Ash Wednesday 2005 will be February 9.
What would New Orleans be like if you visit in the days right AFTER then. Such as the weekend after. Do prices for hotels drop sharply? Is there one giant hangover?
Can’t say I’m much for all the Mardi Gras celebrations, so I definitely want to avoid it.
By the next weekend, all ought to be back to normal. There’s always conventions in town, but hotels should be back at normal prices.
Planning a trip?
Mardi Gras isn’t all just the craziness you see in the Quarter, BTW.
The Big Easy never stops. I don’t know if there is a cheap season in New Orleans, maybe in the middle of summer?
Well, it doesn’t need to be dirt cheap, but I didn’t want holiday extortion prices.
I can vouch for that, I lived in Jefferson Parish during the mid-80s. I preferred the parades along Veterans Memorial Boulevard over the craziness in the city. Then again, the only costumed spectators to see are in the city and I was never there after dark.
As for hotels, the Royal St. Charles is nice and at $144 for the Saturday following Mardi Gras (129/day for extended stays) is about the least expensive you’ll find close to the French Quarter.
Further down St. Charles is the Avenue Garden New Orleans, $92 a night and a short streetcar ride from the French Quarter.
BTW: pack warm clothes. Mardi Gras is in the second week of Feburary next year and it can get damn cold & windy!
Thanks. Not too worried about the weather. More with crowds. It’s probably going to be a Gulf Coast excursion. Except I’ll start on the east end like Pensacola and finish in New Orelans.
Never been to this part of the US so I thought it would be fun.
New Orleans never stops, that is true.
Bourbon street is like Disneyland for tourists, except with strippers and no open container laws. Also lots of strong drinks. New Orleans is fun though, and you should defenitely have a good time.
I know when the worst time to be in New Orleans is though. A long time ago I had a trip with my European Studies class in highschool. We were in highschool, so we thought, “AWESOME!” We’re gonig to go out and have so much fun!Our teacher got a special deal on a hotel, because he said we were going in the worst week to be in the city due to weather. That is the last week of August. The humidity is unberable with oppressive heat. Not to mention that we were outside while it was raining a lot. We only spent one night there and we were so tired that we never go to go out, because he kept us going from 8 in the morning to 12 at night. That was too much.
Yep, it’ll be chilly. You shouldn’t need a parka, but some good layering should do the trick. It doesn’t really get all that cold, but you’ll be here at about the coldest time. I expect to freeze my butt off waiting for the few parades I want to get to this next year. Brrrrrrr!
Murk (if you don’t like that shortened, say something!), AUGUST? Was he INSANE???
Hey Whiterabbit, just call me Strangelove 
Its from that movie, Dr. Strangelove. There is one scene where they are talking about how Strangelove isn’t a German name, and someone mentions that his real name is Merkwürdigliebe but that he changed it when he became a citizen.
Shorten it all you like…
Yeah, I know, August is crazy. I live in Mississippi too, so you would think I would know a little bit about hot muggy weather, but there’s nothing like NOLA when it comes to that.
I went down for Voodoofest though and the weather then was amazing! It was a pleasant 75 during the day, I think.
Yep, New Orleans in high summer is miserable. That’s the closest New Orleans gets to a ghost town. Hotel prices are at their cheapest and some of the restaurants just close for good parts of July and August. It’s just not worth staying open. Walking is a misery. That said, it seems to be when I’m always down there lately.
To drag myself back on topic, my sister’s friend, Alex, has a great song called “The Day after Mardi Gras Day” sort of about the depression that sets in after Mardi Gras.
There’ll still be beads stuck up in the trees, probably from years past too. The tree in front of our apartment building is great for collecting 'em. After a parade, it looks like it’s been decorated there’s so many of them. It’s really quite pretty.
-Lil
It won’t be a ghost town, but the city will be relatively quiet. Gotta gear up for St. Patrick’s Day, you know. Price will drop until St. Paddy’s Day, increase slightly, drop again, shoot back up for Jazz Fest, then hit rock bottom in the summer. I’ve had some dirt cheap visits during the summer - if you can stand the humidity.