Get up early to beat the heat and the crowds to create your own ‘runseeing’ tour through the French Quarter. The ares is famous for its vibrant nightlife and colorful buildings with cast-iron balconies. There are busier streets with clubs, eateries, and bars, and quieter, shaded streets with historic homes & buildings. Running the streets of the French Quarter can be a special experience, especially when the streets are quiet. It’s also fun to combine a jaunt through the French Quarter with the adjacent riverfront path.
We suggest you create your own route. Start at Jackson Square, which dates to 1721, and the adjacent St. Louis Cathedral. The streets have an easy configuration. Here are some of the highlights: and ~0.5 miles east-west between N Rampart St. & the Mississippi River.
- East-West Streets run along the Mississippi River, ~1 mile between Canal St. & Esplanade Ave. Royal St. is the jewel of the French Quarter, and the stretch between St. Peter and St. Ann is especially magical. Chartres St. has blocks of beautifully preserved Spanish Colonial and Creole architecture. Decatur St. is on the riverfront, with great views of the Mississippi and lovely historic facades, though it’s more commercial. Bourbon St. is famous of course, but is also the least pretty.
- North-South Streets run for ~0.5 miles east-west between N Rampart St. & the Mississippi River. Orleans St. is among the more dramatic, passing behind St. Louis Cathedral, where a stunning rear facade and a quiet garden courtyard (the St. Anthony’s Garden) frame the view, past the historic Bourbon Orleans Hotel all the way to the Armstrong Park gates. St. Ann St. is lined with beautifully preserved Creole townhouses draped in ironwork and flowers. St. Peter St. passes Pat O’Brien’s famous courtyard bar and is lined with some of the Quarter’s oldest and most atmospheric buildings. Esplanade Ave. is the grand southern boundary of the French Quarter and is a wide, oak-canopied boulevard flanked by stunning antebellum mansions and Creole cottages.
As part of the French Quarter tour, we recommend including a loop around Louis Armstrong Park, which is 0.5 miles inland from the river. Te 31-acre park that’s home to historic Congo Square, and has lovely paths around small lagoons.
Add-On/Combo Runs. Run the French Quarter in combination with the Riverfront, which now has a seamless path along the Mississippi River for 2.3 miles from Goldring Woldenberg Riverfront Park to Crescent Park. Also, at the northern end of Armstrong Park, the Lafitte Greenway is a paved multi-use path that runs for 2.5 miles to City Park (itself a New Orleans running highlight!).
Get up early to beat the heat and the crowds to create your own ‘runseeing’ tour through the French Quarter. The ares is famous for its vibrant nightlife and colorful buildings with cast-iron balconies. There are busier streets with clubs, eateries, and bars, and quieter, shaded streets with historic homes & buildings. Running the streets of the French Quarter can be a special experience, especially when the streets are quiet. It’s also fun to combine a jaunt through the French Quarter with the adjacent riverfront path.
We suggest you create your own route. Start at Jackson Square, which dates to 1721, and the adjacent St. Louis Cathedral. The streets have an easy configuration. Here are some of the highlights: and ~0.5 miles east-west between N Rampart St. & the Mississippi River.
- East-West Streets run along the Mississippi River, ~1 mile between Canal St. & Esplanade Ave. Royal St. is the jewel of the French Quarter, and the stretch between St. Peter and St. Ann is especially magical. Chartres St. has blocks of beautifully preserved Spanish Colonial and Creole architecture. Decatur St. is on the riverfront, with great views of the Mississippi and lovely historic facades, though it’s more commercial. Bourbon St. is famous of course, but is also the least pretty.
- North-South Streets run for ~0.5 miles east-west between N Rampart St. & the Mississippi River. Orleans St. is among the more dramatic, passing behind St. Louis Cathedral, where a stunning rear facade and a quiet garden courtyard (the St. Anthony’s Garden) frame the view, past the historic Bourbon Orleans Hotel all the way to the Armstrong Park gates. St. Ann St. is lined with beautifully preserved Creole townhouses draped in ironwork and flowers. St. Peter St. passes Pat O’Brien’s famous courtyard bar and is lined with some of the Quarter’s oldest and most atmospheric buildings. Esplanade Ave. is the grand southern boundary of the French Quarter and is a wide, oak-canopied boulevard flanked by stunning antebellum mansions and Creole cottages.
As part of the French Quarter tour, we recommend including a loop around Louis Armstrong Park, which is 0.5 miles inland from the river. Te 31-acre park that’s home to historic Congo Square, and has lovely paths around small lagoons.
Add-On/Combo Runs. Run the French Quarter in combination with the Riverfront, which now has a seamless path along the Mississippi River for 2.3 miles from Goldring Woldenberg Riverfront Park to Crescent Park. Also, at the northern end of Armstrong Park, the Lafitte Greenway is a paved multi-use path that runs for 2.5 miles to City Park (itself a New Orleans running highlight!).
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