I was wondering the same thing.

Can tweens and teens get into the hip jazz and americana music establishments, or are they more aimed at the 21+ crowd?

The thing that makes NOLA crowded (when it's not Mardi Gras or a festival) are the conventions. There are so many conventions there and the convention center is right downtown. Spring is amazing weather down there though, a great time to go.

We did NO for spring break last year and I found it way less crowded than it was other times I'd been there. Then again, other times I'd been there I was young and childless so we were out late at night. With kids, we were up early, I went for early morning runs on the boardwalk and through the French Quarter, which was deserted, it was fairly quiet during the day, and even our first trip to Cafe Du Monde (early evening) we had no wait. The second time, which was a few days later and later in the evening, we had the typical expected crowd. Not much of a crowd at the zoo or museums, either.

We just did NO for spring break last week with a group of 7 (including three kids ages 7-9). We did find some difficulty with crowds in restaurants, especially on Friday night, but were able to find options (we ended up making reservations for 6 PM, and usually the restaurants were quiet when we arrived but crowded when we left). Did not have problems with crowds elsewhere, except (as a PP said) with the long line at Cafe du Monde. Perfect weather and felt like a nice time to be there. No festivals while we were there, but we did get to see an Easter parade.

We did that this year with our kids ages 11-15 years old. It was a hit and we all had a great time. Weather was good. It was not crowded except for the always long line at Cafe du Monde.

We also took a side trip to Natchez that we all really enjoyed.

We go every year for French Quarter Fest (better than Jazz Fest in our opinion for true jazz/blues lovers). It's usually the first weekend in April, but this year it's April 11 - 15. Can't wait for next week!

City is fairly crowded during FQF but not nearly as crazy crowded as during Jazz Fest or Mardi Gras. Reservations are a must at the popular and foodie type restaurants for sure - I usually make them a month in advance.

The weather is glorious at that time - unless it's raining, which it can go either way!!

It really depends more on what’s going on there. Mardi Gras, obviously, but also the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest, draw crowds. However, my experience is that (maybe other than Mardi Gras) the crowds are not such that they interfere with the trip. If there are “must do” restaurants, I’d always recommend getting reservations (just like here, popular restaurants get booked up).

Go for Jazz Fest! It's the last weekend in April, first weekend in May.

New Orleans is always crowded around Easter. Still fun, but you'll see a lot of people. We are from Mississippi and have lots of family in New Orleans. We are there all the time. Spring Break wouldn't keep me from going.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, New Orleans is more packed when they have a large conference at their convention center, which is quite often.
It's not really a spring break destination, but is fully equipped to handle large numbers of people at any time.
If spring break overlaps with Mardi Gras, that would have a bigger effect.
It's a party town, plenty of great restaurants, hotels, and history.

Spring Break almost always is lined up with Easter, so by definition that is going to be 6 weeks after Mardi Gras- the length of Lent.

But Mardi Gras could certainly line up with Presidents Day weekend and the February break weeks that are common further north and being introduced next year in DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, New Orleans is more packed when they have a large conference at their convention center, which is quite often.
It's not really a spring break destination, but is fully equipped to handle large numbers of people at any time.
If spring break overlaps with Mardi Gras, that would have a bigger effect.
It's a party town, plenty of great restaurants, hotels, and history.

Spring Break almost always is lined up with Easter, so by definition that is going to be 6 weeks after Mardi Gras- the length of Lent.

In my experience, New Orleans is more packed when they have a large conference at their convention center, which is quite often.
It's not really a spring break destination, but is fully equipped to handle large numbers of people at any time.
If spring break overlaps with Mardi Gras, that would have a bigger effect.
It's a party town, plenty of great restaurants, hotels, and history.

Trying to plan spring break for next year. I'm considering NO as an option. Has anyone been and it is really crowded? Are most restaurants packed and hard to move around? It would be me, dh and dd13. I've been before and would love to go back and take my dd. Thanks.