New Orleans
 

My daughter (40) and I (mid 60's) are going on 4.5 day trip to NO and we are wondering what would be more fun, theswamp tour or the paddle boat evening , as we only went want to do one. We want to do a lot of sight seeing and wonder if it's scary to bicycle, with heavy traffic,. Thanks for help

When are you going?

Will you have a car?

Swamp tours don't occur IN New Orleans, they occur outside the city so either you'll need to be fetched or go to wherever your tour is. You're likely to see more gators, avians, and potentially wild hogs or other interesting critters on a swamp tour than you would (if any) on a paddleboat cruise.

We liked the swamp tour even though there was relatively little wild life because it was winter time (late November).

Just came back, having once again rented a bike and done a lot of criss-crossing. I rented mine from www.amusingbikes.com at 1818 Magazin St in the Garden district. Nice people, as good as they were on previous occasions, bike comes with helmet, locking device, and nightlight.

I suggest to bring your own lightweight high-visibility vests for added confidence.

There were only a few instances where an intersection appeared "scary" - it's easy to dismount and join the pedestrians for crossing if it's unclear how a bike should maneuver. Mostly there were always side streets I could follow leisurely, and you see more interesting houses and such in the residential side street.

Many streets have bike paths signed, for example, and if you use commonsense and concentrate, you'll have a lot of fun.

Just stay away from St. Charles Avenue and such, the heavy traffic and the street cars make it iffy.

It's all flat - ideal for biking!

I'd be concerned about mosqitos on an evening swamp tour.