Neighborhood 48H guide
CBD / Canal Street: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
The Roosevelt’s Sazerac Bar, fried chicken at Willie Mae’s and the river at the foot of Canal.
The Central Business District sits upriver of the French Quarter across Canal Street: grand hotels and theaters, office towers, and the streetcar lines that fan out to Mid-City and Uptown.
Photo gallery
Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
Every streetcar line is close, the Quarter is across Canal, and the Warehouse District is next door.
Who it's for: Business trips, theater weekends and travelers who want big hotels a block from the Quarter.
Pros
- One block to the French Quarter
- Streetcars in every direction
- Big, full-service hotels
Cons
- Office blocks are quiet after hours
- Busy traffic on Canal
- Less character than the older neighborhoods
48H in the CBD
A classic cocktail, fried chicken, the riverfront.
12:00 – Willie Mae’s NOLA
The famous fried chicken, now on Baronne Street.
17:30 – The Sazerac Bar
A Sazerac in the Roosevelt’s art deco bar.
10:00 – Day 2: Canal Street to the river
Walk to the riverfront by the Four Seasons and ride the ferry to Algiers Point.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Eat
Eat
Willie Mae’s NOLA
898 Baronne St
Willie Mae’s fried chicken, now downtown (the original Tremé location is closed).
Official site / map →
Drink
Drink
The Sazerac Bar
130 Roosevelt Way
Walnut-paneled art deco bar inside The Roosevelt.
Official site / map →
Outdoors
Outdoors
Algiers Ferry
Canal St at the river
Short ride across the Mississippi from the foot of Canal, with skyline views.
Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
The Roosevelt New Orleans
130 Roosevelt Way
Grand 1893 hotel a block from the Quarter, with the Sazerac Bar and a rooftop pool.
Check rates on Expedia →Hotel · Expedia
Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans
2 Canal St
Riverfront tower at the foot of Canal Street, with a pool and Chandelier Bar.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for CBD / Canal Street.
Browse vacation rentals in CBD / Canal Street on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in New Orleans
- French Quarter — Jackson Square, beignets at Café du Monde, a muffuletta at Central Grocery and jazz at Preservation Hall.
- Marigny — Live music on Frenchmen Street, the night art market and Creole cottages under the oaks.
- Bywater — Crescent Park on the river, wine in Bacchanal’s backyard and a long brunch at Elizabeth’s.
- Tremé — Congo Square, St. Augustine Church, Mardi Gras Indian suits at the Backstreet museum and gumbo at Dooky Chase’s.
- Warehouse / Arts District — The WWII Museum, Southern art at the Ogden, galleries on Julia Street and dinner at Cochon.
- Lower Garden District — Coliseum Square’s oaks, Magazine Street shops and the best sandwich at Turkey and the Wolf.
- Garden District / Uptown — Mansions under the oaks, Commander’s Palace, Lafayette Cemetery tours and the streetcar to Audubon Park.
- Mid-City / Bayou St. John — City Park’s oaks, NOMA’s sculpture garden, a po’boy at Parkway and the Canal streetcar back downtown.