Park Service closed the visitor center and most of the trails for repairs in early 2026, for about two years, but the Wetland Trace Boardwalk is still open daily. You might see an alligator. Don't feed it.
Then come home with a King Gator, one of our oldest designs and still one of the most popular.
The Garden District Bus Tour
Big tour buses rumble up and down the Garden District all day, and you'll see more of the inside of the bus than the houses. Take the streetcar instead. The St. Charles line has been running since 1835, which makes it the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, and the fare is less than a coffee.
Get off around Washington Avenue and walk. Look up at the ironwork and the giant oaks splitting the sidewalks. Get lost on purpose. It's a neighborhood, so be polite: people live in those houses and they'd prefer you not sit on their steps for a photo.
Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street
The Mardi Gras you've seen on TV is mostly Bourbon Street, and it's mostly visitors. Locals are Uptown on St. Charles, on a ladder next to the family that has claimed the same spot for decades.
That's where the parades actually roll. The marching bands come through with the flambeaux lighting the way, and kids catch more throws than they can carry home. If it's your first Carnival, start with our guide on what to do during Mardi Gras and plan to spend most of your time on the parade route.
The Hurricane in a Souvenir Glass
The Hurricane is a real New Orleans drink with a real history, and Pat O'Brien's courtyard is a fun place to have one. But the neon-red versions sold in giant plastic cups up and down Bourbon Street are mostly sugar.
New Orleans has given the world a long list of classic cocktails, and most of them are better than whatever's spinning in a slushie machine. Order a Sazerac, or try a Vieux Carré, which was invented at the Hotel Monteleone. And when you head back out, ask for a go-cup.
If you still want a Hurricane, our Hurricane Enamel Pin won't give you a headache the next morning.
The "Big Easy" T-Shirt Shops
We're a T-shirt company, so take this one with a grain of salt. Dirty Coast started because we were tired of the shirts on Bourbon Street, the ones with crude jokes printed in a font that looks like it lost a fight with a hurricane. Nobody who lives here wears them.
If you want something you'll actually wear back home, look for shirts made by people who live here, with jokes that only make sense if you know the city. That's our whole thing. And if you'd rather read about the city than wear it, the Wildsam Field Guide to New Orleans is the one we keep behind the counter.
Get Off the Main Drag
Most of what makes this city special happens in neighborhoods that never make the brochure. Spend an afternoon in Mid-City. Eat a po-boy at a counter where the menu hasn't changed since your parents were kids. Talk to the bartender. Say "where y'at" back.
Come find us on Magazine Street or Chartres Street. We'll tell you which lines are worth it and which ones aren't.
Tourist Traps in New Orleans: FAQ
What are the biggest tourist traps in New Orleans?
Locals tend to skip the long beignet line on Decatur Street and the sugary Hurricanes on Bourbon Street. Big Garden District bus tours and Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras are also easy to swap for something better. They aren't bad, just crowded and overpriced compared to what locals do.
How do you avoid the line at Café du Monde?
Go early in the morning or late at night, or visit the Café du Monde location in City Park, which opened in 2019 and serves the same beignets and chicory coffee.
Is there a cheap way to see the Mississippi River in New Orleans?
Yes. The Algiers Point ferry runs from the foot of Canal Street across the river for a couple of dollars, with great views of the downtown skyline.
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