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

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

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

However there may be extra to “NOLA” than simply partying. Rather more.

I first went in 2006 and have been drawn again numerous occasions, diving deeper and deeper into the 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 usually neglected by partying vacationers.

New Orleans is magic. It’s such an exceptional 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 will help you have enjoyable and benefit from your go to past the vacationer path, right here’s my checklist of one of the 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 this planet. It kicks off in January and lasts till Ash Wednesday. There are parades with floats and dwell music, balls, and a nonstop social gathering environment recognized for getting rowdy. Upwards of 1,000,000 guests flock right here annually to have fun, turning the town into an enormous social gathering.

Whereas it may be a blast, ensure you e-book every little thing effectively prematurely, as costs skyrocket and every little thing sells out rapidly. However it’s a celebration to not be missed!
 

2. Take heed to music on Frenchmen Road

Buskers, jazz, blues, large band: you could find all of it in NOLA. Dwell music is massively common right here, and there are tons of bars and golf equipment in which you’ll soak up a efficiency. The primary 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 probably the most haunted spots within the nation, because of the town’s voodoo roots. Voodoo is a set of underground spiritual practices that got here out of the African spiritual traditions that enslaved individuals delivered to America within the seventeenth and 18th centuries. Through the years, voodoo and the occult grew to become synonymous with New Orleans. From tales of ghosts and vampires to Marie Laveau (probably the most well-known voodoo practitioner), New Orleans has a sure unsettling facet.

To be taught extra, take a voodoo tour by the French Quarter and its cemeteries. Witches Brew Excursions and the Ghosts, Vampires, and Voodoo French Quarter Tour are two of one of the best.

400 Royal St, +1 504-454-3939, witchesbrewtours.com. They host a number of excursions every 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 be taught extra about voodoo and to really see objects utilized in its practices. Comprised of simply two rooms, it opened in 1972 and is filled with 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 in case you’re so inclined.

You may go to the museum at your personal tempo by way of the self-guided possibility, or take the strolling tour, which features a guided tour of the museum.

724 Dumaine St, +1 504-680-0128, voodoomuseum.com. Open every 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 identify) in 1718. The district is now a haven for revelers on Bourbon Road, vintage buyers on Royal Road, and foodies searching for a number of the greatest 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), stunning properties, bars blaring top-notch jazz, and iconic 18th century French-style properties 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 be taught in regards to the historical past of the neighborhood and get entry to an skilled 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 together with Take Walks. It’s my go-to firm with regards to detailed strolling excursions that go above and past the guidebook.

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

6. Cease by Sazerac Home

Opened in 2019, Sazerac Home is an element 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 top-of-the-line in New Orleans.

You may also take a 90-minute free tour (which incorporates samples) or attend one of many occasions or workshops (which begin at $30 USD), comparable 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 prematurely is required.
 

7. Cruise on the Steamboat Natchez

This boat launched in 1975; nonetheless, it’s the ninth steamboat to bear the Natchez identify (one among its predecessors took half in probably the most well-known steamboat race in historical past, in 1870). At this time, it’s the 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 price $50 USD ($95 USD with dinner); the Sunday jazz brunches are $68 USD.
 

8. Study 1850 Home

For the centuries main as much as the Civil Warfare, the widespread reliance on slavery within the South allowed white plantation homeowners to get extremely rich (there have been round 4 million slaves within the US then, about one-eighth of your entire US inhabitants). Just like the wealthy and highly effective as we speak, they constructed elaborate properties to indicate off that wealth — and a few of these are nonetheless standing as we speak.

Positioned subsequent to Jackson Sq., 1850 Home is an instance of what lots of these townhouses seemed like earlier than the Civil Warfare. Constructed by the rich aristocrat and Nineteenth-century New Orleans persona Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, this explicit edifice had many alternative occupants through the years. 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 one of the best place to get an immersive understanding of simply how prosperous white slave homeowners 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, offered early settlers with timber for properties, 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 stunning and enjoyable space by getting again to nature.

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

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

10. Calm down within the park

When it’s essential relaxation your legs, seize a e-book, pack a picnic, and head to one among New Orleans’ gorgeous parks, each with ponds, timber, strolling and biking trails, and loads of house to calm down.

Metropolis Park is a large inexperienced house 50% bigger than NYC’s Central Park — one of many largest city parks within the nation! It’s dwelling to centuries-old oak timber, the New Orleans Botanical Backyard, the New Orleans Museum of Artwork, cafés, and eating places, amongst different sights. Audubon Park was previously a plantation, a staging space for each the Accomplice and the Union armies throughout the Civil Warfare, and host to a World’s Honest in 1884–85.
 

11. Go to Oak Alley

Over a dozen oak timber (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 lots of data on the horrible establishment of slavery. It’s a really sobering however necessary expertise.

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

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

12. Tour the Nationwide World Warfare II Museum

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

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

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

13. Take a meals tour

From po’boys to gumbo and every little thing in between, meals, tradition, and historical past are a part of the town’s DNA. If you wish to be taught extra about New Orleans’ greatest eats, take a meals tour. You’ll not solely get to eat extra of one of the 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 top-of-the-line meals excursions. It additionally gives a cocktail historical past tour that goes to historic venues (with a cocktail at every cease, after all) whereas instructing you about famed drinks and liquors.

+1 504 473-4823, doctorgumbo.com. Excursions final three hours and value $75 USD per particular person.
 

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 this planet. I’m at all times intrigued by Civil Warfare historical past museums, particularly these in the Deep South, the place the reminiscence of “Northern aggression” remains to be very sturdy.

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 bit of the crown of thorns he obtained 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 desires to fake that that wasn’t the principle explanation for the warfare. It’s at all times fascinating to learn the way individuals body their historical past, even when they accomplish that 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) but it surely hosts plenty of concert events and over a dozen festivals all year long. The museum is housed in an previous US Mint constructing and options devices, paintings of and by musicians, memorabilia, and extra. Most occasions are free, and plenty of of them are broadcast dwell as effectively, so you possibly can watch them without spending a dime 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

Positioned 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 centered on social justice points. Meandering by is a shifting method to glean insights into the Black expertise in New Orleans.

2941 Royal St, 504-252-0463, studiobenola.com. Open Wednesday by 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 free on Bourbon Road. With unbelievable 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, in case you take the time to discover beneath the floor, you’ll uncover probably the most distinctive cities within the nation.