New Orleans to Galveston drive: Best stops, time & distance

The best road trip stops on the New Orleans to Galveston drive are Baton Rouge, Lafayette LA and Beaumont TX. The distance from New Orleans to Galveston in 369 miles, with a 5h50m driving time.

Planning a New Orleans to Galveston road trip itinerary

The New Orleans to Galveston drive takes you from the most exciting city in Louisiana to a Texas city that loves its beaches.

New Orleans resolutely refuses to feel like any other American city. From the raucous hedonism of Bourbon Street to the European-influenced charm of the French Quarter, New Orleans is mesmerizingly unusual to hang out in.

Top New Orleans experiences include French Quarter food tours, haunted pub crawls, jazz cruises aboard the steamboat Natchez and cemetery walking tours.

For other attractions, try the National WWII Museum, the Vue Orleans observation deck and the urban enslavement tours at Hermann Grima House.

Galveston TX has a dual personality. On one hand, it is a serious port city, in particular serving the oil industry. On the other hand, it is a beach city, crammed with holiday-friendly attractions such as the Moody Gardens amusement park.

For museums, there’s the Wild West history-focused Bryan Museum, the pirate-centric Legends of the Gulf Coast Museum and the Moody Mansion.

Top things to do in Galveston include ghostly history tours, dolphin-watching cruises and e-bike adventure tours. There are also haunted pub crawls, thrill rides on a jet boat and Segway tours.

New Orleans to Galveston distance and driving time

By car, the distance from New Orleans to Galveston is 369 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 50 minutes. The quickest route is largely along the I-10.

The best stops to add to a New Orleans to Galveston road trip itinerary are Baton Rouge, Lafayette LA and Beaumont TX.

Best stops between New Orleans and Galveston: Baton Rouge

The obvious attraction in Baton Rouge is the Louisiana Capitol Building, but the castle-like Old Capitol Building is more attractive. It’s also now a museum, with interactive exhibits on democracy and the colourful characters who have walked the corridors over the decades. The colourful stained glass dome is spectacular, too.

As a museum, the Capitol Park Museum is better, telling multiple strands of Louisiana’s story. Other Baton Rouge attractions include the Magnolia Mound Plantation, built in 1791, and the environmentally educational Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center.

Great places to stay in Baton Rouge include the affordable Hampton Inn & Suites Baton Rouge Downtown and the historic Watermark.

For more suggestions, read the guide to the New Orleans to Baton Rouge drive.

New Orleans to Galveston road trip attractions: Lafayette LA

Lafayette’s top attractions include Acadian Village, a recreated 19th-century Cajun village, which plays host to artisans and craftspeople among the historic homes.

Vermilionville is similar, but the living history museum here looks at the cultures of Native American and Creole people as well as the Acadians.

Elsewhere, the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist is famed for its stained glass windows.

Top Lafayette experiences include Cajun food tours.

For Lafayette accommodation, the SpringHill Suites and Home2 Suites tend to get the best reviews.

Things to do on the New Orleans to Galveston drive: Beaumont TX

Beaumont TX is just west of the Louisiana border. The top attraction is the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, located on the site of a 1901 oil strike that changed West Texas forever. It’s a recreated town, with rebuilt historic buildings, and plenty of Texas oil history.

Also worth looking at is the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, a heritage home with original art and furnishings. It gives a good idea of how much money was sloshing around in the early 20^th century.