TRAVEL
1. What everyone else said. New Orleans is probably cheapest. Baton Rouge is close. Lafayette may be cheap as well but an hour away. Randomly Shreveport and New Orleans have an airline called GLO and it has cheap flights back and forth between those two cities. If you can’t get a cheap flight into the first three cities maybe check a flight into Shreveport and fly GLO to NOLA

2. Also like everyone else said if you want to drive then New Orleans is your place.

3. Rental car is only necessary if you are flying into another city. UBER on game day is a joke. The upcharge is usually 2 to 3 times the normal rate. But I guess when you look at the cost compared to a DUI its cheap. If you do rent a car there are several parking options. Get to campus early enough several lots are free. A normal game lots are 20 bucks. Bama game lots are 40 bucks.

HOTEL
4. Not sure about airbnb or vrbo. L’Auberge and the hotels downtown offer shuttles to and from the game so that is a plus. If you stay downtown there are a ton of places to go out or eat. The Marriott on Hilton Ave may have a shuttle as well. Opposing teams usually stay at the Marriott or the Crowne Plaza if you want to experience that. Last Bama game friends stayed at the Marriott and Bama was there. They were stuck in the elevator with Saban and several o-line members.

FOOD
5. Eat before you walk into the stadium. Food in the stadium is nothing special. As said before the Chimes is a great place to eat. George’s and Sammy’s too. Watch out for drink prices at Walk On’s. Tons of people there but drinks are expensive.

TICKETS
6. STUBHUB for sure. Sometimes depending on the team lsusports.net will have tickets but they are probably in the uppers. Also tigerdroppings and dandydon have a ticket exchange. Just be careful of the fakes.

TAILGATING
7. Grab a drink and some alligator at the Chimes. Walk around the parade grounds. If you are from a non-SEC school wear that school’s gear. People will tigerbait you then feed you and give you booze. The tailgates down the hill are fun. Go see Shaq at the back of the PMAC.

TRADITIONS
8. The RVs start showing up on Thursday. Go see Mike early on gameday or the day before. The vet school usually pulls him out of his habitat when the most people are around because he gets anxious. We would have better luck getting Tony the Truck Stop Tiger in Mike’s road trailer on gameday. This Mike is moody. See the band and team go down the hill. Get in the stadium for team warm ups.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS
9. The Lafayette area is pretty cool. You can go to Avery Island where Tabasco is made. The WWII museum is a favorite of mine. Book a game the same weekend the Saints are playing and see both.

SAFETY
10. If you are in NOLA don’t wander down the side streets by yourself.

OTHER SEC SCHOOLS
11. I have been to A&M, State, Ole Miss, Bama, Auburn and Georgia.
Favorite: Hands Down Georgia. Athens is just a cool city. The people were nice. The cops are a little pissy when Florida and LSU come to town but they aren’t too bad.
Least Favorite: Starkville. It is the worst! I saw 11 LSU fans get escorted out of the stadium in cuffs a few years ago. Nothing to do. The cowbells are absolutely obnoxious!

• Tsunami has a really cool rooftop bar
• Roux House has live music for cheap
• The Varsity may have a big name band the Friday before a game. The casino may have the same.
• Walk On’s will have a tent band on the Saturday of the game.
• Ivar’s and The Merchant are also cool bars
• The University of Texas was a cool road trip for a nonSEC school
• UW in Seattle was the best LSU road trip I took.