The Mississippi is wider than you expect. Standing on the levee and looking south, you understand why the whole city grew up around it. The French Quarter is a few blocks back. The live oaks in City Park are thirty minutes away.
New Orleans is louder than most American cities, which can make you feel like a proposal has to compete with the noise. It doesn’t. The city knows how to celebrate, and a man down on one knee in the Quarter is just another good reason to cheer. The quieter moments are there if you want them. You just have to step a few blocks in the right direction.
New Orleans Proposal Ideas
New Orleans is one of America’s most atmospheric cities. It combines beautiful European architecture and a vibrant music scene with the romance of the Mississippi. Sadly large scale destruction following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has left scars around the city, but the motto of “Let the Good Times Roll” still seems to pervade the areas along the river.
Mississippi Proposals in New Orleans
Sunset on the Mississippi. Photo: Scott May / UnsplashThe Mississippi River is a popular subject in literature and legend and there’s something incredibly romantic about the vast expanse of ever changing water. There are a number of scenic spots you could consider proposing on the river and the most iconic might be on the water itself aboard the Natchez, the Mississippi’s last authentic steamboat. For an extra romantic touch book an evening dinner and jazz cruise and enjoy the beauty of the New Orleans skyline.
Another great location for a proposal is alongside the river behind the French Quarter where Woldenberg Park meets the Moonwalk, a lovely boardwalk along the river named after Mayor Moon Landrieu. This location is handy for Jackson Square and is particularly beautiful at sunset when you can watch the light sparkle on the water.
Downriver from the Quarter, past Frenchmen Street and into the Marigny, the old Piety Street Wharf is now Crescent Park. It’s the best thing to happen to this stretch of the river in a century. The park runs about a mile along the water into the Bywater, on ground that freight tracks and working wharves kept the city away from for generations. You reach it over the Piety Street bridge, a weathered steel arc that everyone here calls the Rusty Rainbow. From the top you can see the river bending away below you and the downtown towers sitting upriver.
What makes it work for a proposal is how few people are on it. The Moonwalk gives you the Quarter at your back. Crescent Park gives you the river and not much else, which is the point. Container ships go past close enough that you stop talking for a moment. The concrete apron where the wharf once stood puts you out over the water with nothing between you and Algiers on the far bank.
Park Proposals in New Orleans
A live oak in a New Orleans park. Photo: Sinful / PexelsScenic parks are something that New Orleans does particularly well and you’ll be spoilt for choice if you’re looking for a romantic park location to pop the question. City Park is a great choice in the north of the city and you could choose to propose in the sculpture garden, in the beautiful peristyle overlooking the Bayou Metairie which flows to the Mississippi, on a pedal boat or gondola on the lagoon, or while riding the flying horses on the vintage carousel. The park also houses the superb New Orleans Museum of Art if you find yourself there on a rainy day.
Another beautiful New Orleans park, this time located in the garden district alongside the river, is Audubon Park. Its beautiful old Spanish oak trees and lagoons make it an attractive choice at any time of year, and you can use the excellent Audubon Zoo or Aquarium as an excuse to visit the park before your proposal. The lovely fountain might be a good place to pop the question.
One tree in Audubon Park has earned its own following. The Étienne de Boré Oak, which everybody calls the Tree of Life, stands near the corner of East Drive and Laurel Street. Every photographer in the city knows it. Its lower limbs are so heavy that they rest on the ground and turn back up again, and the crown spreads wider than the tree is tall. Audubon says the city’s first mayor planted it as a wedding gift for his bride, which is either true or the best story anyone has ever told about a tree.
If you want one spot in this park, take that one. It gives you shade in August, a frame for the photographs, and something to tell her while she’s looking at the ring.
French Quarter Proposal Locations
St Louis Cathedral over Jackson Square. Photo: Nick Haynes / PexelsThe most iconic image of New Orleans is Jackson Square and the three turrets of St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States. The area in front of the cathedral would be a wonderful place for a truly New Orleans proposal, especially if you get down on one knee just as the bells begin to ring. Jackson Square itself is a beautiful park in the French Quarter of New Orleans that was designed to resemble the Place des Vosges in Paris and any spot within the square could work for a romantic proposal if you don’t mind an audience.
Jackson Square at first light is the version of it most people never see. The cathedral faces the river, so the sun comes up over the water and lands on the front of it while the flagstones are still wet from the night. The buskers and the tarot tables arrive later. Walk her down for coffee at Café du Monde and take the long way back through the square.
For a more private option in the French Quarter why not hire a horse drawn carriage and take a tour of the area, asking the driver to stop somewhere with a great view for the big moment. Iconic areas of the French Quarter include Bourbon Street and Pirate Alley, but while these are must see sights of New Orleans, with incredible atmosphere and architecture, they’re not generally romantic locations for a proposal because they get quite crowded.
The balconies are the way around that. Wrought iron galleries hang over half the streets in the Quarter, and they give you the setting without four hundred strangers standing in it. At the rail you’re above the crowd instead of inside it, close enough to hear the brass band on the corner and far enough that nobody is filming you. The older hotels have the deep galleries that wrap around two sides of a corner room, and a few Quarter restaurants will seat you on their balcony if you ask when you book.
When you come matters more here than in most American cities. July and August are brutal, and the humidity doesn’t ease off after dark. Hurricane season runs from June to the end of November. Build a trip around one outdoor moment in the summer and you’re gambling on the weather. Spring is the pick of the year. The azaleas are out in the parks, the evenings are warm without soaking you, and the summer crowds haven’t arrived.
Watch the calendar as well. Mardi Gras, French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest are all worth a trip of their own and all wrong for a quiet question, unless the crowd is the point.
Romantic Restaurants in New Orleans
New Orleans has an unrivaled restaurant scene and is best known for Louisiana Creole cuisine which combines French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Native American, and Southern cooking methods with African influences. Whether you are looking for a restaurant in the French Quarter, the Garden District, or downtown, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Irene’s is a French Provincial and Creole-Italian restaurant in the French Quarter close to Woldenberg Park. Although it’s not especially touristy, you may have to wait for a table, but the fabulous food, friendly service, and cozy romantic atmosphere make it worthwhile.
Arnaud’s Creole restaurant which is located just steps from Bourbon Street is the ultimate New Orleans dining experience. Whether you choose a romantic dinner in the turn of the century dining room or one of their famous jazz brunches in the Jazz Bistro, the food is guaranteed to please.
Bayona is another celebrated restaurant in the French Quarter, and the menu spans a huge range of cuisines including Mediterranean, Far Eastern, North African, French, and Italian as well as drawing inspiration from all over the U.S. There are three beautiful dining rooms plus a tropical patio with its own fountain.
Muriel’s restaurant is located in the heart of Jackson Square and is a wonderful place to soak up the atmosphere of New Orleans as well as tasting the delicious contemporary Creole cuisine. Start with cocktails in the courtyard bar and book a table on the second floor wrought iron balcony overlooking Jackson Square.
Commander’s Palace is located in the Garden District and is a New Orleans attraction in its own right. The beautiful blue Victorian architecture houses a decadent restaurant where the food is an inventive combination of modern New Orleans cooking and Haute Creole and consistently gets rave reviews.
Restaurant August is located in the Warehouse District and is one of the city’s most established fine dining rooms. The contemporary French menu is influenced by local ingredients and southern roots.
Compère Lapin is where chef Nina Compton cooks the Caribbean food she grew up on with French technique and Gulf seafood. Its stylish dining room in the Old No. 77 Hotel makes it a good choice for a post proposal dinner.
Romantic Activities in New Orleans
Once your girlfriend has become your fiancée you’ll want to carry on the celebration with a few romantic activities, and these are all great ideas for fun or romantic things to do when you’re in New Orleans.
- Take a ride on the St. Charles Avenue street car
- Drink cocktails at 200 year old Napoleon House
- Wander through the galleries of Royal Street
- Visit the jazz clubs of Frenchmen Street
- Tour the Jazz Walk of Fame at the Jazz National Historic Park
- Take a ferry ride across the Mississippi from Canal Street
- Light a candle at St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square
- Enjoy one of New Orleans’ legendary festivals
- Hold each other tight on a ghost and vampire tour
Where to Stay in New Orleans for Your Proposal Trip
There are plenty of excellent hotels in New Orleans, and if you really want to capture the flavor of the city look for one of the restored historic houses and mansions, many of which contain well preserved original features. Most people choose to stay in or close to the French Quarter, but there are also great hotels in the Garden and Arts Districts.
French Quarter Hotels
If you’d like a little historic luxury close to the French Quarter, Melrose Mansion could be the perfect hotel for you. The restored Victorian mansion is located on Esplanade Avenue and has every amenity you could want including a large swimming pool and a lovely courtyard with fountains.
Another historic and luxurious choice in the French Quarter, at the foot of Royal Street, is the Hotel Monteleone, which has a spa, rooftop pool, and the famous Carousel Bar. For an extra edge bear in mind that the Hotel Monteleone is one of America’s most haunted hotels.
For something a little different check out the Audubon Cottages, a historic collection of seven cottages in the French Quarter which have the feel of a secluded private hideaway in the heart of New Orleans. The cottages share use of a saltwater pool and are linked to the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, another lovely historic French Quarter hotel with a peaceful courtyard.
Bourbon Street Hotels
If you want to stay on Bourbon Street itself, think about the Royal Sonesta Hotel which is distinctly New Orleans with its traditional gabled windows, French doors, and wrought-iron lace balconies. As well as luxurious rooms you’ll find tropical courtyards with outdoor pools and cafes, restaurants, and jazz bars.
You could also consider the Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter, which stands on the site of the legendary French Opera House and has balconies overlooking Bourbon Street so you can throw beads to the crowds beneath. A more affordable choice on Bourbon Street might be La Maison Marigny, an elegant bed and breakfast close to Frenchmen Street.
Garden and Art District Hotels
One of New Orleans best known hotels is the Columns Hotel on St Charles Avenue in the upper Garden District, near to Audubon Park. It is the only remaining example of a large group of Italianate houses that Thomas Sully designed in the early 1880s, and has some stunning features such as a mahogany stairwell which rises to meet an extraordinary domed stained glass skylight. A 2021 restoration turned it into a boutique hotel, and with just nineteen rooms the Columns Hotel stays cozy.
Another beautiful hotel in the Garden District is the Queen Anne Hotel, a late nineteenth century Victorian mansion. Four poster beds, marble bathrooms and sparkling chandeliers will make your proposal vacation particularly romantic.
If you’d like to stay somewhere with a more contemporary vibe, the Eliza Jane in the Warehouse Arts District is worth a look. Built inside a row of nine historic warehouses that once housed a newspaper and a bitters factory, it has stylish rooms and excellent service.
