City

Events in New Orleans

One event a year moves hotel prices in New Orleans, and this is what it does to them. Where to stay, how long each district is from the venue, and how to get here.

Illustration: a night carnival parade on a southern avenue, lit floats under live oaks, crowds with arms raised, warm artificial light
Mardi Gras · Illustration — a generated image of the kind of scene, not a photograph of the venue.

What is on

DatesEventTypeBooking
5–9 Feb 2027Mardi GrasCarnivalClosing

The weeks the city fills

Against what the same hotel costs four weeks earlier — our estimate, not a live rate. Outside these weeks New Orleans prices like any other month.

Getting here

AirportCodeTo the city
Louis Armstrong New OrleansMSY30 min

Trains: New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

Where to stay

St Charles Avenue parade route
DistrictTo the venuePriceWhat it is
French Quarter15 min walk$$$$Walk everywhere, sleep through nothing; the most expensive beds of the year
Garden District & Uptown10 min walk$$$The parade route runs past the door, and families claim the neutral ground at dawn
CBD & Warehouse District15 min walk$$$The big hotels between the Quarter and the route; the practical choice
Mid-City25 min tram$$Where the parades line up; residential, cheaper, and on the streetcar
Metairie & the airport40 min drive$$Suburban chains with parking, for when the city is gone

More on Mardi Gras: which days to go and when to book. See also festivals.