When I was in New Orleans, I did a self-guided tour of the Warehouse District along with lots of tours with groups- two cemetery tours, a French Quarter tour, and the last one was a New Orleans Garden District tour! It started in the Lafayette Cemetery before continuing on to see the beautiful historic homes. It’s free to walk around the neighborhood on your own, but I loved doing the tour (which is also free with Free Tours By Foot) because our tour guide was able to tell us fun facts like which celebrities lived in which homes, which homes were for sale (and how much they were selling for, which was more than I could ever afford!), and what was damaged in Hurricane Katrina and is still being rebuilt. It was a fascinating tour, and I highly recommend it if you want to see some beautiful homes in New Orleans and learn their history! π
The Garden District was developed in the 19th century, and it actually wasn’t part of New Orleans for a few years. The area started with being plantations for a while before more homes were added, and many of the homes haven’t changed since they were first built! I did see one new house going up, but the rest were much older. Most of the homes weren’t flooded in Hurricane Katrina but there was some wind damage, but most people were able to return to their homes soon after the hurricane.
Every single one of the homes in the Garden District is beautiful! I loved all the ornate details, especially on all the galleries (I learned the difference between a balcony and a gallery during the French Quarter tour!). One of the interesting things our tour guide taught us was back in the day, all the ceilings of the galleries and porches were painted blue (and you’ll see that many houses still do this). It’s called “haint blue” to keep evil spirits called haints from coming inside. They thought that haints wouldn’t go near water, so they mimicked water with paint.
I loved the added artwork on some of the homes!
See the “haint blue”?
I also loved the historic fences and mailboxes!
The Garden District was much quieter than the busy French Quarter, so if you’re looking for a more relaxing way to see the city, I highly recommend doing a New Orleans Garden District tour! It’s such a beautiful part of the city and a great way to learn about New Orleans’ history.
I love this this colorful, lively, noisy, bewitching city ! itβs great to see so many great alternatives to the usual suspects on NOLA. It gives me an excuse for a return visit π
Yes I loved seeing more of NOLA that isn’t just what you see in the media!
New Orleans has such elegant architecture! I’m dreaming of a great long roadtrip through the US so I’ll have to go there!
The architecture was my favorite part! It’s even prettier in person!
Beautiful photos Julia, thanks for sharing a bit of New Orleans!
Thank you! π
New Orleans is way up there on my list of places to visit – I actually had no idea there was a French quarter!
It’s one of the most beautiful spots there!
The pillars on these buildings are gorgeous! Great post as usual darling.. xoxo
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Thank you! π
This is such a beautiful aspect of New Orleans. It reminds me of watching Princess and the Frog and seeing all the wonderful mansions in the film. I can’t wait to one day visit New Orleans!
I watched the Princess and the Frog a few days after visiting New Orleans and I thought the same thing!
I LOVE exploring neighborhoods with beautiful houses and these are truly works of art!
I love it, too!
Looks like a beautiful district to explore by foot
It really is!
The Garden district is so pretty! I am only an hour and a half from Nola, and I love coming back and strolling through this district! Great photos!
Thank you! I would love to walk in that area more often!
Wow! The Garden District in New Orleans sounds and looks amazing.
Yeah it’s an awesome place to visit!
I am loving looking through your lens. Thanks for this lovely and informative tour of New Orleans.
Thank you! π