Are these places still worth a visit? I loved the French Market, could spend hours there before Katrina made her nasty visit.

I heard the antique shops on Royal were closed and very few stores/botiques were open. Please tell me that they, and the stores on Magazine Street, are still open.

Thanks in advance!!!!

TWBWC.......go to NO and have a nice time. Nothing's changed in the FQ and on Magazine St. Katrina did no damage to interrupt business there. Royal St. is going 110 miles an hour. Have fun.

You will still be able to spend hours in the FQ and/or Magazine Street. It's business as usual. Enjoy!

I think a couple of the replies are a tad optimistic but I agree in theory. The areas that made New Orleans famous are still alive and kicking, although probably at 80-90%. A few stores/restaurants have closed while other new establishents have opened. Streetcar is still down on St. Charles but will be back in a few months. The French Market is definitely smaller than before Katrina.

Overall, though, the French Quarter looks better and cleaner than ever and is worth a trip!

Thank you so much for the honest replies. NO gets so much bad publicity, but I know bad news travels worse than good news and EVERY town has it's ups and downs.

What about the Riverwalk, is that all back to normal now too? I liked that mall they had there, it was nice to get away someplace cool for a bit.

Also, the park with the botanical gardens? Anybody know anything about that? Does the streetcar still go up there?

(Can you tell I'm from a very small town, LOL)

;-)

I was just in NOLA a couple of weeks ago, and was quite surprised by the number of stores in the Riverwalk that had closed (A&F, Sharper Image, Victoria's Secret, Eddie Bauer~just to name a few). It was a little bit strange~much quieter than years past. The Quarter, however, seemed pretty much the same~although service was a bit surly in places, and the prices seemed a bit higher. Overall, still a wonderful place with delicious food!!

i travel to NOLA each june 6th [D Day]. last year i walked along the riverwalk and went into the mall. most of the stores were open, but NO ONE WAS THERE. they have a food court, where just a few were open, but again, no one was there and i wondered how long will the restaurants stay in business when they have to keep throwing out their perishable [sp?] food. very sad.

Riverwalk lives and dies with the convention center and Harrah's. The center is doing much less than pre-K but Harrah's is doing very well. The casino may keep it open until the convention hordes return.

The botanical gardens you are talking about are in Audubon Park, right?

The St. Charles streetcar is the one that goes up there and it is not yet running. Although you can take a bus to get there. There is also a boat you can take from the FQ to the park and back.

We are going to New Orleans in June and we plan to visit the zoo at Audubon park - I think we are going to take the boat. It looks interesting, plus you get to get out on the Mississippi river, which is just neat, IMO.

I was just in New Orleans in late March. It is definitely still worth a visit. We strolled down Royal Street and a few shops were closed, but the majority were open. I noticed many other stores on other streets that were open as well. The French Quarter seemed almost as it did before Katrina.

We did not get to Magazine Street, but if you go, you need to know that the streetcar from the French Quarter to the Garden District is not operable at this time. You will need to take a cab or bus to get there.

"the streetcar from the French Quarter to the Garden District is not operable at this time." -

we also have NO in the running for our fall girls trip - aside from this streetcar, are there other modes of public transport up and running or just not to this area?

Escargot,

Friend and I stayed in the (Lower) Garden District. If the street car is not running, alternative public transport options from the French Quarter all the way through the Garden District to Audubon Park include the #12 bus (goes along St. Charles) or #11 bus (goes along Magazine St.). The #12 is more frequent than the #11, although both worked well for us as we downloaded the schedules off of www.norta.com website.

Best wishes, Dan