New Orleans: Hop-On Hop-Off Bus & Garden District Walk

4.53

(154 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Li was already waving at us from the curb outside the French Market, grinning like she’d known us for years. She said something about “catching the breeze on top” as we climbed up to the open deck of the hop-on hop-off bus. I didn’t expect to feel so much wind in my hair or hear so many different accents all around me—someone behind us was explaining Mardi Gras beads in German, and a kid across the aisle kept pointing at every single balcony along Royal Street. The driver called out Jackson Square and I swear you could smell powdered sugar drifting over from Café du Monde. I almost hopped off right there just for a beignet but figured we’d circle back.

The Garden District walking tour started at Stop 12—easy to find, even if you’re a little distracted by Magazine Street’s shop windows. Our guide, Marcus, wore a Saints cap and had this way of making Greek Revival sound like something you’d actually want to know about (he joked that New Orleans houses “dress up more than people here do”). We wandered under live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, pausing while Marcus pointed out an old iron fence with handprints pressed into the paint—kids from some long-ago parade, he guessed. It was humid but not in a bad way; more like everything felt slow and green. My shoes got muddy near one of those big roots—I laughed it off but probably should’ve watched my step.

We hopped back on later and rode past the National WWII Museum—the bus makes stops every 25 minutes or so, which meant we never felt rushed. There’s something about seeing New Orleans from up high that makes you notice things you’d miss on foot: faded murals above shop doors, a saxophone player tucked into an alley near St. Louis Cathedral. At one point I realized I’d lost track of time completely (in a good way), just listening to streetcar bells and watching locals wave at our bus like they do this every day.