- Beignets & Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde: Sit on the crowded patio gazing at the action on Decatur Street and Jackson Square. Gorge on hot French-style doughnuts liberally coated in powdered sugar (everyone will know what you've been doing from the sprinkles on your shirt) and washed down with potent chicory coffee. And do it at any hour of the day -- 3pm or 3am. It's open 24 hours!
- Jazz at Preservation Hall: Drop your eight bucks in the hat and squeeze into one of the country's time-honored jazz institutions. Your feet will be moving and your ears will be happy, even if they never knew they liked jazz before.
- A Crowded Night at the Maple Leaf: The Maple Leaf is a very "New Orleans" club and a terrific place to hang out. On nights when popular bands fill the place to hot, sweaty capacity and the crowd spills over into the street and dances right on the sidewalk, it's sublime.
- Dinner at Commander's Palace: It took over a year after Katrina for this legendary restaurant to reopen, thanks to massive reconstruction requirements. It's romantic, gracious, attentive, and delicious.
- A Cemetery Tour: New Orleans's above-the-ground tombs are hard to forget once you've seen them, and touring these ghostly cities of the dead provides you with a unique look into the history and culture of the city.
- A Stroll through the Garden District: These elegant (not flashy) old homes, nestled among lush trees, are wonderful to gaze at and covet. At the right time of day, you might have the streets largely to yourself and feel you've slipped back in time -- or into an Anne Rice novel.
- A Stroll along St. John's Bayou: Most tourists don't get much beyond the Quarter or they speed past this low-slung body of water as they head for City Park. Slow down local-style, finally away from the hordes as you meander along the bayou and admire the less high-profile but no less romantic neighborhood around it.
- Bourbon Street After Dark: Even if you end up hating it, you have to see it at least once. Music spurts and oozes out of windows and doors, drinkers reign supreme, and sex is widely available -- on paper, on stage, and on video. It's wild, disgusting, and strangely exhilarating.
- Club Hopping in the Frenchmen Section: This portion of the Faubourg Marigny (the neighborhood that borders the French Quarter to the north and east) features at least a dozen clubs and several bars, each with its own personality and charm. Stroll from one to the other, dipping in for a bit or just listening to the music pouring out the doors before moving on to sample something farther down the street.
- Food, Glorious Food: With a nearly infinite selection of outstanding restaurants and other food sources, meal planning in New Orleans is very serious indeed. There is never time to do it all: a muffuletta from Central Grocery eaten on the banks of the Mississippi; boiled crawfish or oyster shooting at Acme or Felix's; a po' boy from Gene's; classic Creole at Arnaud's; and amazing, innovative cuisine at Cuvee. Can you eat five meals a day here? We've tried!
- Dancing to the ReBirth Brass Band, John Boutte, and/or Kermit Ruffins: Dancing to three of the best musical acts New Orleans has to offer (a brass band, an astonishing soul crooner, and a jazz musician in the tradition of Louis Armstrong, respectively) is the physical manifestation of the word fun -- and the truest spirit of New Orleans.
New Orleans Travel Experiences
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The Deep South, Yee Hah!
Begrudgingly we left the sun of Florida and headed west to the Big Easy, New Orleans. As we drove through the district the destruction an... Continue reading »
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Really good day
Saw lots of Katrina Damage thru Pass Christian, Waveland, MS. Unbelievable all that is still destroyed!! Spoke with a couple of ladies on... Continue reading »
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Ridin on the City of New Orleans to Seattle
Oh my gosh. My N.O. friends have tried to tell me the condition of New Orleans but you have to see it to understand it. Miles... Continue reading »
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New Orleans
Repeat breakfast at the Old Coffee Pot and this time we ate outside and Pearl was there. Over to the Historic New Orleans Collectio... Continue reading »
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Magical Lundi and Mardi Gras!
The energy and the frenzy are contagious. Although I had never been to New Orleans before, I wondered whether the determination to fill... Continue reading »
Popular New Orleans Hotels
- Drury Inn and Suites New Orleans
- Loews New Orleans Hotel
- Hampton Inn New Orleans Downtown French Quarter Area
- Country Inn & Suites New Orleans French Quarter
- Renaissance Arts Hotel
- Hotel Monteleone
- Royal Sonesta Hotel
- Le Pavillon Hotel
- Le Richelieu
- Windsor Court Hotel
