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Never a dull moment here in New Orleans, but dates can get expensive even with dinner and movie. Everyone loves a deal, but these dates are even better! Here’s a list of over 25+ budget friendly dates to take part in around New Orleans for less than $20. Spoiler alert: half of these dates are FREE! Talk about lagniappe! Date nights with your sweetie doesn’t always have to cost an arm and leg to have a little fun and some quality time together. In fact, New Orleans offers a ton of attractions free or at a very low price. With a little creativity, and a little research from your budget friendly friend 😉 , you can now go on over 25 dates with your partner for less than $15 in the Big Easy. To make it even sweeter, 12 are FREE. Head out to City Park and enjoy a stroll around the park. There is something so beautiful about this park. Stop over at Cafe du Monde for a delicious treat of beignets and coffee. Start with a picnic. Might I suggest some Zapp’s chips and poboys? You can make your own easily! Try this roast beef po’boy recipe and then enjoy the park. This park has a different presence about it. You can make it more a relaxing time, just hanging out, enjoy the sunshine, read books. Or you can make it more adventurous and ride bikes or play frisbee. Whichever you decide, it’ll be great quality time together. When the weather is perfect, it’s time to get outside and the great weather. Enjoy a bike around the park, then finish the date off with a snowball. My favorites depend on where you decide to bike after leaving the park! Hansen’s Sno-Bliz: 4801 Tchoupitoulas Ave. New Orleans, La 70115 First opened in 1939, so over 80 years makes them one of the best in the business! Their shaved ice is like no other and they serve their snowballs in a plastic cup unlike the usual stryfoam cup. Who doesn’t need another mardi gras cup in their cabinet 😉 An 8 minute bike ride straight down Tchoupitoulas from Audubon park will get you to Hansen’s! Some of the best snowballs around! Plum Street Snowballs: 1300 Burdette St, New Orleans, LA 70118 If you exit the park at St. Charles Ave, just a mile away is Plum street Snowballs. They have over 50 flavors and serve their snowballs in chinese take out containers. Sno-La Snowballs: 8108 South Hampson St. New Orleans, La 70118 You are definitely in for a treat with these snowballs. Home of the original cheesecake stuffed snowballs, they take their flavors to new heights with snowballs like Chantilly cake, Blueberry cheesecake, Peanut butter cream pie! Approximately a 7 minute bike ride down Leake ave or down St. Charles ave and a block over to grab one of these babies! On certain days, New Orleans museums offer free days to visit their museums. This is a great way to get in a budget friendly date while expanding your knowledge in your own city. New Orleans Museum of Art– Free on Wednesdays to Louisiana residents Ogden Museum of Southern Art– Free on Thursdays to Louisiana residents New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center– Free on Sundays to Louisiana residents (Mad props to The Helis Foundation for sponsoring all 3 of these FREE days!) New Orleans Pharmacy Museum– $5/adult (Tues-Sat 10am-4pm) New Orleans Jazz Museum $6/adult (Tues-Sun 10am-4:30pm) New Orleans Voodoo Museum– $7/adult (open everyday 10am-6pm) This one pulls at the heart strings a bit, but I am all about supporting local businesses. This is a free exhibit that offers a glimpse into the culture and timeline of the lower 9th ward. Although most is about before and after Katrina, it was very informative and very well done. It is more for tourist and ranked very highly, but sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own hometown. After, checking out the Lower 9th Ward Museum head over to the Louisiana National Guard Museum in New Orleans. There are two museums here to explore : the Jackson Barracks Museum and Camp Beaureguard Museum Both museum have free admission as well. The Presbytere museum has two different exhibits to show some of Louisiana history. One is for celebrating Mardi Gras year round and the other exhibit showcases Hurricane Katrina and our resilience to persevere through it all! $6 admission New Orleans Jazz Museum is housed in the U.S. Mint building. Learn about the evolution of jazz and the impact of this genre over the years. Admission: $6/person Audubon Institute reopened the Nature Center after it was flooded in Hurricane Katrina. It sat for 12 years before being reopened in October 6, 2017. Now you can enjoy the one of my favorite places when I was kid for FREE! Walking Trails: Open Daily | 8:00am – 4:00pm Address: 11000 Lake Forest Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70127 Other Audubon areas: (Zoo, Aquarium, Insectarium): If you are a New Orleans resident, Audubon offer free entry on certain days of the month. You just have to show your license. You can also check out an Audubon Zoo pass from the Orleans library. It allows two adults and seven children into the zoo. You can keep it for up to a 2 week period. The Prytania theater is one of the oldest theaters in New Orleans. During the day on Wednesdays and Sundays, the theater will show classic films for 6-7.75/ticket (depending on if you buy online). They change the movies each week which offers you a chance to find a old flick you’d love to see on the big screen with your partner again. What better way to hang with your spouse than to participate in a do good feel good date night. Giving back to the city is one of the best ways to feel all the love. Did you know there are over TEN FREE tours by foot that you can take? How awesome is that?! There offer them all over the city including garden district, treme, marigny, and french quarter. They also do a ghost tour, voodoo tour, arts and music tour, civil war tour and cemetery tour. Just be sure to tip your guide for doing such lovely job. Rum house is the place to be, especially on Tuesdays for $3 tacos, $3 beers and $5 margaritas. This place is one of my favorites and it never disappoints! The bright, yet chill vibe provides a nice place to relax and have a good time. If you miss Tuesday, no worries! They have happy hour from 3-6pm weekdays with beers and cocktails ranging from $3-6 also. From Tuesday-Friday 5pm-6pm, enjoy happy hour at the Apolline! They have $2 mimosas, $4 beer, $5 glasses of house wine, and $6 classic cocktails throughout the entire restaurant. As well as small plates, priced just right at $6. A perfect mini date with your spouse. Superior Seafood offers fantastic food and drinks at a great price. Get them even cheaper during happy hour 4-6:30pm get $3 beers, 1/2 off wine, and 2 for 1 frozen mojitos. You can also enjoy these perks friday and saturday nights 10pm till. While some are there for drinks, many are there for the 50 cent oysters! These are available every day during happy hour 4-6:30pm. Here’s 20 more places with amazing happy hours for you to try! This give you a chance to try more fantastic restaurants and bars around the city for a low price! Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite date night spot. 🙂 Take a tour of the New Orleans brewery with your date and enjoy a free beer with your tour. Tours are Fridays 2-3 and Sat-Sun 2-4pm. Now after a Friday tour, enjoy some live music over in the taproom and enjoy another round! The Sculpture Garden in New Orleans is located adjacent to City Park. The sculpture garden is unique with artworks scattered among nature making nature look more beautiful than ever! These artworks are from well known artists from all over the world. On May 15, 2019, you can enjoy 26 more garden sculptures scattered across 6 additional acres and admission is FREE. The Sculpture Garden is open 7 days a week with free admission. Summer Hours | April 1 – September 30 | 10 am – 6 pm Winter Hours | October 1 – March 31 | 10 am – 5 pm Set out on a hike with your sweetie at the Barataria Preserve. You can see turtles, frogs, and alligators as you do a self guided tour. They also do guided tour Wednesday- Sunday at 10am for a Wetlands Walk. Check the calendar of events for other activities! Admission is free. Visitor center is open Wednesday-Sunday 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; closed on federal holidays and Mardi Gras. Parking lot is open 9-5 except for holidays. Address: 6588 Barataria Boulevard, Marrero (near Crown Point) (If you use a GPS system, doublecheck it with the map since not all systems find the preserve successfully) Enjoy a free concert at Jackson Square. From March through May, the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans, presents a series of free outdoor concerts by well-known local artists. The music is a wide variety of indigenous musical styles, including jazz, rock, funk, swamp pop, Latin rhythms and more. New Orleans’ most famous brass bands are known to play at this annual concert series. Plus, admission is FREE and open to the public. This year, the concerts are every Wednesday from March 20-May 22, 2019 from 5pm-8pm in Jackson Square, New Orleans. The New Orleans streetcar is iconic in our city, but I know I rarely take it. This would be a great time to park and hop on the streetcar and head to the moonwalk/riverwalk. $1.25/person each way. Be sure to have cash and exact change as attendants do not carry any money. There are many options to complete this date. You can: FREE crawfish during crawfish season and other food other days like jambalaya. Free to bar to patron, tip the chef. You can have dinner and drinks for the price of a drink. A to the MEN! Generally crawfish season runs from mid-January to early July with the peak of the season from mid-March through June. Don’t forget, you don’t need to be in love to do all these adventures! Bring a friend or family member along for the fun! If none of those suit your fancy, don’t forget about self love dates 🙂 Life can get overwhelming, and we plan all things, but why not with our relationship? This little planner helps you narrow down things that are important, find out each other’s love language and plan all the fun. Need more date ideas? Go here Visiting New Orleans? Go here Got the travel bug? Go here Starting a bucket list? Go here Want delicious recipes? Go here Feeling crafty? Go here Share with friends! 
New Orleans Dates Under $15
Visit Our Parks with a New Orleans Flair!
Beignets and City Park
Picnic at the Fly
Ride Bikes through Audubon and Snowballs
RELATED: 10 Unique Things to Do in New Orleans
Visit a New Orleans Museum for Free or almost Free
RELATED: Fantastic Rainy Day Date Ideas!
Other Museums:
Lower 9th Ward Museum
Louisiana National Guard Museum
The Presbytere Museum
New Orleans Jazz Museum
RELATED: 30 Date Ideas to Keep You Active!
Bonus:
Audubon Institute
Interpretive Center: Wed – Sun | 10:00am – 4:30pm
Planetarium: Wed, Thurs, Fri – 2:30pm; Sat & Sun – 10:30am/1:30pm/3:30pm or by group reservation
Ranger Chats: Mon & Tues – 10:30am/1:00pm RELATED: Surviving Mardi Gras: A Guide from a Local
Prytania Theater
RELATED: More New Orleans Date Night Ideas
Volunteer at the Food Bank
RELATED: Cajun Shrimp Pasta- An Easy 20 Minute Meal!
Free Tours by Foot
RELATED: Spicy Pickle Bloody Mary
Happy Hour Restaurants & Bars
Rum House
Apolline
Superior Seafood
Need more happy hours?
RELATED: New Orleans Food Tour
NOLA Brewery Tour
RELATED: New Orleans Movie Tour
Sculpture Garden
RELATED: New Orleans Beignet Festival
Barataria Preserve
RELATED: 25 Mardi Gras Dessert & Drinks Ideas
Wednesdays at the Square
RELATED: A Guide to New Orleans Jazz Festival
Take the Streetcar to the Moonwalk
RELATED: Cranberry Beergaritas
R Bar at Royal Street Inn.
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This post may contain affiliate links, please read my full[...]
This post may contain affiliate links, please read my full[...]
This post may contain affiliate links, please read my full[...]
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I think this list is very helpful!
Planning a trip there this spring and am excited to visit some of these places. Thank you for sharing!-
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here! There’s plenty to see and eat!
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Lissy
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I love New Orleans! It’s one of my favorite cities and I try to visit every year if I can. I haven’t done the Barataria Preserve, so that’s now on my list!
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Perfect! It’s not on many lists but it is something new to do!
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Leave a ReplyLet me know what you think.
About Me
Hey There! I’m Becky, and I’m so glad you stopped by! I’m here to help you find adventure in the everyday life whether its spicing up date nights, cooking a new recipe, exploring our city, or traveling the world. I’m here to show you how to make that happen. So, won’t you journey along with me?
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