Garden District and Uptown Transportation Guide: St. Charles, Magazine Street and Beyond

Follow St. Charles Avenue upriver from the Central Business District and the city changes character within a few minutes. Office towers give way to live oaks, raised cottages and columned mansions. The Garden District comes first, followed by the broad collection of neighborhoods that locals simply call Uptown, stretching past the universities to the bend in the river at Carrollton. It is a beautiful part of the city and an easy one to visit, provided you understand its two main corridors and its one big seasonal complication.

Two Parallel Corridors

Almost everything a visitor wants here lies along one of two streets that run roughly parallel to the river.

St. Charles Avenue is the grand one. The streetcar runs down its grassy center, which New Orleanians call the neutral ground, with a traffic roadway on each side. Mansions, churches, hotels and both universities face the avenue.

Magazine Street runs closer to the river and stretches for miles, lined with independent shops, galleries, restaurants and bars in clusters separated by residential blocks. It is a two-lane street with parking on both sides, so traffic moves slowly and delivery trucks can stop it altogether. It is too long to walk end to end comfortably, which makes it a good candidate for a ride between clusters.

Between and around these two corridors, the side streets are residential and narrow, with uneven pavement and sidewalks lifted by oak roots. Wear comfortable shoes for a Garden District walk, and expect any vehicle to take the side streets slowly.

The St. Charles Streetcar

The St. Charles line is one of the oldest continuously operating street railways in the world, and its green cars are a landmark in their own right. The line starts at the edge of the Central Business District near Canal Street, passes through the Garden District and Uptown, runs by Tulane and Loyola universities and Audubon Park, then turns onto South Carrollton Avenue.

It is inexpensive, scenic and thoroughly worth riding. It is also unhurried. Cars can fill up at popular times, the historic cars have steps at the doors that make boarding difficult for some riders and awkward with luggage, and the line can be interrupted by track work or parades. Check the transit agency's current schedule, ride it for pleasure, and pick something else when you have a fixed appointment.

Tulane, Loyola and Audubon Park

Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans sit side by side on St. Charles Avenue, directly across from Audubon Park. The park runs from the avenue toward the river, and Audubon Zoo is at its far end, on the Magazine Street side.

The university calendar drives traffic here more than visitors expect. Move-in and move-out days, family weekends, home athletic events and especially commencement fill nearby hotels and crowd the streets around campus. Families flying in for these occasions should arrange airport transportation early. A Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban or Mercedes Sprinter van handles a family and a student's worth of luggage far better than a sedan. Visiting faculty, recruiters and speakers are well served by our corporate transportation service.

Carnival Season on St. Charles

This is the seasonal complication. During the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras Day, most of the major parades in New Orleans follow an Uptown route that travels along St. Charles Avenue toward downtown. On parade days, the avenue closes to traffic well before the first float and reopens only after the last one passes and cleanup crews have followed. On the busiest days, several parades roll back to back.

While the route is closed, crossing it by vehicle is not possible for long stretches. Locals call the area enclosed between the parade route and the river the box, since getting a vehicle in or out of it during a parade can be very difficult. Parking restrictions along and near the route are strictly enforced, and cars are towed. Streetcar service on the avenue is suspended or shortened when parades are running.

If you are staying Uptown during Carnival, plan every timed trip around the parade schedule, which is published in advance. For a flight, that may mean leaving before the route closes or being collected on the side of the route that faces your direction of travel. A chauffeur who works Carnival every year will help you choose the time and the corner. Read why hire a chauffeur for more on that planning, and our Mardi Gras transportation guide for the citywide picture.

Weddings and Private Events

The Garden District and Uptown are among the most popular wedding settings in the city. Ceremonies take place in historic churches along St. Charles Avenue and the surrounding streets, and receptions fill restored mansions, garden venues and spaces in and around Audubon Park. Many couples hold the ceremony Uptown and the reception downtown or in the French Quarter, or the reverse, which makes transportation part of the timeline.

A few points are particular to this area. Residential streets offer little room for large vehicles to wait, so staging needs to be agreed with the venue. Guest shuttles from downtown hotels work best when they run on a published schedule. If your date falls during Carnival season, check the parade calendar before you sign a venue contract. Our wedding transportation team can plan the getaway car, the wedding party's limousine or Sprinter and the guest shuttles together.

Getting Downtown and to the French Quarter

The ride from the Garden District to the Central Business District or the Quarter is short by car, using St. Charles Avenue, Magazine Street or the faster Tchoupitoulas Street along the river. The streetcar covers the same ground at a gentler pace. For what happens when you arrive, see the French Quarter transportation guide.

The Ride to MSY

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is in Kenner, west of the city. From the Garden District and Uptown there are two general approaches. One joins Interstate 10 and follows it west through Metairie. The other stays on surface routes through Jefferson Parish, such as Earhart Expressway and Airline Drive, before turning toward the terminal. Which is better depends on where you start, the time of day and whether the interstate is flowing. A chauffeur will check conditions before choosing.

As a general guide, allow somewhere between half an hour and an hour depending on traffic, and more on parade days or at rush hour. Our MSY airport transportation guide covers departure timing in detail, and pricing for the route is confirmed as a flat rate before you ride.

Book Your Uptown Ride

Whether it is an airport transfer from a St. Charles Avenue hotel, a wedding at an Uptown mansion or a commencement weekend, reserve online or call (877) 609-1919. Dispatch answers 24/7, and sedan and SUV bookings can be cancelled free of charge up to 3 hours before pickup.