Bywater Stroll: Explore the Evolving Neighbourhood on a self-guided audio tour
- 0.7–1.5 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Take a walk through the evolving Bywater with this self-guided GPS audio tour. Historically a working-class neighbourhood, it has become a destination for artists and those seeking alternatives to the spectacle of the French Quarter. With its artist-run collectives, new bars and restaurants, and music venues popping up all over the neighbourhood, nightlife has begun to migrate here. This walk will wind you through some of its non-commercial, daytime offerings, with an eye toward some of the natural, historical, and overlooked details that give it character. Along the way, your walk will be punctuated with poetry, and you will have some personal time with the Mississippi River that makes the city "crescent."
Inclusions
What's included
- Lifetime access to this tour in English
- VoiceMap app for Android and iOS
- Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
- Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
- Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
What's not
- Smartphone and headphones
- Transportation
- Food and drink
- Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
Itinerary
It features the work of artists connected to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA
It's a tuition-free arts conservatory for high school students. Entrance is by audition only, and such luminaries as the Marsalis brothers and Trombone Shorty have emerged from here.
The tour passes through Crescent Park. It stretches for 1.4 miles along the Mississippi River. It's a fairly recent addition to the city and has provided Marigny and Bywater residents new access to the Mississippi River which borders the neighborhood.
The tour briefly walks along the river
By locals, it's called The Rusty Rainbow, but it's actually the Piety Street Arch. While the other two entrances to the park allow for vehicle and handicap access, this one is very stair-heavy. The view from the top is a great way to watch the passing clouds or check out the fireworks on the many occasions New Orleans celebrates with them.
Mickey Markey Park is a destination for families and dog owners in the Bywater. It was renovated a few years ago. From a fenced-off mostly-dirt field, it was turned into a sprawling green space for leashed dogs, soccer games, and lounging with a take-out pizza. A lot of birthday parties are hosted here with bouncy houses, summertime sprinklers and baby pools. And it's a spot for other, more unorthodox gatherings as well. This is the starting point for the annual naked bike ride, for instance. It's great for people-watching too. On weekends and nice-weather evenings, parents often gather with adult beverages while kids monkey around on the playground equipment.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Your walk begins next to the Homer Plessy memorial plaque at the corner of Royal and Press Streets, an easy 15-minute walk from the French Quarter. Before arrival, please install the VoiceMap mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- VoiceMap Audio Tours
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in New Orleans
- Its from-price is 88% below the median of the 707 experiences we list in New Orleans.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About New Orleans
New Orleans is the Louisiana city of jazz, Creole food and the French Quarter, set on a bend of the Mississippi River near the Gulf of Mexico.
New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and later ruled by Spain, and the French Quarter still shows it, with wrought-iron balconies, courtyards and Jackson Square, which St Louis Cathedral overlooks. Jazz was born here, and live music pours from clubs on Frenchmen Street. The St Charles streetcar rattles beneath oaks to the mansions of the Garden District.
Top-ranked sights in New Orleans: French Quarter, Jackson Square, LaLaurie Mansion.
Special offers in New Orleans
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
