The 16 Finest Things to Do in New Orleans (Upgraded 2023)

Published: 5/23/2023|May 23rd, 2023

New Orleans is among the very best cities on the planet. Associated with debauchery, it’s ended up being well-known for the lively Mardi Gras celebration that takes control of the city each February.

However there is more to “NOLA” than simply partying. A lot more.

I initially entered 2006 and have actually been drawn back numerous times, diving much deeper and much deeper into the city. From delighting in scrumptious Creole food to learning more about voodoo and its cultural roots, New Orleans is a city with layers– layers that are frequently neglected by partying travelers.

New Orleans is magic. It is such a sensational location. I have actually never ever not had a fun time there. It is among my preferred locations on the planet! That’s how excellent it is!

To assist you have a good time and take advantage of your see beyond the traveler path, here’s my list of the very best things to do in New Orleans:

1. Commemorate Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras– French for “Fat Tuesday”– is among the most popular celebrations on the planet It begins in January and lasts till Ash Wednesday. There are parades with drifts and live music, balls, and a continuously celebration environment understood for getting rowdy. Upwards of a million visitors flock here each year to commemorate, turning the city into a huge celebration.

While it can be a blast, ensure you book whatever well beforehand, as rates increase and whatever offers out rapidly. However it’s a celebration not to be missed out on!

2. Listen to music on Frenchmen Street

Buskers, jazz, blues, huge band: you can discover everything in NOLA. Live music is extremely popular here, and there are lots of bars and clubs in which you can take in an efficiency. The primary location to discover them is on Frenchmen Street, which grew to prominence in the 1980s and has actually been a staple of the music scene since.

3. Take a ghost or voodoo trip

New Orleans is thought about among the most haunted areas in the nation, thanks to the city’s voodoo roots. Voodoo is a set of underground spiritual practices that came out of the African spiritual customs that shackled individuals given America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Throughout the years, voodoo and the occult ended up being associated with New Orleans. From stories of ghosts and vampires to Marie Laveau (the most well-known voodoo specialist), New Orleans has a particular upsetting element.

To read more, take a voodoo trip through the French Quarter and its cemeteries. Witches Brew Tours and the Ghosts, Vampires, and Voodoo French Quarter Trip are 2 of the very best.

400 Royal St, +1 504-454-3939, witchesbrewtours.com. They host several trips daily, consisting of some just for grownups. Its Cemetery Experts Strolling Trip lasts 2 hours and expenses $35 USD.

4. Go To the Voodoo Museum

This little museum is the location to get more information about voodoo and to in fact see things utilized in its practices. Consisted of simply 2 spaces, it opened in 1972 and is loaded with all type of artifacts, talismans, taxidermied animals, and voodoo dolls. And if that’s insufficient, the museum can help with psychic readings and other routines with regional professionals if you’re so likely.

You can go to the museum at your own speed by means of the self-guided alternative, or take the strolling trip, that includes an assisted trip of the museum.

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

5. Explore the French Quarter

The well-known French Quarter was settled by the French (for this reason the name) in 1718. The district is now a sanctuary for revelers on Bourbon Street, antique consumers on Royal Street, and foodies looking for a few of the very best Cajun food in the area. Here you’ll likewise discover Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral (the earliest in the nation, going back to 1789), lovely houses, bars blasting superior jazz, and renowned 18th century French-style houses with wrought-iron verandas.

I start every check out to a brand-new city with a totally free walking trip. Attempt the one from NOLA Trip Man You’ll discover the history of the community and get access to a professional regional guide who can respond to all your concerns. Simply make sure to tip your guide at the end!

For a more thorough trip, opt for Take Walks It is my go-to business when it concerns in-depth walking trips that exceed and beyond the manual.

For more tips, here’s my list of the very best walking trips in NOLA

6. Drop In Sazerac Home

Opened in 2019, Sazerac Home is part bar, part museum, highlighting the value of the Sazerac mixed drink, born at this really place and thought about by numerous to be the earliest American mixed drink. This is an immersive experience, with numerous floorings of interactive exhibitions. You can talk with virtual bartenders about their preferred beverages and see what the French Quarter appeared like in the 1800s. It’s an incredibly in-depth and enjoyable experience that is among the very best in New Orleans.

You can likewise take a 90-minute totally free trip (that includes samples) or participate in among the occasions or workshops (which begin at $30 USD), such as a scotch tasting or a workshop that teaches you how to craft whiskey-based mixed drinks.

101 Publication St, +1 504-910-0100, sazerachouse.com. Open Tuesday-Sunday 11am-6pm. Admission is totally free, however reserving beforehand is needed.

7. Cruise on the Steamboat Natchez

This boat introduced in 1975; nevertheless, it’s the ninth steamboat to bear the Natchez name (among its predecessors participated in the most well-known steamboat race in history, in 1870). Today, it’s the city’s only genuine steamboat and produces a touristy (however enjoyable) method to invest the afternoon. There are breakfast and supper cruises and live jazz music. You’ll likewise get to delight in the picturesque horizon as you travel on the placid waters of the Mississippi.

400 Toulouse St, +1 800-233-2628, steamboatnatchez.com. Cruises leave at 11:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 7:00 pm. Evening jazz cruises cost $50 USD ($ 95 USD with supper); the Sunday jazz breakfasts are $68 USD.

8. Discover 1850 Home

For the centuries leading up to the Civil War, the extensive dependence on slavery in the South permitted white plantation owners to get extremely rich (there were around 4 million servants in the United States then, about one-eighth of the whole United States population). Like the abundant and effective today, they constructed sophisticated houses to display that wealth– and a few of those are still standing today.

Found beside Jackson Square, 1850 Home is an example of what a number of those townhouses appeared like prior to the Civil War. Developed by the rich aristocrat and 19th-century New Orleans character Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, this specific building had various residents throughout the years. When the Louisiana State Museum took it over, it embellished the structure to be representative of upper-class life at the time of its building and construction. It’s the very best location to get an immersive understanding of simply how wealthy white servant owners remained in the south (since they were rich!).

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

9. Take a Bayou trip

The bayou, a swampy area of a slow-moving river, supplied early inhabitants with trees for houses, fish for consuming, and waterways for commerce. It’s still the lifeline of the area and a vital part of its culture. Invest your early morning in this lovely and peaceful location by returning to nature.

Kayak trips cost around $50-60 USD and last a number of hours. Wild Louisiana Tours provides directed trips that will get you out on the water and teach you about the community. It likewise provides leasings from $40 USD if you do not desire a trip.

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

10. Unwind in the park

When you require to rest your legs, get a book, pack a picnic, and head to among New Orleans’ sensational parks, both with ponds, trees, strolling and cycling routes, and a lot of area to unwind.

City Park is a huge green area 50% bigger than New York City’s Central Park– among the most significant city parks in the nation! It is house to centuries-old oak trees, the New Orleans Arboretum, the New Orleans Museum of Art, cafés, and dining establishments, to name a few destinations. Audubon Park was previously a plantation, a staging location for both the Confederate and the Union armies throughout the Civil War, and host to a World’s Fair in 1884– 85.

11. Check Out Oak Street

Over a lots oak trees (each of them over 250 years of ages) line the lane resulting in this antebellum manor right on the Mississippi River. As soon as a sugar plantation and a ranches, it opened to the general public in 1976.

Personally, I discovered the house’s interior to be less outstanding than the outside. Nevertheless, roaming the premises was definitely beneficial, as the signs/placards have a great deal of info on the awful organization of slavery. It’s an extremely sobering however crucial experience.

It lies an hour from the city by automobile. Attempt to get here early (or remain late) to prevent the day trips that originate from New Orleans, so you can beat the crowds.

3645 Highway 18 (Great River Roadway), +1 225 265-2151, oakalleyplantation.org. Open day-to-day 8:30 am-5pm. Admission begins at $25 USD. For trips that consist of transport from New Orleans and admission to the plantation, anticipate to pay $70-80 USD per individual.

12. Explore the National The Second World War Museum

Opened in 2000 as the National D-Day Museum, this is the biggest museum devoted to The second world war in the whole United States. The exhibitions concentrate on the American contribution to the war, which lasted from 1939 to 1945 (the United States got in the war in 1941).

Even if you’re not a history enthusiast like me, I extremely suggest going to. Lots of veterans hang out here, and you can listen to direct accounts of the war, along with see a few of their images. It’s sobering however extremely informative.

945 Publication St, +1 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org. Open daily from 9am-5pm. Admission is $31.50 USD (purchasing advance timed tickets is extremely suggested).

13. Take a food trip

From po’ kids to gumbo and whatever in between, food, culture, and history become part of the city’s DNA. If you wish to find out more about New Orleans’ finest consumes, take a food trip. You’ll not just get to consume more of the very best chow in the area, however you’ll discover how and why specific meals concerned prominence. A trip will include a lot more insight and subtlety to your time here.

Physician Gumbo Tours runs among the very best food trips. It likewise provides a mixed drink history trip that goes to historical locations (with a mixed drink at each stop, obviously) while teaching you about renowned beverages and alcohols.

+1 504 473-4823, doctorgumbo.com. Tours last 3 hours and cost $75 USD per individual.

14. Check Out the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum

This is among the earliest museums in the state and is house to the second-largest collection of Confederate products on the planet. I’m constantly interested by Civil War history museums, specifically those in the Deep South, where the memory of “Northern hostility” is still really strong.

The museum consists of over 5,000 historic artifacts, consisting of the uniforms of Generals Bragg and Beauregard and individual products owned by Confederate President Jefferson Davis (including his Bible and a piece of the crown of thorns he got from the Pope). The museum highlights Southern patriotism and repeats the historical argument that the South was defending “honor” and “states’ rights.”

I discovered the lack of a conversation of slavery here unsurprising, considered that the museum wishes to pretend that that wasn’t the primary reason for the war. It’s constantly remarkable to discover how individuals frame their history, even if they do so in such a prejudiced light. In spite of the one-sidedness– and in reality, since of it– this museum deserves going to.

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

15. Explore the NOLA Jazz Museum

I enjoy jazz: listening to it, learning more about it. I can’t get enough. This museum not just has a lots of artifacts (over 25,000) however it hosts great deals of performances and over a lots celebrations throughout the year. The museum is housed in an old United States Mint structure and functions instruments, art work of and by artists, souvenirs, and more. Many occasions are totally free, and a number of them are transmitted live as well, so you can see them totally free from house too.

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

16. Check Out Studio Be

Found in the hip, artistic community of the Bywater, Studio Be is a distinct art gallery produced by regional artist Brandan “Bmike” Odums. In the 35,000 square foot storage facility, you’ll discover vibrant spray-painted murals and massive pieces along with multimedia setups by Bmike and other regional artists, mainly concentrated on social justice problems. Meandering through is a moving method to obtain insights into the Black experience in New Orleans.

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

New Orleans is among the liveliest (and popular) locations in the U.S.A.. However there’s a lot more to it than letting loose on Bourbon Street. With unbelievable live music, scrumptious food, an abundant history, and first-rate museums, NOLA has something for everybody. It’s a location with layers and, if you make the effort to check out underneath the surface area, you’ll find among the most distinct cities in the nation.