Is the Go City New Orleans worth it?

Two passes, one decision

New Orleans has two Go City passes, and the choice between them comes down to a single question: do you want to visit the National WWII Museum?

The museum — one of the most visited attractions in the country, priced at up to $38 individually — is available only on the All-Inclusive Pass. It is not in the Essentials Pool. That one fact steers a significant portion of visitors toward the day-based option before they've looked at another detail.

For everyone else, the decision is structural. The Essentials Pass ($79 adult / $59 child) is credit-based: pick any 3 attractions from a pool of 7, with 30 days to use them at your own pace. The All-Inclusive Pass ($84–$189 adult depending on days) gives access to all 27 attractions across your chosen consecutive days — including everything in the Essentials Pool plus the museum, a cooking demo, dining experiences, cemetery tours, and more.

The WWII Museum question

The National WWII Museum consistently ranks among the top-rated museums in the United States. At up to $38 per adult for general admission, it's the highest-priced single attraction in the Go City New Orleans pool — and it is only available on the All-Inclusive Pass.

If the museum is on your list, the Essentials Pass is not an option. If it isn't — if your visit is focused on food, jazz, the French Quarter atmosphere, and outdoor experiences — the Essentials Pass becomes competitive again.

There's no value-based reason to pay for the All-Inclusive Pass specifically to access the museum unless you're combining it with at least one or two other All-Inclusive-exclusive experiences on the same day. A 1-day All-Inclusive at $84 solely to visit a $38 museum is a net loss. The museum justifies the All-Inclusive when it's part of a multi-stop day — museum in the morning, cooking demo or ghost tour in the afternoon.

Essentials Pass: the numbers

At $79 adult / $59 child (ages 3–12), the Essentials Pass covers 3 choices from a pool of 7 attractions. The two highest-priced options — Adventures in New Orleans Bus Tour ($53) and the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen Cruise ($47) — total $100 individually. The pass pays for itself with those two and delivers a third choice for free.

Five of the seven Essentials pool attractions require advance reservations through the Go City app. If you buy the pass and try to redeem everything on the day, you may find key time slots already full.

All-Inclusive Pass: the numbers

The All-Inclusive Pass pricing ladder: $84 (1 day), $129 (2 days), $149 (3 days), $169 (4 days), $189 (5 days). Child pricing for the 1-day pass is $54; confirm current child pricing for multi-day tiers directly on Go City before booking, as the published page only explicitly shows the 1-day child rate.

The 27-attraction pool includes everything in the Essentials Pool plus the National WWII Museum ($38), a cooking demo with meal ($40), swamp tours, cemetery tours, neighbourhood walking tours, dining experiences, and a range of smaller museums. The MRB Restaurant meal is All-Inclusive only and age 21+ with no child option.

A 1-day All-Inclusive at $84 requires you to visit enough attractions to clear that price in a single calendar day. The cooking demo ($40) and WWII Museum ($38) together reach $78 — nearly break-even, and those two fill a full day. Add any walking tour or museum and you're ahead. A 2-day pass at $129 is generally easier to justify because it spreads the cost across more attraction time.

Essentials Pass: ranking your 3 choices

Because the Essentials Pass locks you into 3 choices from 7, which choices you make matters. The bus tour ($53) is the highest individual value and provides a good city orientation — use a credit here first. The Creole Queen cruise ($47) is the second-highest value and a genuinely distinctive experience on the Mississippi. Between those two you've spent $100 individually using 2 of your 3 credits on a $79 pass.

For your third choice, the swamp tour ($35) is the strongest value pick, bringing your total individual value to $135 — a $56 saving over the pass price. The ghost and walking tours (both $25) and Longue Vue house ($27) are reasonable third choices if you've already arranged swamp tours separately, but they produce smaller savings.

The St. Louis Cathedral self-guided tour ($17) is the weakest credit use in the pool — it costs less individually than any other option, and the per-credit saving is minimal. Consider buying it separately and reserving that credit for a higher-value option.

What's free in New Orleans — and why it matters

New Orleans has a meaningful free circuit that affects how much either pass can save you. The French Quarter itself, Jackson Square, Frenchmen Street, and the Garden District on foot are all free. Congo Square, the Tremé neighbourhood, and most of the city's street music and second-line culture cost nothing.

A visitor spending two days in the city might fill one day entirely with free neighbourhood exploration and only need paid attraction access on the other — in which case a 2-day All-Inclusive Pass isn't earning its full value on the free day. The Essentials Pass sidesteps this problem by being credit-based rather than day-based. You use your credits when you use them, and the free days cost you nothing.

Who should buy each pass

Buy the Essentials Pass if you're visiting for 1–2 days and want the bus tour, a river cruise, and one more major experience without building your trip around a daily sightseeing schedule. It's also the right call if the WWII Museum is not on your list and your paid activity interest is limited to 3 specific things.

Buy the All-Inclusive Pass (2-day or longer) if the National WWII Museum is a priority, or if you want to combine it with the cooking demo and at least one or two tours across consecutive days. The 2-day pass at $129 is the sweet spot for most visitors who want museum access plus a full day of touring experiences. The 3-day pass at $149 adds only $20 for an extra day — good value for longer stays where you'd genuinely use Day 3.

Skip both passes if your paid attraction list is fewer than 2 options, or if your New Orleans trip is primarily about food, music, and neighbourhood exploration. A visitor whose itinerary is the French Quarter, Frenchmen Street, a jazz club or two, and a beignet stop at Café Du Monde doesn't need either pass.

Reservations: book before you arrive

New Orleans stands out for how many of its Go City attractions require advance booking. Five of the seven Essentials Pool options — the bus tour, Creole Queen cruise, swamp adventure, ghost tour, voodoo walking tour — require reservations through the Go City app. The same applies to most of the higher-value All-Inclusive options: the cooking demo, cemetery history tour, swamp tours, true crime tour, and walking tours all require advance booking.

The protocol: purchase the pass, sync it to the Go City app immediately, and make reservations before your trip — not when you land. Note that when you make a reservation on the Essentials Pass, it counts as one of your 3 choices at the time of booking. A missed reservation you don't cancel in time will still count against your pass.