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USA · 4 days / 3 nights

New Orleans for Fat People: A Laid-Back 4-Day Weekend

New Orleans is a sit-down city: beignets, long lunches, jazz and riverboats. This plan keeps you close to the Quarter, schedules the outdoor stuff for mornings, and is honest about the streetcar steps and swamp-boat seats.

Length
4 days / 3 nights
Budget
$$
Best time
October–May
Best for
Food and music lovers who want the French Quarter without wilting in the humidity
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Why it works for bigger bodies

  • The best things here (gumbo, jazz, cocktails, river views) happen sitting down.
  • Riverboat jazz cruises run on enclosed decks with dinner and a live band.
  • The National WWII Museum lends manual wheelchairs free and has elevators wherever there are stairs.
  • A hotel in or next to the Quarter keeps every walk short, with rideshare for everything else.

Watch-outs

  • The Steamboat Natchez is out of service for renovations. The Riverboat City of New Orleans is running its cruises, so call about deck access.
  • The St. Charles line's historic Perley Thomas streetcars can't be fitted with wheelchair lifts and have steep steps. Lift-equipped cars run on the line too, so wait for one if you need it.
  • French Quarter sidewalks are narrow, uneven and often broken. Watch your footing and wear supportive shoes.
  • Airboats and small swamp boats set their own seating and weight rules. Ask before booking, or choose a large covered boat.
  • Humidity is serious from May through September, and hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30.
  • Bourbon Street at night is shoulder to shoulder. Frenchmen Street or a seated jazz club is calmer.

Getting there

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY) is roughly a 25–30 minute ride to the French Quarter. Southwest flies there from many cities. Since its 2026 walk-back, Southwest agents can again assign a free adjacent seat when the flight has room. If you want a guarantee, prepurchase it: it's refundable when both seats are in the same fare class, you ask within 90 days and the flight left with an open seat. Other major airlines will sell a second seat, usually by phone, and Alaska stands out for refunding it after travel. Ask the flight attendant for the airline's extender as you board, since US carriers generally won't let you use your own. A taxi or rideshare XL from MSY is easier than an airport shuttle that makes a dozen hotel stops.

Check your airline’s current customer-of-size policy before you book: airline policy guide.

Day by day

  1. Day 1 — Arrive and eat

    • Taxi to your hotel, then beignets at a sit-down table.
    • Rest in the afternoon heat.
    • Dinner in the Quarter, then live music on Frenchmen Street. Ask at the door about seating.

  2. Day 2 — Museum and the river

    • Morning at the National WWII Museum with a complimentary wheelchair.
    • Long lunch, then a hotel nap.
    • Evening riverboat jazz cruise.

  3. Day 3 — Swamp and city

    • Morning swamp tour with hotel pickup, back by lunch.
    • Afternoon city bus tour or a cooking demo class.
    • Dinner reservation somewhere with real chairs.

  4. Day 4 — Brunch and home

    • Jazz brunch, then the airport.

Where to stay

Hotel Monteleone

Royal Street, French Quarter

A historic hotel on Royal Street close to Canal Street, so dinner and music are a short walk. It's home to the revolving Carousel Bar: grab a table in the lounge if bar stools aren't your thing. Ask for an accessible room with a roll-in shower and a room near the elevators.

Check rates

Windsor Court Hotel

Central Business District

A quieter, upscale base a few blocks from the Quarter and a short ride from the riverfront and the WWII Museum. Ask about accessible rooms and shower types, and use the doorman for taxis instead of walking in the heat.

Check rates

Things to do (comfortably)

Riverboat jazz cruise

Seated on an enclosed deck with the Dukes of Dixieland, a full bar and optional dinner. Call ahead to ask which decks you can reach without stairs.

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The National WWII Museum

Free manual wheelchairs (first-come, first-served), elevators wherever there are stairs and wheelchair-accessible stalls in all public restrooms. The campus spans two city blocks, so take a chair even if you don't usually.

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Swamp tour on a large covered boat

You sit the whole time in the shade while a guide spots alligators. Ask about the seat type and boarding steps before you book.

Weight limit: Varies — ask the operator

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City and Garden District bus tour

See the mansions, cemeteries and neighborhoods from a seat, without the walking-tour mileage.

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Cooking demonstration class

Watch a local chef make gumbo and pralines while you sit, then eat everything.

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Is the New Orleans streetcar accessible?

Partly. The St. Charles line runs historic Perley Thomas cars, and it isn't possible to add wheelchair doors and lifts to them. A 2017 consent decree kept the historic cars unmodified, and accessibility came through renovated 457-series cars with wheelchair lifts. If steep steps are hard for you, wait for a lift-equipped car or take a rideshare to the Garden District. RTA's General Rider Inquiries line (504-248-3900) can tell you about accessible service on the day.

How to handle New Orleans heat as a plus-size traveler

  • Do outdoor things before 11 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Spend the middle of the day in a museum, a restaurant or your room.
  • Use powder in skin folds and a stick on your thighs. Humidity turns a two-block walk into a chafe risk. Our anti-chafe balms and powders guide compares options.
  • Carry a cooling towel and a neck fan, and drink more water than you think you need.
  • Pack a light rain jacket: summer storms are short and heavy. See big and tall jackets and rain gear.

Seating in jazz clubs and restaurants

Many French Quarter bars are standing-room or bar-stool only. When seating matters, choose places that take reservations for seated shows or a table, and ask for a chair without arms when you book dinner.

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