New Orleans
We’ve compiled the best of the best in New Orleans - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Frenchmen Street
Faubourg MarignyThe three-block stretch closest to the French Quarter is where it's at—complete with cafés, bars, and music clubs. The true magic happens come nightfall, when live music spills from the doorways of clubs and crowds gather for street performers, but it's still a great daytime destination, too.
Frenchmen St. between Decatur and Dauphine Sts., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA -
2. Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum
Lower Ninth WardTo get a better sense of the Lower Ninth Ward's extensive history, visit this small, community-run museum with particular focus on the before and after of Hurricane Katrina. It celebrates the neighborhood's past, present, and future through oral histories and various exhibits, and is free to the public (cash donations are welcomed).
1235 Deslonde St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA504-220–3652Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; donations welcome, Closed Mon. -
3. Backstreet Cultural Museum
TreméLocal photographer and self-made historian Sylvester Francis is an enthusiastic guide through this rich collection of Mardi Gras Indian costumes and other musical artifacts tied to the street traditions of New Orleans. The museum hosts traveling and featured exhibits in addition to its permanent collection. Sylvester is also an excellent source for current musical goings-on in Tremé and throughout town.
View Tours and Activities1116 Henriette Delille St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA504-657–6700Sight Details
Rate Includes: $10, Tues.–Fri. 10–4, Sat. 10–3, Closed Sun. -
4. Christopher Porché-West Galerie
BywaterLegendary independent photographer Christopher Porché-West operates out of this working studio and exhibit space. The atmosphere depends on the current focus and vigor of Porché-West's activities: sometimes it is more work-oriented, sometimes more formally organized around exhibits of his work or that of other artists. The gallery occupies an old pharmacy storefront at the hub of a hip block boasting restaurants, boutiques, and a yoga studio. Whenever the artist happens to be in, the gallery is open. You can also make an appointment by calling (he's almost always nearby).
3201 Burgundy St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA504-947–3880Sight Details
Rate Includes: By appointment only -
5. Crescent Park
BywaterThe newest park in New Orleans stretches along the Mississippi riverfront and provides for spectacular views of the New Orleans skyline, Algiers, and the mighty Mississippi itself. The best place to enter the park is at Mazant Street in the Bywater, where you can explore the park's promenades, green spaces, and repurposed wharves, and walk the 1.4-mile path along the water. Plans are in the works to extend the park through the Marigny and beyond.
Mazant St. at Chartres St., New Orleans, Louisiana, USASight Details
Rate Includes: Daily 8–6 -
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6. Doullut Steamboat Houses
Lower Ninth WardIn 1905, Paul Doullut was inspired to build a home that resembled the great steamboats of the Mississippi, where he spent his time as a riverboat captain. In 1913, he built a similar home for his son, down the street at 503 Egania. Towering over the Mighty Mississippi and the rest of the neighborhood with wraparound verandas fitted with guardrails and high-perched widow's walks, these houses are architectural oddities specific to their environment. Because the first floors are constructed of ceramic tile, the Doullut houses are uniquely equipped to withstand flooding, and both survived Hurricane Katrina with little damage. Today these are private residences that can only be toured from the outside.
400 Egania St. and 503 Egania St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA -
7. Dr. Bob
BywaterA small compound of artists' and furniture-makers' studios includes the headquarters of this beloved local folk artist, whose easily recognizable work can be found hanging across New Orleans. "Be Nice or Leave," "Be Gay and Stay," "Shalom, Ya'll," and "Shut Up and Fish" are just a few of his popular themes. Dr. Bob's shop is chock-full of original furniture, colorful signs, and unidentifiable objects of artistic fancy. Prices start as low as $30 for a small "Be Nice," and most pieces are in the $200–$500 range. The sign outside advertises the open hours as "9 am–'til"—best to call ahead.
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8. Fats Domino House
Lower Ninth WardWhen music legend Fats Domino passed away in 2017, a city-wide second-line parade culminated at his former home in the Lower Ninth Ward: a black-and-yellow shotgun house emblazoned with the letters "F D", a bright reminder of the artist's dedication to the neighborhood. Blocks from where he was raised, Domino built this two-house compound in 1960, at the height of his musical career, and kept it as his homebase throughout decades on tour. While he spent his later years across the river in Harvey, Louisiana, it was in this house where Fats endured Katrina, and was later rescued by the Coast Guard (and visited by President G. W. Bush) after losing almost everything he owned.
1208 Caffin Ave., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA -
9. House of Dance and Feathers
Lower Ninth WardOne of the most fascinating and heartwarming locations in the Lower Ninth Ward has to be the House of Dance and Feathers, a tiny backyard museum, which is a labor of love for community character Ronald Lewis, a retired streetcar conductor. Formed almost by accident—after his wife threw his extensive collection of Mardi Gras Indian and second-line paraphernalia out of the house and into the yard—this small glass-paneled building contains a trove of Mardi Gras Indian lore and local legend. Intricately beaded panels from Indian costumes, huge fans and plumes of feathers dangling from the rafters, and photographs cover almost every available inch of wall space. Lewis, who among many other things can list "president of the Big Nine Social and Pleasure Club" and "former Council Chief of the Choctaw Hunters" on his résumé, is a qualified and dedicated historian whose vision and work have become a rallying point for a hardscrabble neighborhood. Call before visiting to make sure he's around (he usually is).
View Tours and Activities1317 Tupelo St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA504-957–2678Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, By appointment only, By appointment -
10. J&M Music Shop
TreméAlthough the patrons of the laundromat that now occupies this space probably don't pay the historical provenance much heed, this is one of the most significant musical landmarks in New Orleans. A plaque on this 1835 building marks it as the former site of the recording studio that launched the rock 'n' roll careers of such greats as Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Ray Charles. Owned by Cosimo Matassa, the studio operated from 1945 to 1955.
840 N. Rampart St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA -
11. Jelly Roll Morton House
Seventh WardJazz enthusiasts would do well to follow Frenchmen Street beyond the borders of the Marigny to pay homage to Jelly Roll Morton at the pianist and composer's modest former home, now a private residence with nary a plaque to suggest its importance. The current residents, however, have put a photo of the musician in the window. Morton was a "Creole of color" (free African American of mixed race), a clear distinction in those days—Morton himself always described his roots as "French." The neighborhood has declined some since Morton's days, so plan to take a car or taxi at night.
1443 Frenchmen St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA -
12. Louis Armstrong Park
TreméWith its huge, lighted gateway and its paths meandering through 32 acres of grassy knolls, lagoons, and historic landmarks, Louis Armstrong Park is a fitting tribute to the famed jazz musician's legacy. Elizabeth Catlett's famous statue of Louis Armstrong is joined by other artistic landmarks, such as the bust of Sidney Bechet, and the park now houses the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. Inside the park and to the left is Congo Square, marked by an inlaid-stone space, where slaves in the 18th and early 19th centuries gathered on Sunday, the only time they were permitted to play their music openly. The weekly meetings held here have been immortalized in the travelogues of visitors, leaving invaluable insight into the earliest stages of free musical practices by Africans and African Americans. Neighborhood musicians still congregate here at times for percussion jams, and it is difficult not to think of the musical spirit of ancestors hovering over them. Marie Laveau, the greatly feared and respected voodoo queen of antebellum New Orleans, had her home a block away on St. Ann Street and is reported to have held rituals here regularly. Behind Congo Square is a large gray building, the Morris F.X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium; to the right, behind the auditorium, is the beautifully renovated Mahalia Jackson Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to the New Orleans Opera and the New Orleans Ballet and hosts an excellent year-round calendar of events—everything from readings to rock concerts. The St. Philip Street side of the park houses the Jazz National Historical Park, anchored by Perseverance Hall, the oldest Masonic temple in the state. However, be aware that the park is often nearly deserted, and bordered by some rough stretches of neighborhood; it's patrolled by a security detail, but be very careful when wandering and don't visit after dark.
View Tours and ActivitiesN. Rampart St. between St. Philip and St. Peter Sts., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USASight Details
Rate Includes: Auditorium and performing arts center for events; check local newspapers for listings -
13. Music Box Village
BywaterA whimsical creation of repurposed urban wasteland, this artist-built sculpture garden features an interactive landscape of music-making structures and houses. The space hosts musical acts, performances, and workshops. Most weekend days when there isn't an event, the space is open for the public to explore and play (check the website calendar for "Open Hours" before visiting).
4557 N. Rampart St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USASight Details
Rate Includes: Suggested $12 donation -
14. New Orleans African American Museum
TreméSet in a historic villa surrounded by a lovely small park and gardens, this terrific museum offers a year-round calendar of events and exhibits that highlight African and African-diaspora art and artists. The building itself is a prime example of the West Indies–style French colonial architecture that used to fill much of the French Quarter. The house was built in 1829 by Simon Meilleur, a prosperous brick maker; the main house was constructed with Meilleur's bricks, and the brick patio behind it bears imprints identifying the original manufacturer. While the larger museum is currently undergoing a massive renovation, there are several exhibits set up across the street, at 1417 Governor Nicholls Street. The museum holds events and programming in the villa's gardens as well.
1417-1418 Governor Nicholls St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA504-566–1136Sight Details
Rate Includes: $20, Closed Mon.–Wed., Wed.–Sat. 11–4 and by appointment -
15. New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
Faubourg MarignyMany of New Orleans's most talented musicians, artists, actors, and writers have passed through this high school arts program on their way to fame, including Harry Connick Jr., Trombone Shorty, the Marsalis brothers, Donald Harrison, Terence Blanchard, Anthony Mackie, and Wendell Pierce. More than just a beautiful campus built along the Marigny's industrial riverfront area, NOCCA hosts a year-round schedule of celebrated performances, exhibitions, and other public events.
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16. New Orleans Healing Center
Faubourg MarignyThis is a great place to get in touch with the spiritual side of New Orleans. It's the product of an innovative collaboration of more than a dozen of New Orleans's most progressive (and intriguing) organizations. Visitors can check out everything from the Wild Lotus Yoga Studio to the New Orleans Food Co-Op, from the Café Istanbul Performance Hall to the Island of Salvation Botanica, the famous voodoo shop run by the internationally renowned priestess Sallie Ann Glassman.
2372 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA504-940–1130 -
17. Plessy vs. Ferguson Site
Faubourg MarignyThe inciting incident leading to the landmark 1896 “separate but equal” Supreme Court case took place at the train tracks between the Bywater and the Marigny, when a man named Homer Plessy boarded an all-whites train as an act of planned civil disobedience. A historical marker at the spot commemorates Plessy’s bravery in paving the way for later civil rights action. Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, modern day descendants of Homer Plessy and Judge Ferguson (who voted against Plessy in the case), unveiled the plaque in 2009 and today run the Plessy & Ferguson Foundation, dedicated to civil rights education and history.
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18. St. Augustine Catholic Church
TreméUrsuline nuns donated the land for this church in 1841 and upon its completion in 1842, St. Augustine's became an integrated place of worship; slaves were relegated to the side pews, but free blacks claimed just as much right to enter pews as whites did. The architect, J.N.B. de Pouilly, attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was known for his idiosyncratic style, which borrowed freely from a variety of traditions and resisted classification. Some of the ornamentation in his original drawings was eliminated when money ran out, but effusive pink-and-gold paint inside brightens the austere structure. The church grounds now also house the Tomb of the Unknown Slave, a monument dedicated in 2004 to the slaves buried in unmarked graves in the church grounds and surrounding areas. Following Hurricane Katrina, the Archdiocese of New Orleans planned to close seven churches in the city, including St. Augustine. Public outcry, the church's historical significance, and parishioners' dedication saved the parish, and its 10 am Sunday gospel-jazz services continue although fundraising efforts are still needed to mend the serious wear on the building. Tours are available by appointment.
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19. St. Claude Arts District
BywaterThe Bywater neighborhood is home to dozens of alternative art spaces, many of which have banded together under the loose umbrella of the St. Claude Arts District (SCAD). From old candle factories to people's living rooms, this burgeoning scene—centered around St. Claude Avenue and nearby streets—produces some of the most intriguing and innovative work in the city, with several major artists and arts organizations. In addition to galleries, several independent theater spaces have sprung up as well, offering venues for live performances, magic and burlesque shows, fringe theater, and more. The second Saturday of each month is opening night, when galleries and venues host new shows and parties.
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117, USA -
20. St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
TreméEstablished in 1823, St. Louis No. 2 includes the tombs of a number of notable local musicians, including Danny Barker and Ernie K-Doe. Also entombed here are Dominique You, a notorious pirate, and Andre Cailloux, African American hero of the American Civil War. Located on Claiborne Avenue, four blocks beyond St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, it is in a more dangerous area of town so it's best to visit the cemetery with a tour group like Save Our Cemeteries.
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70119, USA
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