New Orleans Travel Guide: The Most Unique City in America
New Orleans operates on a different set of rules from the rest of America. The food is more serious, the music is more constant, the relationship with the past is more present, and the nights end at times that would constitute a different calendar date elsewhere. It is the most European city in America and the most African city in America simultaneously.
I arrived in New Orleans on a Tuesday and heard live jazz within four minutes of leaving my hotel. Not performed-for-tourists jazz, though that exists in abundance, but a second line parade that had materialised on Frenchmen Street — a brass band, thirty dancers, and a growing crowd following the music through the Tremé neighbourhood. I joined the back of the crowd and walked for forty-five minutes before the parade dissolved naturally into a bar.
This is the thing about New Orleans that no travel guide can fully prepare you for: the city produces moments of unexpected joy as a baseline condition. The music is everywhere — not just on Bourbon Street but in the parks, on the street corners, in the back of bars where a trio plays to eight people on a Wednesday afternoon. It's not performance. It's life.
The food is equally serious. New Orleans has one of the most distinctive regional cuisines in America — a Creole and Cajun tradition that blends French technique, African ingredients, Spanish influence, and Native American knowledge into something entirely its own. Gumbo, jambalaya, po'boys, beignets, red beans and rice — each dish is specific to this city and its history.
The French Quarter is real and worth walking, but it's also the most tourist-facing version of the city. The Garden District, the Tremé, the Bywater, and the Marigny are where New Orleans actually lives.
Where to Eat in New Orleans
Commander's Palace in the Garden District is the great New Orleans institution — white tablecloths, jazz brunch, and the most refined Creole cuisine in the city. The turtle soup, the pecan-crusted Gulf fish, and the bread pudding soufflé are non-negotiable. Around $60-80 USD per person. Saturday jazz brunch is the definitive experience.
Dooky Chase's Restaurant in the Tremé is where the civil rights movement met for dinner — Leah Chase cooked for every president from Eisenhower to Obama. The Creole fried chicken and red beans and rice are extraordinary. Around $25-35 USD per person. Lunch only, closed weekends.
Central Grocery on Decatur Street invented the muffuletta in 1906 — a round Italian bread stuffed with cured meats, provolone, and olive salad. A half sandwich costs $10.50 and feeds one normal person or one very hungry person in halves. Cash only.
Café Du Monde for beignets at any hour. The 24-hour café in Jackson Square has been serving beignets — deep-fried dough buried in powdered sugar — since 1862. Three beignets for $4. Expect to wear some of the powdered sugar home.
Any po'boy shop on Magazine Street or in Mid-City. The New Orleans sandwich — roast beef debris or fried shrimp on French bread "dressed" with lettuce, tomato, and mayo — costs $12-16 and is the definitive local lunch.
Where to Stay in New Orleans
Budget (under $80/night): India House Hostel in Mid-City is the best hostel in the South — a rambling Victorian house with a pool, hammocks, and a community kitchen. Dorms from $28/night, private rooms from $70.
Mid-range ($150-250/night): Hotel Peter and Paul in the Marigny occupies a converted 19th-century church, school, rectory, and convent — each building connected, each with its own character. Rates $170-220/night. The most atmospheric hotel in the city.
Splurge ($350+/night): The Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue is a 1927 landmark with a rooftop bar, a legendary jazz club, and the kind of old New Orleans grandeur that can't be replicated. Rates from $380/night. The Bayou Bar is a New Orleans institution.
Top Things to Do in New Orleans
Walk Frenchmen Street on a weeknight. The three-block stretch in the Marigny has more live music per metre than anywhere in America. The Spotted Cat, Snug Harbor, and the Maison all have live acts starting at 9pm. No cover charges. Bring cash for tips.
Take a cemetery tour. New Orleans buries its dead above ground due to the high water table — the above-ground tombs and family vaults in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 are architectural and historical monuments. Guided tours only ($20 USD) — solo visits are not permitted.
Ride the St. Charles Streetcar. The oldest continuously operating streetcar in the world ($1.25 fare) runs from Canal Street through the Garden District and Uptown. The Garden District stop serves the best walking neighbourhood in the city — antebellum mansions and oak canopy streets.
Eat a jazz brunch on Sunday. The New Orleans Sunday jazz brunch — Commander's Palace, Arnaud's, or Dooky Chase's — is a specifically local institution combining the city's two great obsessions. Book ahead.
Visit the National WWII Museum. The best museum in New Orleans and one of the best in America — a comprehensive, immersive account of the war from D-Day through the Pacific. Allow a full day. Entry $30 USD.
Getting There & Around
Flights: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) has direct flights from most major US cities. From New York, return flights average $200-350. Flight time from New York is 3 hours, from LA 4 hours.
Getting around: The French Quarter and Marigny are walkable. The St. Charles streetcar reaches the Garden District and Uptown. Uber and Lyft operate throughout the city. Avoid driving in the French Quarter — streets are narrow and parking is expensive.
Currency: US Dollar. New Orleans is moderately priced by US city standards — significantly cheaper than New York or LA. Budget $15-20 for lunch, $40-70 for a mid-range dinner.
Daily budget: Budget $90-130 USD/day. Mid-range $200-300 USD/day. Comfortable $350-500 USD/day.
Safety: New Orleans requires awareness. The French Quarter and tourist areas are generally safe. Avoid walking alone late at night on less-trafficked streets. Use Uber after midnight rather than walking.
Best Time to Visit New Orleans
Mardi Gras (February — March)
The most famous festival in America transforms the entire city for two weeks before Fat Tuesday. An extraordinary experience — and the most crowded and expensive week of the year. Book accommodation a year ahead if you want to attend.
Shoulder Season — Recommended (October, November, March, April)
The best times. October brings the Jazz and Heritage Festival (late April actually — but October is still excellent). March and April offer warm weather before summer humidity. November is quiet, affordable, and the city is at its most local.
Avoid (July — August)
Extreme heat and humidity — feels like 42°C+ / 107°F+ with the heat index. Many locals leave. The city is functional but uncomfortable for extended outdoor activity.
On my last night I ended up, as you inevitably do in New Orleans, somewhere I hadn't planned to be. A bar in the Bywater where a single pianist was playing to fourteen people who were all paying complete attention. He played for two hours — originals, a few standards, a Meters cover that brought the bar briefly to its feet.
I walked back through the Marigny as the city's nocturnal second shift was fully operational — the music from Frenchmen Street audible from two blocks away, the smell of pralines from a shop that had been there since the 1950s, a cat sleeping on a gallery railing with its tail hanging down. New Orleans is the most alive city in America at 2am. It's been that way since before America was America.
Sarah has spent the last decade traveling through 60+ countries, writing about culture, food, and the moments that change you. Based between London and wherever her next flight takes her.