Bourbon Street is the most famous party street in New Orleans, stretching for 13 blocks in the heart of the French Quarter.
Whether you visit day or night, there is always the opportunity for people watching on Bourbon Street.
The entire pedestrianised area is lined with bars, strip clubs, restaurants and souvenir shops- it’s really touristy but still lots of fun!
It’s legal to drink in the street here, so you’ll see lots of people walking around carrying containers filled with alcohol. Popular drinks you’ll find on Bourbon Street include Hurricanes, Hand Grenades and Huge Ass Beers- basically all these drinks will put you on your ass! There are also lots of street performers to keep you entertained!
In New Orleans I was stayed at India House Hostel, which is a fantastic hostel and one of those places you can just chill out for a week. It’s really easy to meet people there and one evening I got chatting to a bunch of other backpackers in the outdoor patio area. We all took the Canal streetcar line to Bourbon Street and made a bee-line for the first bar selling hand grenades.
Once we had our drinks, we walked down the street absorbing the atmosphere and taking photos. The whole street is buzzing and crowded with people. Music blares from the bars and there’s so much going on you don’t know which way to look! I barely even turned my head when a girl walked by hugging an inflatable penis…that’s just another day in New Orleans.
Since Bourbon Street is a little crazy and rather touristy, we then walked over to Frenchman Street, where there are some really really good jazz clubs. If you’re looking for some good live music in New Orleans, then I would head to Frenchman not Bourbon. Clearly the hand grenades were taking effect by this point, because we randomly decided to pose like we were on a pop group album cover…
At the end of the night I got food from this man, who just rocked up in the street and started cooking on his little stand. He made some kind of meat balls with rice and soy sauce, it was a random combination but I was starving so I didn’t question it. There was a guy across the street sell Jambalaya he’d prepared at home, and when you’ve consumed a few hurricanes or huge ass beers, you’ll happily take whatever food you can get!
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