24 Hours in New Orleans: Tips from a Local Cozy Witch
As a born and raised Louisiana girl who knows these streets like the back of my tarot deck, I wanted to share how I’d spend 24 magical hours in New Orleans. The kind of day that feels stitched together with spells, sugar, and Spanish moss. (Yes you can take some spanish moss home but not before you ask permission)...
If you’re staying overnight – The Blackbird Hotel
If you’re checking in the night before or have a late arrival, I always recommend The Blackbird Hotel. It’s moody, cozy, and full of little design secrets you’ll want to discover. What makes it feel extra magical is that it only has 13 rooms, each one completely unique and they are like hidden portals! Staying here feels less like booking a hotel and more like being invited into a spell. If you don't like haunted, don't stay here!
Morning – Ruby Slipper (preferably in the Marigney)
Start with breakfast at Ruby Slipper, because tell me a more witch-coded name for brunch? It’s the Dorothy nod, the witches of Oz, the idea of clicking your heels to find home—but in New Orleans, “home” means biscuits and gravy and a Morning Margarita. (Yes, they really have them, and sipping one feels straight out of Practical Magic.) It’s the perfect potion to ease into the day.
Mid-Morning – The Cemeteries (where the veil is thinnest)
New Orleans holds its dead differently, and if you want to feel the heartbeat of this city then you must step into the cemeteries.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1: the oldest and most famous, where Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, is buried. The above ground tombs look like marble spell jars, each one holding centuries of stories. You can only enter with a guided tour, which somehow feels right...like you need a gatekeeper to open the veil. (Don't forget when exiting to walk backwards out of the cemetary).
St. Roch Cemetery – smaller, humbler, but deeply mystical. Inside the chapel are ex-votos: plaster arms, wax legs, handwritten notes, crutches left behind by people who prayed here and believed they were healed. It’s a room of answered prayers, and the energy hums with devotion. Always show mad respect while walking through our cemeteries.
Lunch – Parkway Tavern
After walking with the ancestors, ground yourself with a po’boy from Parkway Bakery & Tavern, an institution since 1911.
Staple order: My wife always gets the James Brown po’boy (BBQ beef smothered in gravy, messy in the best way) and I always get the shrimp poboy + sweet potato fries. They come out hot, golden, and comforting. The walls are lined with old photos and stories, making it feel like you’re eating history wrapped in French bread.
Afternoon – City Park & Café du Monde
Head into City Park, where centuries-old oaks hang their moss like velvet curtains.
Staple order: Beignets from the Café du Monde inside the park, with a café au lait if you want the full New Orleans spell. Eating them under 600 year old oaks feels like powdered sugar fairy dust falling through time.
If you want to wander, the Besthoff Sculpture Garden is right next door where art is scattered through lagoons and live oaks, like spells cast in bronze.
Early Evening – The Green Streetcar
No trip is complete without riding the green St. Charles streetcar. For $3 you can buy a 24-hour pass and hop on and off as you please. It rattles past Garden District mansions and under oak branches that feel older than memory.
Hop off moment: Buckner Mansion aka Miss Robichaux’s Academy from American Horror Story: Coven. You can’t go inside (it’s a private home), but standing at the gates feels like looking into another realm. I will say if it's your lucky day the owner will let you in...If this happens to you considers yourself blessed or a spirit wants to stick on you!
Twilight – Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar
When the streetcar drops you at Canal, wander into the Quarter until you reach Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. Built in the 1700s, this stone cottage is often called the oldest bar in the United States and trust me you feel it the second you step inside. It glows only by candlelight, the walls hum with pirate lore, and every corner feels like it could hold a ghost story.
Staple order: the infamous purple frozen daiquiri (locals just call it “the purple drank”). Sweet, strong, and dangerously easy to sip. Did I mention it’s a rite of passage?
Dinner – The Court of Two Sisters
Pass through the Charm Gates into the wisteria draped courtyard of The Court of Two Sisters.
Staple experience: dinner beneath the twinkling lights, with the fountain trickling and history breathing at your table. This spot has stood since the 1700s, and it's name honors Emma and Bertha, two real sisters who once ran a notions shop here. Their energy lingers, along with the Devil’s Wishing Well hidden in the courtyard.
Night – Frenchmen Street
End your 24 hours on Frenchmen Street, where neon and brass collide.
Staple experience: live jazz spilling into the street. Whether at The Spotted Cat, Blue Nile, or whichever doorway your bones lead you to, this is where locals go for music that doesn’t just play in your ears...it gets into your blood. It’s soulful, chaotic, and spellbinding all at once.
✨ That’s my one day spell in New Orleans: beignets like fairy dust, cemeteries where the veil breathes, po’boys drenched in history, pirate bars lit by candlelight, and music that feels like a heartbeat. If you only have 24 hours here, this is how I’d want you to taste it.
X, Jade