Audubon and University, New Orleans: neighborhood guide

Audubon and University sits at the upriver end of Uptown, just below Carrollton, and is split by St. Charles Avenue. On the river side are Audubon Park and the Audubon Zoo; on the other side are Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans, with historic houses, local shops and restaurants on the streets around them.

The land was farmland and plantations absorbed as the city spread upriver in the 19th century. The city bought the last plantation for a park, then used it for the 1884 World Cotton Centennial before laying out Audubon Park between the Mississippi River and St. Charles Avenue. Tulane and Loyola moved their main campuses to the blocks behind St. Charles. A long strip along Broadway was the town of Greenville before 1870, and the name still turns up in local use.

Expect a low-rise, leafy, residential feel: students, dog walkers, joggers in the park and families at the zoo. It is not a sightseeing core, and evenings are quiet.

Choose this district if your trip is built around the zoo, the park, a campus visit or a calm base with easy streetcar access to the rest of Uptown. It also works for families who want space and a park on the doorstep rather than a French Quarter balcony.

Look elsewhere if this is your first New Orleans trip and you want to walk to the French Quarter, Frenchmen Street or the Central Business District. The streetcar is reliable but slow, and late-night options here are limited. Uptown closer to Magazine Street, the Central Business District or Faubourg Marigny will put more restaurants and bars within a short walk.

Food here is neighbourhood-scale: student cafés and cheap eats near the campuses, plus a cluster of local restaurants and bars along Magazine Street and the side streets off St. Charles. It is a place to eat near where you sleep, not a dining destination in itself.

For a wider choice, take the streetcar or Bus 11 down Magazine Street into Uptown, or head to the Central Business District. If you are here for a zoo or park day, eat before or after rather than expecting much inside the park.

The St. Charles Streetcar is the backbone: it runs from the edge of the French Quarter through the Central Business District and Uptown, bisects this district and continues to Carrollton. It is the easiest car-free way in and out, though it is not fast.

Bus 11 (Magazine Street) is the quickest link between the Audubon Zoo and the French Quarter and Central Business District, running from Magazine at Canal down to the zoo entrance. Bus 15 (Freret Street) connects Freret and Broadway with Canal Street and University Place, and is generally the fastest route between the universities and downtown, though it passes through Central City — fine by day, less comfortable late at night. Bus 16 (South Claiborne) and Bus 10 (Tchoupitoulas) cover the Claiborne and river-side corridors. Bus 32 (Leonidas) links the zoo entrance area with Mid-City and City Park, but runs less than once an hour.

By car it is easy to reach from other parts of town, but parking near the universities and park is a problem; the zoo has a decent lot that fills on holidays and busy weekends. Taxis and rideshare are straightforward for late nights.