Hey all,

I want to start off with a big thank you in advance for any suggestions and recommendations that you might have.

My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Louisiana at the end of March. New Orleans was always the place to go/stay when we were talking about our trip. However doing a quick search of flights I found that flying into Baton Rouge, LA was significantly cheaper. So now I'm wondering what our game plan should be.

We are flying in Saturday and leaving Tuesday from BR. Should we take the bus to NO and stay just Saturday, or Saturday and sunday? And the remaining night in BR or two nights in BR? What do you guys think?

A bit about us: We've been together for three years and are from wisconsin. this will be HIS first big trip (taking a plane)! We are easy going people and can easily enjoy ourselves just by exploring on our own and taking in a simple meal and a cold beer.

Thanks!

I'll be honest ... I think this is an ill-considered plan.

Baton Rouge is ok (I used to live there), but aside from a couple of plantation homes and the state capitol and LSU, there's not really that much to draw tourists.

Further, it's not a short distance; the drive takes over an hour. I would fly into N.O. and pay the extra airfare. That's where you want to be.

First of all, you absolutely need a car in Baton Rouge, so if you don't want that expense, then you should really not expect to spend any time there. Consider that part of the cost of flying into Baton Rouge instead of New Orleans, where you can get by without a car.

Second, if you still really insist on flying into B.R., make sure you know the ins and outs of getting from there to New Orleans. I think there's an airport shuttle, but I'm not sure if it will take you from one airport to the other or into New Orleans itself. If you have to take a taxi to the B.R. bus station and then a bus to N.O. (and then deal with the hassles of going back the other way), it really does have to be a lot cheaper to make it worth your while.

It's $155 savings for each ticket to fly to BR and taking the LA Swift bus is 5$ a ticket. So it is a big savings but it's still months aways so who knows how much flights will drop to NO down the road. But thank you. We might still end up staying one night but defiantly not two now!

I think you'll probably find that this is not as easy to do as you might think. You still have to travel to and from the bus stop and will waste about a half a day each way in transit.

Perhaps someone who lives in Baton Route or New Orleans now will chime in with some more useful information.

Agree that Baton Rouge(Red Stick) is not as touristic

as neworleansonline.com keep checking kayak.com/buzz and

southwest.com for deals but there are shuttles so no worries.

There is some good Cajun food was just through there a couple

of weeks ago and have visited plantations on river road but

would spend most of my time in the Big Easy...

betterbidding.com for great deals on hotels

Queen and Crescent good location prices if you do not

want to bid... yelp.com for food...

Have fun

Agreed that Baton Rouge is not as touristic as NOLA is. I spent an overnight in Baton Rouge, staying downtown at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center and sightseeing the next day before taking a Greyhound to NOLA in the evening. There aren't a lot of sights in the city, about a day's worth -- but fortunately, all but the Magnolia Mound plantation are within walking distance of where I stayed (the old and new state capitol buildings and the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge). The hotel did have a van shuttle that would take you around to various places in the city, so I didn't need a car or public transportation here. I used this shuttle to go to Magnolia Mound and also to get to a really good Cajun restaurant called The Chimes, located close by the LSU campus. I enjoyed my stay at this hotel very much.

The new state capitol building is a must, though, if you're in town or are a capitol building junkie. I've seen 29 of these buildings so far, and Baton Rouge's is in my top three, along with the ones in Harrisburg, PA and Albany, NY.

Also note well that the Greyhound bus from Baton Rouge to NOLA often arrives at the former city fairly full of people continuing on. I had bought a priority boarding pass and was really glad I had done so, as I was one of only a few from the many waiting folks who actually got on the bus.

For that short time frame the extra cost will be well worth it. How much time will you lose by flying into BR ? How much is your vacation time worth ? Mine is valuable, & I don't plan to spend any of it waiting on, or riding on a bus. I'm headed to Nola Friday BTW - You have plenty of time to find cheaper flights. As mentioned prior kayak.com will send you an e-mail when prices adjust/drop, just sign up. Where are you departing from ? Any options on that end of the trip ?

It sounds as if the posters are young and quite inexperienced travelers, who lack both money and time. It sounds like a very short trip, which is exactly why I'd follow SAnParis2's advice, but sometimes you need to have experiences like "4-day" trips to New Orleans where you only get to spend 36 hours in the city to get that hard-earned vacation experience. I hope they have a nice trip, but I'm not enthusiastic.

Figure out how to get to Chicago and ride "The City of New Orleans". The New Orleans Amtrak/Greyhound station is right next to the Superdome, less than a mile from the French Quarter.
The train takes about 19.5 hours and the fare is as low as $112 per person. The CoNO leaves Chicago at 8PM every night.
Several travel websites will email price alerts if the airfare goes down for the dates you specify.

I've actually done that train ride a couple of times, and while it's not horrible, it's also not good. But it is cheap, and the train station in New Orleans is pretty convenient. And I actually got to New Orleans on a Greyhound bus from Baton Rouge, even.

How much are you saving going to BR instead of NOLA? On Orbitz we just booked four tickets from Milwaukee to NOLA on 8/26 (returning 8/30) on Delta for $165 each including fees & taxes.

We go to both cities every 2 to 3 years. New Orleans Airport is great and we always fly into NO airport, rent a car and then go to Baton Rouge. Traffic can be very bad at certain times of day so we drive at non peak hours.

We love New Orleans and there are so many choices in so many price variations. The historical aspects of NO are amazing and I would pick NO if I had the choice of only one city.