New Orleans Itinerary

1. ~8:30aBeignets at Café du Monde

   The essential New Orleans start — hot, square, sugar-blizzard beignets and a café au lait with chicory at the open-air 1862 institution by the river.

   
2. ~9:30aJackson Square & St. Louis Cathedral

   The heart of the Quarter — the triple-steepled cathedral, the artists and fortune-tellers under the oaks, and the Pontalba buildings' lacy iron balconies.

   
3. ~11:00aThe French Market & Royal Street

   The old open-air market for pralines and hot sauce, then antique-lined Royal Street with its galleries and the buskers' brass on the corners.

   
4. ~1:00pA Creole lunch

   Gumbo, jambalaya, and a fried-oyster-and-shrimp po'boy 'dressed' — at a Creole institution like Galatoire's (where lunch is a Friday ritual) or a corner spot.

   
5. ~3:30pThe Garden District streetcar

   Ride the historic St. Charles streetcar through the oak tunnel to the Garden District — antebellum mansions, Lafayette Cemetery's above-ground tombs, and Magazine Street's shops.

6. 8:00pCommander's Palace (or a Creole grande dame)Anchor table

   The 1893 turquoise-and-white institution in the Garden District — haute Creole (turtle soup, bread-pudding soufflé) and the famous 25-cent martini lunch. The marquee table; book ahead, jacket preferred at dinner.

   

New Orleans is a food-and-music city before all else — beignets to start, a po'boy at lunch, a grande-dame dinner. The Quarter is walkable; the streetcar is the lovely way to reach the Garden District.

Day 1 in photos

1. ~9:30aTremé & jazz history

   The oldest Black neighbourhood in America and the cradle of jazz — Louis Armstrong Park, Congo Square where it all began, and the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old Mint.

   
2. ~11:30aA steamboat on the Mississippi

   A paddlewheeler cruise on the river — the Steamboat Natchez with a live jazz band and the calliope playing as you leave the dock.

   
3. ~1:30pA seafood boil or muffuletta

   A crawfish boil in season, or the muffuletta — the giant olive-salad-and-cured-meat sandwich invented at Central Grocery — split with a root beer.

   
4. ~3:30pOr a swamp & bayou tour

   Out to the cypress swamps for an airboat among the alligators and Spanish moss — the wild Louisiana just beyond the city.

5. ~8:00pLive music on Frenchmen Street

   Skip Bourbon's chaos for Frenchmen Street — the locals' live-music strip, club to club for brass, jazz, and funk, and a night that finds its own rhythm.

   

Frenchmen Street, not Bourbon, is where the real music is — wander between clubs and follow your ears. The swamp tour is a great half-day for the wild side of Louisiana if you have the time.

Day 2 in photos

1. ~9:30aA St. Louis Cemetery tour

   The hauntingly beautiful 'cities of the dead' — above-ground tombs (the water table forbids burial), including the reputed grave of voodoo queen Marie Laveau. Cemetery No. 1 requires a licensed guide.

   
2. ~11:30aThe National WWII Museum

   Consistently ranked among the best museums in America — immersive, moving, and vast; the country's official WWII museum, in the Warehouse District.

   
3. ~1:30pWarehouse District lunch

   A modern-Creole or Cajun lunch in the arts district — barbecue shrimp, or a refined gumbo, in a converted warehouse.

   
4. ~3:30pMagazine Street

   Six miles of independent shops — antiques, art, local design, and Southern boutiques — the city's best browsing, far from the souvenir stalls.

   
5. ~7:30pA cocktail history crawl

   New Orleans invented the cocktail culture — a Sazerac (the city's official drink) at the Sazerac Bar, a Ramos Gin Fizz, and a Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House.

   

Cemetery No. 1 now requires a licensed guide — book a tour for the history and the Laveau legend. The WWII Museum genuinely warrants a half-day; it's one of the finest in the country.

Day 3 in photos