Map view
French Quarter
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- The French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans
- After New Orleans was founded in 1718, the city developed around the Vieux Carré, a central square
- The district is more commonly called the French Quarter today, related to changes in the city with American immigration after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase
- Most of the extant historic buildings were constructed either in the late 18th century, during the city's period of Spanish rule, or were built during the first half of the 19th century, after U.S. purchase and statehood
The National WWII Museum
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Military history museum located in New Orleans, that focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in World War II
- Founded in 2000, the museum's mission emphasizes the American experience in World War II
Champagne's Swamp Tours, Breaux Bridge
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Guided tour operator on Lake Martin's swamp, in St. Martin Parish, that travels by boat through cypress trees and tupelo gum trees draped in Spanish moss
- The swamp is home to 205 different species of birds, and inhabits large alligators
Cane River Creole National Historical Park, Natchitoches
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Established in 1994, the Historical Park is located along the Cane River Lake, and includes two French Creole cotton plantations, Oakland and Magnolia
- Both plantations are complete in their historic settings, including landscapes, outbuildings, structures, furnishings, and artifacts; and they are the most intact French Creole cotton plantations in the United States
- The park's mission is to strive to tell the story of the evolution of plantation agriculture through the perspective of the land owners, enslaved workers, overseers, skilled workers, and tenant farmers who resided along the Cane River for over two hundred years
Bourbon Street
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Historic street in the heart of the French Quarter, where it is famous for its many bars and strip clubs
- The French claimed Louisiana in the 1690s, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville was appointed Director General in charge of developing a colony in the territory
- In 1721, the royal engineer Adrien de Pauger designed the city's street layout, and named the streets after French royal houses and Catholic saints
- Pauger paid homage to France's ruling family, the House of Bourbon, with the naming of Bourbon Street
Oak Alley Plantation
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Historic plantation located on the Mississippi River, in St. James Parish
- Oak Alley is named for its distinguishing visual feature, an alley or canopied path, created by a double row of southern live oak trees, planted in the early 18th century — long before the present house was built
Café du Monde
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Renowned open-air coffee shop located in the French Quarter of New Orleans
- It is a New Orleans landmark known for its café au lait and beignets
- During the American Civil War, the New Orleans Creoles developed the chicory-blended coffee (as there was a coffee shortage) — which has continued to be served at Café Du Monde and other New Orleans restaurants
Jackson Square, New Orleans
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, declared a National Historic Landmark for its central role in the city's history, and as the site where in 1803 Louisiana was made United States territory pursuant to the Louisiana Purchase
- In the center of the park stands an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson erected in 1856
St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, and the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States alongside the Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey, California
- It is dedicated to Saint Louis, also known as King Louis IX of France
- The first church on the site was built in 1718
- The second St. Louis Cathedral was burned during the great fire of 1788 and was expanded and largely rebuilt and completed in the 1850s, with little of the 1789 structure remaining
New Orleans Museum of Art
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Oldest fine arts museum in New Orleans, established in 1911
- The permanent collection at the museum features more than 40,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of art, including the Italian Renaissance to the modern era
- The museum is noted for its collection of European and American works, including works by Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Rodin, Jackson Pollock, and Georgia O'Keeffe
Mardi Gras World
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- Attraction located in New Orleans, where guests tour the 300,000 square foot working warehouse where floats are made for Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans
- Blaine Kern began creating floats after 1947, when a surgeon and krewe captain who had seen a mural by Kern hired him to create floats for the Krewe of Alla
- Kern, who traveled to Europe to learn float building techniques, has gained an international reputation in float building, with floats beyond New Orleans
New Orleans City Park South Loop
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Dec
Cost: $
- City Park is a public park in New Orleans, founded in 1854, that is approximately 50% larger than Central Park in New York City
- It holds the world's largest collection of mature live oak trees, some older than 600 years in age