What is the New Orleans self-guided walking tour?
The New Orleans self-guided walking tour puts an audio walk on your phone through the World City Trail app: Google Maps leads you from stop to stop, and there you listen to the history, legends and curious facts of each place. The route covers 10 stops and 3.8 km, roughly 55 minutes on foot within about 2 hours. It follows the Mississippi before turning into the French Quarter.
At Spanish Plaza, Spain's 1976 gift to the city, the fountain is ringed by the seals of Spain's provinces. Jackson Square holds Clark Mills's statue of Andrew Jackson, and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, built between 1722 and 1732, carries a legend part true, part embellished. Congo Square recalls the Sundays when enslaved Africans gathered there to sing, dance and drum.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 55 min · 3.8 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish
Stop, listen, walk on
Hear the story
Arrive at a stop and the narration begins: who built the place, what happened there, which legends cling to it and which small detail is easy to miss. Rather read than listen? Every word is also on screen.
Map in hand
Google Maps plots each leg to the next stop. The 3.8 km come to about 55 minutes of walking, at a speed you set yourself.
Break off, carry on
Stop for lunch or an exhibition whenever you like. The app remembers where you left off, whether you continue later today or on another day.
Lunch, coffee, souvenirs
The app points out places to eat and local shops close to the route, and lets you begin at another stop or reorder the stops.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Visitors it suits best
History lovers
Dates, names and the events behind them, told on the spot where they took place.
Families and couples
Legends for the children, background for the adults, and a pace the whole party agrees on.
Returning to New Orleans
Familiar streets look different once you know what happened in them.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
From the riverfront to Congo Square
10 stops · about 55 min walking · start: Spanish Plaza · finish: Congo Square
The walk starts at Spanish Plaza on the Mississippi riverfront and passes Caesars New Orleans Hotel & Casino, near the foot of Canal Street, on the way to the Audubon Aquarium and Woldenberg Park. Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral on its north side lead to the French Market Place and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. Louis Armstrong Park comes next, and Congo Square, inside the park, ends the route. Rearrange the stops in the app if you like; admission is never charged.
Open the route map ↗
1Spanish PlazaStart
Spanish Plaza on the Mississippi riverfront was dedicated by Spain to the city in 1976 as a pledge of friendship between the two places. Its central fountain is surrounded by the seals of Spain's provinces.
2Caesars New Orleans Hotel & Casino
This casino hotel near the foot of Canal Street opened as Harrah's in October 1999 on the site of the former Rivergate Convention Center. It was renamed Caesars New Orleans in 2024, and it is the only land-based casino in Louisiana.
3Audubon Aquarium
The Audubon Aquarium opened on the riverbank in 1990 and reopened in 2023 after a renovation, and it is home to about 10,000 animals from the Americas. Its exhibits include the Amazon Rainforest, the Caribbean Reef, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River.
4Woldenberg Park
Woldenberg Park opened in October 1989 along the Mississippi and is named after the philanthropist Malcolm Woldenberg, who helped fund it. Its Holocaust memorial by Yaacov Agam shows different images from different angles, and the Monument to the Immigrant by Franco Alessandrini was installed in 1995.
5Jackson Square
Jackson Square, the central square of the French Quarter, was named in 1851 after General Andrew Jackson, the victor of the Battle of New Orleans. Its statue of Jackson by Clark Mills was erected in 1856, and Saint Louis Cathedral stands on its north side.
6Saint Louis Cathedral
The third church on this site was begun in 1789 and completed in 1794, but most of the present building dates from a rebuild in 1850. The cathedral is counted among the oldest cathedrals in continuous use in the United States, and Pope John Paul II visited it in 1987.
7French Market Place
The French Market, which dates back to 1791 and is described as the oldest of its kind in the United States, stretches for six blocks through the French Quarter. It began where Café du Monde stands today, and the historic open-sided merchant stalls now hold enclosed shops and restaurants.
8Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, built between 1722 and 1732 in the briquette-entre-poteaux style of French Louisiana, is reputed to be the oldest bar in the United States. A local legend links it to the Lafitte brothers, and the story mixes truth with embellishment.
9Louis Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park was created by the city after a decade of debate and honours the trumpeter born in New Orleans. It contains a 12-foot statue of Armstrong by Elizabeth Catlett and the Mahalia Jackson Theater.
10Congo SquareFinish
Congo Square lies inside Louis Armstrong Park, and on Sundays in the 18th and 19th centuries enslaved Africans gathered there to trade, sing, dance and play drums. The music that grew out of these gatherings blended African and European styles.
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