2 Days On A People We Meet On Vacation-Style BFF Trip To New Orleans
My bestie getaway was packed with live music, tasty hurricanes, and so many filming locations.
Rom-coms are supposed to make us curl up on the couch, grab our favorite delivery order, and dream about finding that special someone. But for all of its great love scenes, People We Meet on Vacation may evoke an entirely different feeling: missing your long-distance best friend — and wanting to plan your next trip with them.
I’m actually very familiar with that feeling. My college bestie, Jaime, lives in Denver, Colorado, and I live in New York City. And since Jaime cannot stand the crowds of NYC and I cannot stand the altitude near the Rockies, we always try to meet elsewhere.
Enter the People We Meet on Vacation-style yearly friendship getaway, where we meet up in a place neither of us has ever experienced before. For our most recent excursion, Jaime and I took a page out of the PWMOV playbook and headed to New Orleans, which was arguably the best location from the movie. Poppy and Alex took advantage of the Louisiana hot spot’s live music, sky-high frozen drinks, and the extremely walkable streets — and so did we.
If you want to go on a similar trip for spring break, this summer, or just a random bestie vacay, I’ve curated a budget-friendly itinerary for besties who want to go on their own two-day journey to the Big Easy. To keep our finances in order throughout the weekend, we used SplitWise and added everything to it as we went along. Turns out, you can actually visit New Orleans for less than $500 each.
Friday
4 p.m.: Arrive at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Since Jaime and I were coming from two different cities, we timed our arrivals to be within 45 minutes of each other so we could ride share over to the hotel together. Miraculously, both of our flights arrived on time, and we were ready to dive into NOLA culture immediately.
We chose to stay at the Holiday Inn located in the French Quarter, the same neighborhood where Poppy and Alex catch up over hurricanes in the street as jazz music plays all around them. Rest assured, constant surprise pop-up bands in NOLA aren’t just movie magic; they happen all the time. If you’re ever outside in the French Quarter for longer than five minutes, you *will* run into a spontaneous street band.
This seriously turned out to be the best location. We took a car from the airport to our hotel, but could easily walk to dinner and our chosen activity for the night, so it definitely helped us save on Ubers.
Uber to accommodations: ~$24 per person
7 p.m. Enjoy dinner and a ghost tour
After a much-needed break from the New Orleans heat in our air-conditioned room, we decided to live it up with a seafood boil, which was very conveniently located right next door to our hotel. The Hot N Cajun Boil House keeps ordering simple: You choose the variety of seafood you’d like and preferred spice level; it provides the bibs and gloves.
This was one of our favorite meals because we looked silly in all of our protective garb and were able to just go to town on the seafood with no inhibitions or worries that we were being too messy. (IMO, this is one of the many reasons why it’s always more fun to travel with your best friend than a boyfriend.) Pro tip: Make sure to get a beer on draft to take advantage of the ice-cold frosted mug it comes in. It’s a refreshing way to beat the heat.
Postdinner, it was time for a ghost tour, which was walkable from the restaurant. We booked the tickets in advance through TripAdvisor, and it was the perfect start to see the city that has so much history. We learned about ghosts, vampires, and even public figures who made a difference in cementing the city’s story.
Dinner and beers: $60.50 per person
Ghost tour ticket: $29.50
DAY 1 TOTAL: $114
Saturday
9:30 a.m. Eat breakfast at Café Du Monde
Is it even a trip to NOLA without beignets? Less than a 10-minute walk from our accommodations is the OG Café Du Monde (there are now nine locations total) in the French Market, a place famous for the powdered and deep-fried pastries. FYI, they definitely lived up to the hype and were so affordable; you can get three beignets for $3.85. Just make sure to have money in your wallet, since it’s cash only.
In People We Meet on Vacation, this is where Poppy got the brilliant idea to pretend like she and Alex were newlyweds to score discounts wherever they went. Unconfirmed if Café Du Monde actually gives out free beignets to couples on their honeymoon, but YOLO. If you want to give it a try, I won’t judge you.
Since this beignet and coffee stand is so popular, it might seem a bit intimidating, but there’s plenty of space inside, and tables are constantly turning over. For our personal preference, though, we took our treats across the street and ate them in Woldenberg Park.
Beignets and coffee: $10
11 a.m.: Walk through a museum dedicated to pharmacy (yes, really)
The self-guided New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, located 10 minutes from the park, was highly recommended by locals we talked to during the ghost tour. It documents the history of the pharmacy, including the original purpose for voodoo dolls: keeping track of what medicine doctors prescribed. It was such a cute stop in the day, and we learned so much.
Museum ticket: $10
Noon: Hit up the local faves
Since we weren’t quite hungry yet, we decided to pop into a few places that we’ve been hearing great things about on our trip. First up was Faulkner House Books, located less than five blocks away from the museum. As I’m a writer and huge fan of Southern Gothic literature, William Faulkner has long been one of my favorite authors. This bookstore is located in Faulkner’s past home, where he lived and worked in New Orleans. I picked up a copy of the book New Orleans Sketches, which features short stories; the cashier even bookmarked her favorite story for me to check out later.
From there, we took a 10-minute trek on foot for a drink at Jewel of the South. It had a cute backyard and a simple yet chic interior. We grabbed a cocktail each — which were a bit on the expensive side, but so tasty — before making our way to lunch.
Cocktail: $20.50
2 p.m. Grab a liquid lunch
New Orleans is famous for its blood bag drinks, which are basically red vodka punches served in a plastic bag that’s made to look like blood in an IV drip. TBH, they are way too sweet, taste essentially like adult Kool-Aid, and mostly serve the purpose of looking cool in Instagram posts, but when in Rome NOLA.
Vampire Apothecary, eight minutes away from our previous stop, sounded like the perfect place to grab one of these blood bags, so that’s where we stopped for a drink and a bite. The real star of our lunch experience was the main course. We split the short rib debris sandwich, which comes with a side of homemade hummus. It was so good, we literally had to stop the waiter and tell her how much we loved it.
We loved this sandwich so much, we labeled it “perfect sandwich” when we input the meal into SplitWise.
One thing you need to know about NOLA, almost any time of the year: It is *hot*. Since we were walking everywhere, we tired out pretty quickly, so we headed back to the hotel to rest and get some much-needed AC time.
Lunch and blood bags: $33 per person
7 p.m.: Go all out for dinner
Jaime and I decided to have at least one splurge meal, so we chose GW Fins, a NOLA staple since 2001. Let me tell you, there’s no better feeling than sitting at a white tablecloth dinner, sipping a vodka martini with a twist, and catching up with your bestie who lives in another state.
I ordered the scallibut, a signature dish that pan fries halibut and scallops on top of each other to create a single unique piece of seafood, and it did not disappoint.
While we were there, our waiter recommended a few of his favorite bars on Bourbon Street for us to hit up afterward, since we mentioned we were headed over that way. The best travel tip for New Orleans: Talk to the locals whenever you can.
Dinner and drinks: $109 per person
9 p.m. Take a stroll down Bourbon Street
Just like Poppy and Alex, my bestie and I knew no trip to NOLA was complete without a visit to the iconic Bourbon Street. It was packed with everyone from locals to tourists, with a few bachelorette parties in between.
I highly recommend hitting up a bar with rooftop access, like Tropical Isle, which also has those Insta-worthy themed drinks. My drink came in a glass shaped like a gator with a little gator toy floating inside. It was so fun to climb up to the roof balconies and see the action of Bourbon Street from a bird’s-eye view.
And just like the BFFs from PWMOV, we made sure to tear up the dance floor wherever we went. Some advice if you’re trying to dance on Bourbon Street: Follow the music.
Drinks: $40
DAY 2 TOTAL: $243
Sunday
11 a.m.: Have brunch on a Creole jazz cruise (...maybe)
A lot of people recommended taking a river cruise, so we decided to make it a 2-for-1 and get brunch out of the way while sailing the Mississippi River. Ours was $80 per person; there was a buffet and bar in a private, air-conditioned space on the first floor of the boat. The only problem was that, since we were holed up in a room, we sort of missed the river cruise aspect of the whole adventure.
We also couldn’t hear jazz from the breakfast room, so we wondered if it was just added to the name of the cruise to seem more festive. When we were done with our meal, we went on the top deck to find a live band playing for nonbrunch-eating customers. So, depending on your preferences, you may or may not want to opt for the food.
Jazz river tour (sans brunch): $60 per person
12:30 p.m.: Choose your own adventure
There are endless places to wander in New Orleans. You could stop by shops like Crescent City Conjure to pick up witchcraft kits, tarot cards, and more. I scored some spell papers and candles to gift my friends who were coming over for a spooky movie night. They loved them!
This could also be a great time to peek at the Carousel Bar (another spot on Alex and Poppy’s itinerary), located inside Hotel Monteleone. Even if you can’t snag a barstool, it’s still fun to see it in action.
Souvenirs/drinks: ~$36.50
2:30 p.m.: Make a pitstop for wine and cheese
Before you head out, stop by Le Bouchon Wine for a late afternoon pick-me-up (aka a glass of wine and a cheese plate). The shop mostly functions as a wine store, but toward the back of the space, you’ll find a small bar area with some made-to-order snack plate options. So delish.
Wine and shared cheese plate: $23 per person
Uber to the airport: ~$24 per person
DAY 3 TOTAL: $123
