Things to do in New Orleans

Wrought-iron balconies, jazz spilling out of doorways, and 300 years of history in one walkable grid.

Street artists, tarot readers, and brass bands surround this landmark square in front of St. Louis Cathedral.

A Smithsonian-affiliated campus of pavilions, oral histories, and a 4D film narrated by Tom Hanks.

Live oaks and antebellum mansions line the streets of this historic Uptown neighborhood.

The oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world rattles past mansions and oak canopies.

Order the beignets and a cafe au lait, then join generations of visitors dusted in powdered sugar.

A no-frills French Quarter room where traditional New Orleans jazz has played nightly since 1961.

A real steam-powered paddle wheeler cruises the Mississippi with a live jazz band on board.

Flat-bottom boats glide through cypress swamp on the lookout for alligators, herons, and wild hogs.

A shaded Uptown zoo built around a Louisiana swamp exhibit and a white alligator named Spots.

A Mississippi riverfront aquarium with a walk-through Caribbean reef tunnel and rescued sea otters.

The oldest continuously active Catholic cathedral in the United States anchors Jackson Square.

Neon signs, brass bands, and go-cups fill this French Quarter strip once the sun goes down.

A few blocks in the Marigny where locals go for jazz clubs without the Bourbon Street crowds.

Walk through the warehouse where Blaine Kern's Studios builds the giant floats seen in Mardi Gras parades.

The largest collection of Southern art anywhere, from folk art to contemporary photography.

1,300 acres of live oaks, lagoons, and a sculpture garden, bigger than Central Park.

A Garden District institution serving haute Creole cuisine under its landmark turquoise-and-white awnings.

An annual Zydeco music and Louisiana Creole culture festival near New Orleans, with live music, dance and food.

Louisiana's official Bayou Country visitor bureau, promoting Cajun culture, swamp tours and the Bayou Country Crawfish Trail.

Swamp boat tours near New Orleans with sightings of alligators and cypress forest wildlife.

Louisiana's first Lodge Cast Iron factory store, carrying the full cookware lineup.

French Quarter brewpub serving Louisiana Creole fare with house-brewed beer and nightly live jazz.

Locally owned guided tours of New Orleans, including French Quarter, cemetery and swamp tours.

Narrated boat tours through the Manchac Swamp to see alligators and Louisiana wetlands wildlife.

Historic Mississippi River plantation famous for its quarter-mile canopy of live oaks and Big House tours.

Guided walking tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans's oldest cemetery and resting place of Marie Laveau.

Open-top double-decker hop-on hop-off bus tour looping the French Quarter, Garden District and CBD.

Guided airboat rides through Louisiana bayous with alligator and wildlife sightings near New Orleans.

Airboat and pontoon boat swamp tours through Louisiana bayous near New Orleans, spotting alligators and birds.

French Quarter cafe chain serving beignets, coffee and breakfast, with live jazz at some locations.

Historic river town across from New Orleans with a walkable downtown and a free pedestrian ferry.

Halloween season haunted house inside a historic 1872 New Orleans mortuary building.

Guided ghost, history and voodoo walking tours through the French Quarter and beyond.

Docent led two hour walking tours of the French Quarter benefiting the Louisiana State Museum.

Long-running New Orleans sightseeing operator running city, cemetery, ghost, swamp and riverboat tours.

New Orleans' original ghost tour company leading walking tours of haunted French Quarter and Garden District sites.

The tourism office for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, covering suburbs and swamps just outside New Orleans.

Family-owned New Orleans operator running Barataria swamp, airboat, plantation and city tours since 1989.

New Orleans museum tracing two centuries of Jewish life and history across the American South.

Hands-on and demonstration cooking classes teaching classic Creole and Cajun dishes in the French Quarter.

French Quarter museum with immersive exhibits on New Orleans vice history and the Storyville red-light district.

Casual West Bank seafood restaurant known for boiled crawfish, shrimp and crab served fresh from the pot.

Free self-guided museum and micro-distillery on Canal Street exploring New Orleans cocktail and spirits history.

Louisiana parish just outside New Orleans with historic battlefields, waterways, and local festivals.

Small-group walking tours of the French Quarter covering ghost stories, true crime, and local history.

The official visitor center for St. Tammany Parish, promoting Louisiana's Northshore across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.

A small operator running kayak swamp tours through the cypress filled Manchac swamp near New Orleans.

Creole plantation complex offering guided tours of an 1805 Big House and original slave cabins.

A guided minibus tour through the French Quarter, Garden District and other New Orleans neighborhoods.