27 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

One of the most respected local galleries has compiled a must-see collection of contemporary artwork by Lin Emery, Jacqueline Bishop, and Willie Birch, as well as national names such as glass artist Dale Chihuly and the film director and photographer John Waters.

If you're not in town for the real thing, here's a fun (and family-friendly) backstage look at the history and artistry of Carnival. The massive 400,000-square-foot complex, just upriver from the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, features an enhanced guided tour through a maze of video presentations, decorative sculptures, and favorite megafloats from Mardi Gras parades such as Bacchus, Rex, and Endymion. A gift shop sells masks, beads, and Mardi Gras posters, as well as tickets for the tour, during which participants can sample king cake and coffee, pose for pictures in front of parade floats, and see artists at work, sculpting with papier-mâché and fiberglass. For special events, visitors enter through a plantation alley that is part Cajun swamp-shack village, part antebellum Disneyworld (Kern was a friend of, and inspired by, Walt Disney).

Take in cutting-edge exhibits, featuring both local artists and the work of national and international talent, at this cornerstone of the vibrant Warehouse District. Two theaters present jazz, film, dance, plays, lectures, and experimental and conventional concerts, including a New Orleans music series. Check the website for details.

This vast and still-expanding museum is a moving and well-executed examination of World War II events and its aftermath. Seminal moments are re-created through vintage propaganda from the period, including posters, radio, and film clips; more than 7,500 oral histories of the military personnel involved; a number of short documentary films; and collections of weapons, personal items, and other artifacts from the war. Highlights of the museum include "Final Mission: The USS Tang Experience," which re-creates the experience of being in a submarine, and the 4-D theater experience (across the street from the main exhibits) called "Beyond All Boundaries," produced and narrated by Tom Hanks. Other popular exhibits are the replicas of the Higgins boat troop landing craft, which was invented and manufactured in New Orleans by Andrew Jackson Higgins during WWII, and the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, which honors all service branches and includes a restored Boeing B-17. Galleries dedicated to the European and Pacific theaters, as well as the Homefront's role in the war, are among the museum's comprehensive permanent exhibits. The Stage Door Canteen features WWII-era entertainment and an adjoining restaurant serves a "Victory Garden-to-table" menu. Check the website for updates on the museum's ongoing expansion and for current offerings.

Art by Southern artists, made in the South, about the South, and exploring Southern themes fills this elegant five-story building. The basis of the museum's permanent collection are 1,200 works collected by local developer Roger Ogden since the 1960s. It has now grown to more than 4,000 pieces, including paintings, ceramics, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and designs. These pieces, along with special exhibitions, showcase artists from Washington, D.C., and 15 Southern states spanning the 18th through 21st century. A central stair atrium filters natural light through the series of galleries, and a rooftop patio serves as a sculpture garden with lovely views of the surrounding area. The gift shop sells crafts and jewelry by Southern artists and books and movies celebrating the South. Thursday night (6–8 pm) comes alive with Ogden After Hours, featuring live music, artist interviews, refreshments, children's activities, and special gallery exhibitions.

This sleek gallery specializes in contemporary sculpture and paintings from both local and internationally renowned artists, including Pablo Atchugarry, Eva Hild, Raine Bedsole, Key-Sook Geum, Adrian Deckbar, and Sibylle Peretti.

This year-round Saturday market offers an array of locally grown produce, baked goods, cut flowers, non-farmed Louisiana seafood, fresh dairy, locally farm-raised meat, and prepared foods from regional vendors. Special events and holidays mean cooking demonstrations and appearances by local musicians. Meet and greet the local farmers, chefs, and fishers who make this city's amazing food culture possible. The market also makes an appearance Uptown on Tuesday morning, in the French Quarter on Wednesday afternoon, and in Mid-City on Thursday evening.

This Greek Revival building, modeled on the Erechtheion of Athens, was built in 1845 by the architect James Gallier Sr. It served as City Hall in the mid-20th century and today hosts special events. It's the mayor's official perch during Carnival parades, where kings and queens of many krewes stop to be toasted by city officials and dignitaries. The grand rooms inside the hall are adorned with portraits and decorative details ordered by Gallier from Paris.

History—and New Orleans's rich past in particular—is the passion of artist George Schmidt. His gallery displays and sells paintings and narrative art, from small-scale monotypes to mural-size depictions of historic moments. He also sells signed and numbered prints of his work.

Some 115,000 square feet of gaming space is divided into five areas, each with a New Orleans theme: Jazz Court, Court of Good Fortune, Smugglers Court, Mardi Gras Court, and Court of the Mansion. There are also table games, a covered gaming courtyard for smokers, 2,100-plus slots, and live entertainment at Masquerade, which includes a lounge, video tower, and dancing show. Check the website for seasonal productions, including music, theater, and comedy. Restaurants here include the extensive Harrah's buffet, the Cafés on Canal food court, Acme Oyster House, Gordon Biersch, Grand Isle, Manning's, and Ruth's Chris Steak House. The last four are part of Harrah's Fulton Street Mall, a pedestrian promenade that attracts casual strollers, clubgoers, and diners.

New York architect James Gamble Rogers designed this three-story granite structure as a post office and court building in 1909. It opened in 1915, but by the 1960s, the post office had moved to larger digs, leaving it open for McDonogh No. 35 High School to find refuge after Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Today, the Italian Renaissance Revival building houses the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in an elaborately paneled and ornamented series of three courtrooms, one of which, the En Banc courtroom, boasts a bronze glazed ceiling. The Great Hall's plaster ceiling has been restored to its original appearance and color, a light gray. As you enter the building and pass security, turn left and continue around the corner to find the library, where you can pick up information on the courthouse. Outside, a repeating sculpture of four women stands atop each corner of the building's penthouse level: the four ladies represent History, Agriculture, Industry, and the Arts. The building is named for Judge John Minor Wisdom, the New Orleans native who was instrumental in dismantling the segregation laws of the South. Judge Wisdom received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.

Cutting-edge art with a message is the focus of this gallery's monthly exhibits. Contemporary paintings, photography, mixed-media artworks, sculpture, glass, and metalwork by local and international artists are displayed.

Contemporary art dealers have adopted this strip in the Warehouse District as their own. The street is lined with galleries and specialty shops, with the greatest concentration stretching from South Peters Street to St. Charles Avenue. On the first Saturday evening of each month, gallery owners throw open their doors to show off new exhibits to the accompaniment of wine, music, and general merriment. During White Linen Night in August and Art for Art's Sake in October, the galleries welcome visitors with artist receptions and live entertainment.

Planned in 1788 as a public place for Faubourg St. Marie, this 2.5-acre park occupies one city block in between the Federal Complex and Gallier Hall. The leafy square, covered by oaks, magnolias, and maple trees, and landscaped with hydrangeas and azaleas, offers a shady spot to sit. Statues include Benjamin Franklin, Henry Clay, and the New Orleans philanthropist John McDonogh. Recently, the Square has been experiencing a renaissance brought about in large part by the Young Leadership Council's Wednesday at the Square concert series, held in the spring and early summer.

In a traffic circle at the northern edge of the Warehouse District, an 1884 bronze statue of Civil War General Robert E. Lee, by sculptor Alexander Doyle, stood high above the city on a white marble column—until spring 2017, that is, when Mayor Landrieu responded to local protests and nationwide attention to remove glorified Confederate monuments. Plans are underway to redevelop (and rename) the circle as a public space that unites the city, rather than divides it.

Gulf Coast artists from Louisiana to Florida display art and high-end crafts here, alongside work by the late New Orleans abstract artist Paul Ninas.

This top-notch children's museum covers 8½ acres of educational fun and exploration within City Park. Favorite indoor exhibits include a hands-on history of New Orleans and its architecture as well as an interactive exploration through food for the young mind, from growing it to shopping and cooking. On the second floor, children can splash through the mighty Mississippi with a 100-foot water table. The best part of the museum's new location in City Park is perhaps its acres of outdoor fun, with tunnels, slides, and educational exhibits on Louisiana flora and fauna, right in the city's best urban backyard.

Established in 1891, this ponderous stone building is the oldest museum in Louisiana and features heavy trusses, gleaming cypress paneling, and elaborate Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. It houses a collection of artifacts from the Civil War, including uniforms, flags, soldiers' personal effects, and a rudimentary hand grenade.

Home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has been the site of many Sugar Bowls, several NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, the BCS championship game, a record seven Super Bowls, and the 1988 Republican National Convention, as well as many concerts.

The Superdome was badly damaged during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, when it served as a shelter of last resort for evacuees. The stadium underwent extensive renovations in the years that followed and reopened for football in September 2006, when the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons, at the time setting a record for the largest TV audience in ESPN history.

Built in 1975, the Superdome seats 71,000 people, and has a 166,000-square-foot main arena and a roof that covers almost 10 acres at a height of 27 stories. The bronze statue on the Poydras Street side of the Superdome is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Across from it is a large abstract sculpture called Krewe of Poydras. The sculptor, Ida Kohlmeyer, meant to evoke the frivolity and zany spirit of Mardi Gras. A couple of blocks down Poydras Street from the Superdome is the Bloch Cancer Survivors Monument, a block-long walkway of whimsical columns, figures, and a triumphal arch in the median of Loyola Avenue. The Smoothie King Center (formerly called the New Orleans Arena) behind the Superdome is home to the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans.

The Superdome does not offer public tours, but visitors can walk along the exterior plaza and Champions Square to get a better view. The plaza by Champions Square offers the best photo opportunity.

See free demonstrations of printmaking, glassmaking and design, and silver alchemy in this restored, 1800s-era brick warehouse (with a whopping 25,000-square-foot interior). The studio offers group and individual classes. Call in advance to make reservations for hands-on instruction. A shop and gallery display and sell the finished products.

This gallery space features a number of established, mid-career, and emerging local and international artists who work in a variety of media. The gallery also shows works by 20th-century masters such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Alex Katz.

This 30,000-square-foot museum, which opened in 2014 on the up-and-coming O.C. Haley Boulevard, was designed to educate visitors on the vast amount of knowledge and art that has accrued around two near-obsessions in the South: eating and drinking. Exhibits feature information on fishermen, farmers, and chefs as well as the many cultures that contribute to this region's tradition of cocktails and cuisine. There's a food gift shop and a tasting room with chef demonstrations; call ahead for updates, current exhibitions, and programs.

For a place to relax with a terrific view of the river, go to Spanish Plaza behind the former World Trade Center at 365 Canal Street. This large, sunken space with beautiful inlaid tiles and a fountain was a gift from Spain in 1976; here you can enjoy occasional live music and buy tickets for riverboat cruises in the offices that face the river. If you happen to be in town for Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras), you can watch Rex, the King of Carnival, arrive here from across the river to greet King Zulu and take symbolic control of the city for a day.

A stark exterior gives way to a far more ornate interior in the first church built in the American sector of New Orleans, intended to provide the city's Irish Catholics with a place of worship as distinguished as the French St. Louis Cathedral. The vaulted interior was completed in 1840 by local architect James Gallier, who moved here from Ireland in 1834. High stained-glass windows and huge murals, painted in 1841, enrich the interior.

More than 30 local, national, and international artists working in a diverse range of media and aesthetics showcase their talents at this gallery. Popular artists include Gretchen Weller Howard, Steven Seinberg, Karen Scharer, and Audra Kohout.

This riverfront shopping center reopened in 2014 as an outlet mall with 75 stores, including Coach, Neiman Marcus Last Call, and Forever 21. Various cruise ships leave from outside the Riverwalk or from the Julia Street Wharf, slightly upriver.