We are planning to visit New Orleans. We want to stay in the city before visiting various relatives in the area, most are on the other side of Pontchartrain. My wife has been back once since Katrina and I have not. While in the City we want to visit St. Louis Cemetery for some genealogical research, hear some music including Tipitina's and maybe One Eyed Jacks, and of course eat.

If we stay in the Garden District, how easy or hard is to get the Cemetery and the Quarter.

We live in NY and I have aversion for celebrity chefs, so we are open to restaurant suggestions of smaller places that may not have a big reputation. How is Little Dizzy for example?

But I do love the beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

It's easy to get to the French Quarter from the Garden District. There's the street car and a bus on Magazine that get you to the center of town. You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it.

Thank you Michael

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Yes, but: the Garden District is a long rectangular area and if you're not close to Lee Circle, the streetcar (and the bus) will take a long time. Neither is renowned for its speed. I dunno about free transfers between trolleys (check on the city's transport website), but I'm not sure they exist. If you're averse to driving, you'd need to transfer from the St Charles line to the Canal St line to get from the Garden District to the Cemetery.

If you want to be closer to the Quarter and Marigny, and closer to the Canal St trolley, you could stay in the CBD (btwn Poydras and Canal and the river and the SuperDome).

Thanks Big Russ. We don't want to rent a car until we leave the City but if we must.

Having a car in New Orleans isn't really necessary and it can be more of a pain than it's worth.

You want to visit St. Louis Cemetery and the FQ, so why not just stay in the FQ or perhaps the Marigny neighborhood?

We enjoy the "less touted" restaurants in NO . .

Deanie's is on the corner of Dauphine and Iberville, across the street from Acme Oyster . . which is way to crowded and over rated as far as I am concerned . . great for seafood

http://www.deanies.com/restaurants/

Irene’s is good Creole Italian . .

http://www.yelp.com/biz/irenes-cuisine-new-orleans

The Gumbo Shop just off of Jackson Square for Creole

http://www.gumboshop.com/

Thanks November Moon and Rich.

I think we will act like tourists and stay in the Quarter. And thanks for the restaurant hints.

We always stay in the quarter . . Some of Our favorites that are in the Quarter:

Dauphine Orleans http://www.dauphineorleans.com/

Monteleone http://hotelmonteleone.com/

le Richelieu http://www.lerichelieuhotel.com/

I used to live in the Quarter and now, every time i return to visit, I stay in the CBD. I love the quarter, don't get me wrong, but it's often too expensive and so dirty and loud. But if you must stay in the quarter, Monteleone or the W hotel French Quarter, would be my option. In the CBD, check out the Loew's hotel (my personal favorite) or the locally owned The International House. At the Loew's, there is Cafe Adelaide that, although being a Brennan's restaurant, has a good food that is classic new orleans. You should try their turtle soup. The International House, on the other hand, has an awesome bar, called Loa. Either place is a block or two to the point that gets you on the riverside streetcar line that takes you to the heart of the quarter, or the st. charles streetcar that takes you uptown. Either way, have fun!!

Thank you Rich and Camileaos for the suggestions.

BTW, that Creole Italian restaurant looks terrific.

" Creole Italian " . . opps . . it's Italian

We will try it any event.