Things to do — New Orleans

In New Orleans over 4 days:

Day 1 — French Quarter discovery: morning Jackson Square (Andrew Jackson 7th president statue, Mississippi River view) + Saint Louis Cathedral (1789, oldest active US Catholic cathedral, free interior access) + Cabildo (former Spanish city hall, $8 museum, Louisiana Purchase 1803 signing exhibition) + Presbytère ($8 museum, Mardi Gras exhibition). Lunch Café du Monde (Decatur Street, 24/7, beignets and chicory coffee since 1862, $4-8/person, 30-60 min queue but essential). Afternoon French Market (since 1791, market and restaurants), Royal Street (art galleries, antiques, street music), Pat O'Brien's (Hurricane iconic cocktail $12-15 invented here 1940s), Pirate's Alley (alley behind cathedral, William Faulkner lived there 1925). Evening Bourbon Street (200 m bar street, crazy alcoholic vibe, take-out daiquiris — Vegas-like, do once but don't confine yourself, car traffic closure evening).

Day 2 — Frenchmen Street + optional morning plantation: morning free or morning plantation excursion — Oak Alley Plantation (45 min west, $28, 300 m 300-year-old oak alley, slavery heritage explained) OR Whitney Plantation (1h west, $25, first US plantation told from slaves' perspective, deeply moving, recommended for honest historical dimension). Return NOLA. Lunch Mother's (roast beef po'boy, $15-25 since 1938) OR Coop's Place (Cajun jambalaya, $25-40, no booking). Afternoon Voodoo Museum ($7, French Quarter, Marie Laveau voodoo history), Hermann-Grima House (1831 historic mansion museum $12), Royal Street antique shopping. Frenchmen Street evening — Quarter departure 6pm, cross Esplanade Avenue, 3 blocks walk. Real authentic jazz away from Bourbon: The Spotted Cat Music Club (3 sets/night 6pm-10pm-11pm, brass band, no cover charge, 1-2 mandatory drinks $15-25), The Maison (jazz and brass band 3 sets/night), Snug Harbor (contemporary jazz, $25-40 cover, 2 sets 8pm-10pm, more high-end). Marigny modern creole dinner: Bacchanal Wine (back terrace, live music, dishes $25-45) or Adolfo's (Italian creole, $30-60).

Day 3 — Garden District + St Charles Streetcar: morning St Charles Avenue Streetcar (from French Quarter Canal Street terminus, $1.25/ride, world's oldest streetcar line still in service since 1835, 1h round-trip scenic ride along St Charles Avenue 6 km to Uptown, through Spanish moss draped oaks). Get off Jackson Avenue or Washington Avenue. Garden District — Lafayette Cemetery No.1 (free self-guided, or $20-30 guided tour, 1833 above-ground tombs, NOLA Catacombs Tours), Magazine Street (boutiques, restaurants, antiques over 6 km). Antebellum mansions (former urban plantations 1850-1860): Buckner Mansion (1856, seen in American Horror Story), Anne Rice's House (Vampire Lestat), Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie's House (n°1539 Coliseum Street, sold 2024), Walter Robinson's House (where fictional Benjamin Button was born). Lunch Commander's Palace (gourmet creole garden restaurant since 1893, $50/person brunch with 25-cent martinis Tuesday-Friday-Sunday noon, par excellence NOLA experience — 1-month-ahead booking, chic dress code). Afternoon streetcar return French Quarter, Riverwalk Mississippi stroll, Steamboat Natchez cruise ($35-55, 2h, onboard live jazz, Old French Quarter view from water, historic steam vessel). Evening Brennan's dinner (1946 creole, 209 Royal Street, $100-180/person, Bananas Foster invented here 1951 flambéed tableside).

Day 4 — Bayou + Tremé excursion: morning bayou tour (45 min SW NOLA, Honey Island Swamp Tour $35-65/person half day, alligators, herons, ibis, turtles, authentic cypress moss-draped marsh deep South vibe) or Jean Lafitte National Historical Park (free, protected marshes and bayous, 8 km boardwalk trails above water). Lunch Mister B's Bistro (creole $30-60) or Lüke (John Besh brasserie $25-50). Afternoon Tremé guided tour (NOLA Music Tour $30-40 half day, historic Afro-American neighbourhood jazz birthplace, HBO series Tremé 2010, don't go alone at night): Louis Armstrong Park (Armstrong statue, Congo Square where slaves gathered for music Sundays in 19th century), Backstreet Cultural Museum ($10, Mardi Gras Indians and brass bands history), 1841 St Augustine Church (oldest US Afro-American Catholic church). Evening Preservation Hall (726 St Peter Street French Quarter, live jazz since 1961, $25 entry per 45-min show, 3 shows/night 5:30pm/7:30pm/9:30pm, 1h queue before, line without booking possible — the traditional jazz institution, hushed acoustic vibe, formal-dress musicians, 30-person room). Dinner Galatoire's (1905 creole, dress code, 209 Bourbon Street, $80-150/person, Friday noon NOLA high society institution).

Optional excursions: New Orleans Mardi Gras World (float creation, $22, interesting if outside Mardi Gras), WWII National Museum (Warehouse District, $30, one of best US military museums, plan 4-6h, recommended), City Park (Mid-City, free, 5 km², 300-year-old oaks, $20 NOMA Museum of Art, free Sculpture Garden), Audubon Zoo (Uptown, $28, white albino alligators), Cajun Country Excursion (3h to Lafayette/New Iberia, authentic Cajun immersion, 1 day or night).