If you’re brave enough to visit NOLA during the summer, you can take advantage of fewer crowds, less lines, no need for restaurant reservations, and some great deals! Scroll down and find some fun ways to survive summer in New Orleans.
Hot Deals
- Temperature Lunch Menus –Tableau, Bourbon House and Palace Cafe all offer a daily lunch special Memorial Day- Labor Day for the cost of the previous day’s temp. For example if yesterday was 95 degrees, lunch is $9.50. Check their facebook or instagram pages to find out what the daily special is.
- COOLinary Menus– Aug 1-Aug 25th M Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans will be offering 3 courses for $39 and 3 courses with a wine pairing for $59 with $8 cocktails.
- Hotel Deals -Save big by staying at local boutique hotels in the New Orleans Hotel Group this summer. Enjoy a special summer discount up to 20% off for a limited time when you stay 3 or more nights between May to September using discount code LSUMMR.
- Locals Only– During the month of August when the temps reach 95 degrees, New Orleans residents get free admission to the New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Arts Center the following day.
Audubon Cool Zoo
Gator Run is a 750ft lazy river with two sand beaches right smack in the middle of our world famous Audubon Zoo. Cool Zoo is an additional purchase to your Zoo ticket and is open Mon- Fri 10am-5pm and Sat-Sun 10am-6pm.
Catch a show
Some major shows, festivals, and events are coming to New Orleans summer 2019. Take advantage of the air conditioning at the following venues:
Smoothie King Center
Mercedes- Benz Superdome
UNO Lakefront Area
Fillmore
Saenger Theater
Champions Square
Pools
The complete list of NORD public pools is available online. But for a more adult experience, these hotel pools are the hottest to stay cool.
- The Country Club – The pool and hottub are available for a day rate of $15. They also have a terrific kitchen with a drag brunch every Saturday. Reservations are recommended for weekend dining. For more drag events check out our complete schedule.
- The Drifter – Is a newly renovated roadside motel, and is the most instagrammable pool in town. The scene is young, hip, and clothing optional. Check their schedule for yoga, live music, variety shows, and D.J. events.
- Alto at the Ace Hotel – Think The Drifter but a little more grown up. They offer a full bar and food service with rooftop views of downtown from 10am-10pm everyday.
- NOPSI Hotel – Another downtown rooftop – $20 for a day pass and open until 11pm Sun-Thursday and Midnight Friday and Saturday nights. Sundays are free.
- W French Quarter – is one of few, possibly the only, pool open to the public in the French Quarter, but spots fill up fast you can order your $20 day pass on eventbrite for weekdays or weekends.
Frozen drinks
- Bananas Foster is a famous flammable dessert invented in New Orleans, but Bananas FROSTER is it’s frozen cousin found only at Palace Cafe (605 Canal St.)
- Frozen daiquiris can be found on every corner of the city but our favorites are both found in the French Quarter: 1. Saint Lawrence ( 219 N. Peters) always has 2 fresh juice frozen daiquiris on tap. 2. Organic Banana (1100 N. Peters inside the French Market) is a fresh juice and smoothie bar but when you add ice and Old New Orleans Rum to the mix, it becomes the freshest daiquiri in town.
- Frozen Irish Coffee is always on tap at Molly’s on the Market (1107 Decatur) and Erin Rose (811 Conti) Very different bars, but same owner and the same delicious recipe.
- Another famous New Orleans “breakfast cocktail”, the Brandy Milk Punch, has been turned into a frozen cocktail by Bourbon House (144 Bourbon)
- Read more about all our must-drink cocktails and where to drink them.
Snow Balls
If you don’t know, it’s basically a snow cone 2.0 and Hansen’s Sno-Bliz (4801 Tchoupitoulas) is the place to go for a famous New Orleans Snow Ball. This family-owned mainstay has been cooling off New Orleanians since 1939. They were even named an “American Classic” by the James Beard Foundation.
Baseball
Cheering on our Minor League baseball team, The Baby Cakes, (named after a Mardi Gras tradition of hiding a baby in king cakes) might not seem like a cool activity, but if you get the pool view seat you can have the coolest seat in the house. You can rent out the area if you have a minimum of 20 people. Tickets to the games available here.
Get Out of Town
If the Summer in New Orleans is too hot for ya, check out our favorite beach town Bay St. Louis. We’ve made a list of the best free stuff to do there.
