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Basin St. Station

4.3 (33 reviews)
Closed 8:30 am - 5:30 pm

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Robert B.

Nice place to stop in and read about some of the train history of NOLA. Get your over priced tickets to see a cemetery while your there

02.23.20 Cafe
May A.

Good resource, Great staff! Good meeting place for our walking tour at their dedicated kiosk inside this visitor center. It is complete with a Welcome Center, a staffed information center, educational exhibits, a small coffee bar that offered snacks and lite fare, a gift shop with a good selection of authentic NOLA souvenirs, and most importantly... restrooms! This visitor center is located just right across our next City Pass tour. We met our tour guide here for our Cemetery Walking Tour St. Louis #1. Parking cost between $5 - $10 depending on the day of the week but it was subject to change during special event dates and since we were there during Mardi Gras season parking cost $20 good for 24-hours. It was still a better deal compared to other parking lots or garages. Gets more expensive as you get closer to downtown or the parade routes. Left our car parked here while we walked to the downtown area and the French Quarter. If doing the Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off bus tour it is Stop 5 around the city tour. Staff here were friendly and helpful. Gotta love that southern hospitality. Review #1717

Joseph E.

This is where we met for the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 tour. This station is neat and is extremely clean. It's equipped with bathrooms and a café. Although the museum-ish area isn't big it is a good way to pass time while you wait for your tour. There are some interesting music, art, and historical related topics to read about. As you can see from the other photos shared, there are few cool photo ops inside too, especially for train enthusiasts, like myself! Their gift shop has a lot of fascinating things to purchase. All the staff at this location were extremely nice and willing to help. The women at the front even had a print out of the parade route for Southern Decadence that she handed to us.

Andi F.

I've been wanting to come and take a look around for some time now. Part railroad museum, part gift shop, part information center, part offices, part restaurant, full of interesting things. This is a stop on the hop on hop off city sightseeing tour and you get a break here. You can start your tour of the St Louis cemetery #1 here. Parking is reasonably priced. Everything is clean, employees are friendly. In the last month, I have been here as part of the On/Off bus tour and the St Louis cemetery #1 tour. Amazing both times.

Leah W.

Great place to check out. Clean friendly tour information and staff. Cute gift shop and area history.

Justin Y.

This place is probably not even on the map for tourists, unless they are lost. Well, I happen to be one of them. The hard rock hotel collapsed and the roads are blocked, forcing me to walk on Elm to reach French quarter, and happen to notice this place. It's great to learn about the railroads and history of the area, and music genre, and good place for the railroad fans to take selfie with the fake train. They also have some tours that depart from here. They have a very clean restroom.

Vic C.

Cute (free) tourist place worth stopping by for general information (free maps) about New Orleans. Basin Street Station is not actually a working station to catch a train. But there is some education learning opportunities about NOLA. Inside, this place does look like a train station though if you wanted to take with a train or a picture of you sitting on a bench. Employees here are friendly upon entering. They can help you sign up for a tour, provide information and help you if you are lost and trying to get to another location. Also the air conditioning is blasting in here, which is a nice place cool off in the summer (it is crazy hot and humid in NOLA in the summer, with August being the worse). The restrooms here are clean and very nice. Also this location is one of the pick up stops for the free Mardi Gras World Riverfront shuttle. Parking is not free, but if you are lucky (and willing), you can find free parking along the street (behind Basin Street Station). There is also a small gift shop here and you can even pick up a little snack (coffee and baked goods) here.

Lily A.

Clean Restrooms. Check. Informative. Check. Helpful. Check. Friendly. Check. Gift Shop. Check. Parking. Check. This visitor's center is nice because it's like a little mini history museum. Lots of cool displays to look at and read about! Walking distance from the French Quarters, this information center is awesome.

Thomas A.

Clean restrooms, interesting exhibits, helpful and friendly staff. A great place to start tours in and around the French Quarter.

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9 months ago

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Hi Justin, thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

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7 years ago

Great place to check in if you are a tourist. Friendly staff, air conditioning, clean restrooms, and a decent cafe!

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Charles was a fantastic tour guide! Very knowledgeable and entertaining!

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Ask the Community - Basin St. Station

Review Highlights - Basin St. Station

Nice restore old train station with some local train history, gift shop, restaurant and bathrooms.

Mentioned in 12 reviews

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Basin St. Station - culturalcenter - Updated May 2026

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