New Orleans ticks differently from the rest of the USA, and that is its charm. The Big Easy is a melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Caribbean heritage: wrought-iron balconies over cobblestones, jazz from every other doorway, the scent of gumbo and beignets, and a joy of life that instantly rubs off even on strangers. Jazz was born here, Mardi Gras is celebrated here, and you eat better here than almost anywhere else in the country.
The French Quarter
The historic heart is the French Quarter, a grid of narrow lanes with pastel-colored houses and their famous cast-iron balconies. In the middle Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral. On Royal Street the music plays quieter and more refined than on the notorious Bourbon Street, where the nightlife rages.
The cradle of jazz
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. In clubs like Preservation Hall and along Frenchmen Street, bands play live music every evening, from traditional to modern. Just walk in and let yourself drift.
Food like nowhere else
Creole and Cajun cuisine is world famous: gumbo, jambalaya, po'boys and, for breakfast, the sugary beignets at Cafe du Monde. Food here is not a side note, it is a cult.
Streetcar and Garden District
On the historic St. Charles streetcar, one of the oldest in the world, you rumble out into the Garden District, a neighborhood of grand Southern mansions under old oaks. All around lie mysterious cemeteries and the swamps of the bayou.
