New Orleans, Louisiana
Garden District self-guided walking tour.
An original loop through the Garden District: The Rink, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, Commander’s Palace, the Cornstalk Fence, Toby’s Corner and Trinity Episcopal Church. Read the stops here, then open the mapped route on your iPhone.
Start at The Rink
The loop begins at The Rink, on the corner of Prytania Street and Washington Avenue, one block from the St. Charles Avenue streetcar. Walk in daylight, follow local signs and diversions, and bring water. The route follows mapped pedestrian paths, but it has not been walked on site by DailyWander.
- On iPhone, get DailyWander if you do not have it.
- Return to this page and tap Open the tour in DailyWander. Check the preview, then choose Open in DailyWander.
- In the app, review the route and choose Start this route or Save route. Keep this guide handy for the stop notes.
Most buildings on this walk are private homes: stay on the public sidewalk and keep gates and driveways clear. A Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 tour or a meal at Commander’s Palace is a separate booking and is not included in the walking time.
Six stops, in walking order
The route uses public viewpoints. Check the linked sources for current access before planning a visit inside.
Stop 1
The Rink
Start at The Rink, the shopping complex at the corner of Prytania Street and Washington Avenue. It was built in the 1880s as the Crescent City Skating Rink and has long been a gathering place for Garden District residents. The St. Charles Avenue streetcar runs one block away, so this corner is an easy place to begin and end.
Stop 2
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
Walk down Washington Avenue to the cemetery gates at 1400 Washington. It is one of the city’s oldest cemeteries. After a seven-year closure it reopened on October 1, 2026, for small guided tours run by the Preservation Resource Center; walking in on your own is not part of this route. View the walls and gates from the sidewalk, or book a tour in advance.
Preservation Resource Center: Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 tours
Stop 3
Commander’s Palace
Directly across Washington Avenue stands Commander’s Palace, one of the most widely known restaurants in New Orleans. Admire the building from the corner of Washington Avenue and Coliseum Street; a meal there is a separate reservation and is not included in the walking time.
Stop 4
Colonel Short’s Villa
At Prytania and Fourth Streets you reach the house built in 1859 for Colonel Robert H. Short of Kentucky, designed by architect Henry Howard. Its cast-iron fence of morning glories and cornstalks, supplied by the Philadelphia foundry of Wood and Miltenberger, is the district’s best-known ironwork. It is a private home: view it from the sidewalk.
Stop 5
Toby’s Corner
Continue along Prytania Street to number 2340. The Toby-Westfeldt House of 1838, a Greek Revival “suburban villa” known locally as Toby’s Corner, is said to be the oldest building in the neighborhood. Like most houses on this walk it is a private residence.
Stop 6
Trinity Episcopal Church
The route turns toward Jackson Avenue and Coliseum Street to Trinity Episcopal Church. Its Gothic Revival building is an architectural landmark of the district, and the parish’s history in the neighborhood reaches back to the 1840s. From here the mapped return leads back to The Rink.
Keep the route with you
The tour link opens a route preview with an iPhone handoff. You can also download the GPX and open it from Files → Share → Daily Wander. The app shows the route; this page supplies the stop descriptions.
Garden District walking-tour questions
How long is this Garden District walking tour?
The mapped loop is about 1.2 miles (2.0 km). That is roughly 25 minutes of moving time at 3 mph; allow 60–90 minutes with stops. A cemetery tour or a meal adds time.
Can I go inside Lafayette Cemetery No. 1?
Since it reopened on October 1, 2026, visitors enter on small guided tours run by the Preservation Resource Center, which you book in advance. This walking route passes the gates on Washington Avenue and does not include a cemetery tour.
Can I follow the route on my iPhone?
Yes. Tap Open the tour in DailyWander, check the route preview and choose Open in DailyWander. If you need the app, install it first and return to this page. The page supplies the stop notes; the app shows the walking route.
Does the walk return to the start?
Yes. The loop starts and finishes at The Rink, at Prytania Street and Washington Avenue, one block from the St. Charles Avenue streetcar.
Can I download the GPX instead?
Yes. Download the GPX from this page, save it in Files on iPhone and share it to Daily Wander. The route geometry is available under the Open Database License.
Make another walk from your hotel
For a different distance or a loop from another starting point, use the US walking-route planner. DailyWander can suggest a separate loop from the location you choose.
Also in New Orleans: the French Quarter self-guided walking tour, a loop from Jackson Square. Ride the St. Charles Avenue streetcar between the two.
More self-guided tours: Charleston and Amsterdam.
Original itinerary by VANTH Studio. Reviewed October 9, 2026. Route geometry from OpenStreetMap via the FOSSGIS pedestrian router; distance measured along the track. Actual time depends on your pace, stops and diversions. Access to venues is controlled by their operators.