The 16 Finest Issues to Do in New Orleans (Up to date 2023)

Posted: 5/23/2023 | Could twenty third, 2023

New Orleans is likely one of the finest cities on the earth. Synonymous with debauchery, it’s develop into well-known for the boisterous Mardi Gras pageant that takes over town every February.

However there’s extra to “NOLA” than simply partying. Rather more.

I first went in 2006 and have been drawn again numerous instances, diving deeper and deeper into town. From feasting on scrumptious Creole meals to studying about voodoo and its cultural roots, New Orleans is a metropolis with layers — layers which can be typically ignored by partying vacationers.

New Orleans is magic. It’s such an outstanding place. I’ve by no means not had a good time there. It’s one among my favourite locations within the WORLD! That’s how good it’s!

That can assist you have enjoyable and benefit from your go to past the vacationer path, right here’s my checklist of the very best issues to do in New Orleans:

1. Have a good time Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras — French for “Fats Tuesday” — is one among the preferred festivals on the earth. It kicks off in January and lasts till Ash Wednesday. There are parades with floats and dwell music, balls, and a nonstop social gathering ambiance recognized for getting rowdy. Upwards of 1,000,000 guests flock right here every year to have fun, turning town into an enormous social gathering.

Whereas it may be a blast, be sure to ebook all the things nicely upfront, as costs skyrocket and all the things sells out shortly. But it surely’s a celebration to not be missed!
 

2. Hearken to music on Frenchmen Road

Buskers, jazz, blues, massive band: you’ll find all of it in NOLA. Stay music is massively common right here, and there are tons of bars and golf equipment in which you’ll be able to absorb a efficiency. The principle space to search out them is on Frenchmen Road, which grew to prominence within the Eighties and has been a staple of the music scene ever since.
 

3. Take a ghost or voodoo tour

New Orleans is taken into account one of the vital haunted spots within the nation, because of town’s voodoo roots. Voodoo is a set of underground non secular practices that got here out of the African non secular traditions that enslaved folks dropped at America within the seventeenth and 18th centuries. Over time, voodoo and the occult grew to become synonymous with New Orleans. From tales of ghosts and vampires to Marie Laveau (essentially the most well-known voodoo practitioner), New Orleans has a sure unsettling side.

To study extra, take a voodoo tour via the French Quarter and its cemeteries. Witches Brew Excursions and the Ghosts, Vampires, and Voodoo French Quarter Tour are two of the very best.

400 Royal St, +1 504-454-3939, witchesbrewtours.com. They host a number of excursions day by day, together with some just for adults. Its Cemetery Insiders Strolling Tour lasts two hours and prices $35 USD.
 

4. Go to the Voodoo Museum

This small museum is the place to study extra about voodoo and to truly see objects utilized in its practices. Comprised of simply two rooms, it opened in 1972 and is full of all types of artifacts, talismans, taxidermied animals, and voodoo dolls. And if that’s not sufficient, the museum can facilitate psychic readings and different rituals with native practitioners should you’re so inclined.

You may go to the museum at your individual tempo through the self-guided choice, or take the strolling tour, which features a guided tour of the museum.

724 Dumaine St, +1 504-680-0128, voodoomuseum.com. Open day by day 10am-6pm. Admission is $10 USD for a self-guided tour or $32 USD for the guided museum and strolling tour.
 

5. Tour the French Quarter

The well-known French Quarter was settled by the French (therefore the title) in 1718. The district is now a haven for revelers on Bourbon Road, vintage customers on Royal Road, and foodies in search of a number of the finest Cajun meals on the town. Right here you’ll additionally discover Jackson Sq., St. Louis Cathedral (the oldest within the nation, relationship again to 1789), lovely houses, bars blaring top-notch jazz, and iconic 18th century French-style houses with wrought-iron balconies.

I begin off each go to to a brand new metropolis with a free strolling tour. Attempt the one from NOLA Tour Man. You’ll study in regards to the historical past of the neighborhood and get entry to an knowledgeable native information who can reply all of your questions. Simply be sure you tip your information on the finish!

For a extra in-depth tour, go along with Take Walks. It’s my go-to firm with regards to detailed strolling excursions that go above and past the guidebook.

For extra options, right here’s my checklist of the very best strolling excursions in NOLA.
 

6. Cease by Sazerac Home

Opened in 2019, Sazerac Home is a component bar, half museum, highlighting the significance of the Sazerac cocktail, born at this very location and regarded by many to be the oldest American cocktail. That is an immersive expertise, with a number of flooring of interactive displays. You may chat with digital bartenders about their favourite drinks and see what the French Quarter seemed like within the 1800s. It’s a brilliant detailed and enjoyable expertise that’s the most effective in New Orleans.

It’s also possible to take a 90-minute free tour (which incorporates samples) or attend one of many occasions or workshops (which begin at $30 USD), similar to a whiskey tasting or a workshop that teaches you the best way to craft whiskey-based cocktails.

101 Journal St, +1 504-910-0100, sazerachouse.com. Open Tuesday-Sunday 11am-6pm. Admission is free, however reserving upfront is required.
 

7. Cruise on the Steamboat Natchez

This boat launched in 1975; nonetheless, it’s the ninth steamboat to bear the Natchez title (one among its predecessors took half in essentially the most well-known steamboat race in historical past, in 1870). Right now, it’s town’s solely genuine steamboat and makes for a touristy (however enjoyable) method to spend the afternoon. There are brunch and dinner cruises and dwell jazz music. You’ll additionally get to benefit from the scenic skyline as you cruise on the placid waters of the Mississippi.

400 Toulouse St, +1 800-233-2628, steamboatnatchez.com. Cruises depart at 11:30am, 2:30pm, and seven:00pm. Night jazz cruises value $50 USD ($95 USD with dinner); the Sunday jazz brunches are $68 USD.
 

8. Find out about 1850 Home

For the centuries main as much as the Civil Conflict, the widespread reliance on slavery within the South allowed white plantation house owners to get extremely rich (there have been round 4 million slaves within the US then, about one-eighth of all the US inhabitants). Just like the wealthy and highly effective right this moment, they constructed elaborate houses to indicate off that wealth — and a few of these are nonetheless standing right this moment.

Situated subsequent to Jackson Sq., 1850 Home is an instance of what lots of these townhouses seemed like earlier than the Civil Conflict. Constructed by the rich aristocrat and Nineteenth-century New Orleans persona Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, this specific edifice had many various occupants over time. When the Louisiana State Museum took it over, it embellished the constructing to be consultant of upper-class life on the time of its building. It’s the very best place to get an immersive understanding of simply how prosperous white slave house owners had been within the south (as a result of they had been rich!).

523 St Ann St, +1 504-524-9118, louisianastatemuseum.org. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-4pm. Admission is $5 USD.
 

9. Take a Bayou tour

The bayou, a swampy part of a slow-moving river, supplied early settlers with bushes for houses, fish for consuming, and waterways for commerce. It’s nonetheless the lifeblood of the area and an necessary a part of its tradition. Spend your morning on this lovely and enjoyable space by getting again to nature.

Kayak excursions value round $50-60 USD and final a few hours. Wild Louisiana Excursions provides guided outings that can get you out on the water and train you in regards to the ecosystem. It additionally provides leases from $40 USD should you don’t desire a tour.

1047 Piety Road, +1 504-571-9975, neworleanskayakswamptours.com.
 

10. Loosen up within the park

When you might want to relaxation your legs, seize a ebook, pack a picnic, and head to one among New Orleans’ beautiful parks, each with ponds, bushes, strolling and biking trails, and loads of house to calm down.

Metropolis Park is an enormous inexperienced house 50% bigger than NYC’s Central Park — one of many greatest city parks within the nation! It’s dwelling to centuries-old oak bushes, the New Orleans Botanical Backyard, the New Orleans Museum of Artwork, cafés, and eating places, amongst different points of interest. Audubon Park was previously a plantation, a staging space for each the Accomplice and the Union armies through the Civil Conflict, and host to a World’s Truthful in 1884–85.
 

11. Go to Oak Alley

Over a dozen oak bushes (every of them over 250 years previous) line the lane resulting in this antebellum manor proper on the Mississippi River. As soon as a sugar plantation and a cattle ranch, it opened to the general public in 1976.

Personally, I discovered the house’s inside to be much less spectacular than the outside. Nonetheless, wandering the grounds was completely worthwhile, because the indicators/placards have quite a lot of info on the horrible establishment of slavery. It’s a really sobering however necessary expertise.

It’s positioned an hour from town by automotive. Attempt to arrive early (or keep late) to keep away from the day excursions that come from New Orleans, so you’ll be able to beat the crowds.

3645 Freeway 18 (Nice River Highway), +1 225 265-2151, oakalleyplantation.org. Open day by day 8:30am-5pm. Admission begins at $25 USD. For excursions that embrace transportation from New Orleans and admission to the plantation, count on to pay $70-80 USD per individual.
 

12. Tour the Nationwide World Conflict II Museum

Opened in 2000 because the Nationwide D-Day Museum, that is the biggest museum devoted to World Conflict II in all the United States. The displays deal with the American contribution to the conflict, which lasted from 1939 to 1945 (the US entered the conflict in 1941).

Even should you’re not a historical past buff like me, I extremely suggest visiting. Many veterans spend time right here, and you’ll hearken to firsthand accounts of the conflict, in addition to see a few of their footage. It’s sobering however extremely insightful.

945 Journal St, +1 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org. Open day by day from 9am-5pm. Admission is $31.50 USD (shopping for advance timed tickets is very advisable).
 

13. Take a meals tour

From po’boys to gumbo and all the things in between, meals, tradition, and historical past are a part of town’s DNA. If you wish to study extra about New Orleans’ finest eats, take a meals tour. You’ll not solely get to eat extra of the very best chow on the town, however you’ll learn the way and why sure dishes got here to prominence. A tour will add rather more perception and nuance to your time right here.

Physician Gumbo Excursions runs the most effective meals excursions. It additionally provides a cocktail historical past tour that goes to historic venues (with a cocktail at every cease, after all) whereas educating you about famed drinks and liquors.

+1 504 473-4823, doctorgumbo.com. Excursions final three hours and price $75 USD per individual.
 

14. Discover the Accomplice Memorial Corridor Museum

This is likely one of the oldest museums within the state and is dwelling to the second-largest assortment of Accomplice objects on the earth. I’m at all times intrigued by Civil Conflict historical past museums, particularly these in the Deep South, the place the reminiscence of “Northern aggression” remains to be very robust.

The museum comprises over 5,000 historic artifacts, together with the uniforms of Generals Bragg and Beauregard and private objects owned by Accomplice President Jefferson Davis (together with his Bible and a chunk of the crown of thorns he acquired from the Pope). The museum highlights Southern patriotism and reiterates the historic argument that the South was preventing for “honor” and “states’ rights.”

I discovered the absence of a dialogue of slavery right here unsurprising, on condition that the museum needs to faux that that wasn’t the principle reason for the conflict. It’s at all times fascinating to learn the way folks body their historical past, even when they achieve this in such a biased mild. Regardless of the one-sidedness — and in reality, due to it — this museum is price visiting.

929 Camp St, +1 504-523-4522. Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm. Admission is $10 USD.
 

15. Tour the NOLA Jazz Museum

I really like jazz: listening to it, studying about it. I can’t get sufficient. This museum not solely has a ton of artifacts (over 25,000) nevertheless it hosts a lot of concert events and over a dozen festivals all year long. The museum is housed in an previous US Mint constructing and options devices, art work of and by musicians, memorabilia, and extra. Most occasions are free, and plenty of of them are broadcast dwell as nicely, so you’ll be able to watch them free of charge from dwelling too.

400 Esplanade Ave., 504-568-6993, nolajazzmuseum.org. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-4pm. Admission is $8 USD.
 

16. Go to Studio Be

Situated within the hip, artsy neighborhood of the Bywater, Studio Be is a novel artwork gallery created by native artist Brandan “Bmike” Odums. Within the 35,000 sq. foot warehouse, you’ll discover colourful spray-painted murals and large-scale items in addition to multimedia installations by Bmike and different native artists, largely targeted on social justice points. Meandering via is a transferring method to glean insights into the Black expertise in New Orleans.

2941 Royal St, 504-252-0463, studiobenola.com. Open Wednesday via Saturday, 2pm-8pm and Sunday 2pm-6pm. Admission is $15 USD.

New Orleans is likely one of the liveliest (and common) locations within the USA. However there’s rather more to it than letting unfastened on Bourbon Road. With unimaginable dwell music, scrumptious meals, a wealthy historical past, and world-class museums, NOLA has one thing for everybody. It’s a spot with layers and, should you take the time to discover beneath the floor, you’ll uncover one of the vital distinctive cities within the nation.