139 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

This stately 19th-century mansion was briefly home to Confederate general and Louisiana native P.G.T. Beauregard, but a longer-term resident was the novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes, who found the place in a sad state when she arrived in the 1940s. Keyes restored the home—today filled with period furnishings—and her studio at the back of the large courtyard remains intact, complete with family photos, original manuscripts, and her doll, fan, and teapot collections. Keyes wrote 40 novels there, all in longhand, among them local favorite Dinner at Antoine's. Even if you don't have time for a tour, take a peek at the beautiful walled garden through the gates at the corner of Chartres and Ursulines streets. Landscaped in the same sun pattern as Jackson Square, it blooms year-round. The house was used most recently as the interior for the Fairplay Saloon in the TV series "Interview with the Vampire." Tours (45 minutes) begin on the hour.

This Greek Revival mansion was built in 1859 for the Greek consul in New Orleans and was a significant part of the city's original expansion into this neighborhood. Directly across from the Degas House, this intersection forms something of a historical hub. The house earned the nickname "Rendezvous des Chasseurs" (meeting place of hunters) during the 19th century, when much of this area was still undeveloped swampland. The gorgeous house and gardens are now primarily a private event space and a popular setting for New Orleans weddings.

Ignore your better judgment and take a stroll down Bourbon Street past the bars, restaurants, music clubs, adult stores, and novelty shops that have given this strip its reputation as the playground of the South. The bars of Bourbon Street were among the first businesses of the city to reopen after Katrina; catering to off-duty relief workers, they provided their own form of relief. Today, the spirit of unbridled revelry here is as alive as ever. The noise, raucous crowds, and bawdy sights are not family fare, however; if you go with children, do so before sundown. St. Ann Street marks the beginning of a short strip of gay bars, some of which figure in the long history of LGBTQ culture in New Orleans. Although Bourbon Street is usually well patrolled, it is wise to stay alert to your surroundings. The street is blocked to create a pedestrian mall at night; crowds often get shoulder-to-shoulder, especially during major sports events, on New Year's Eve, and during Mardi Gras.

Though Anne Rice moved out of her elegant Garden District home in 2004, the famous novelist's fans still flock to see the house that inspired the Mayfair Manor in her series Lives of the Mayfair Witches. The house is a three-bay Greek Revival, extended over a luxurious, lemon tree–lined side yard and surrounded by a fence of cast-iron rosettes that earned the estate its historical name, Rosegate.

The only Gothic Revival house in the district was built in 1849. Garden District Americans shunned the Gothic Revival style, deeming it a little too close to Creole-Catholic tradition, but Londoner Charles Briggs ignored decorum and had James Gallier Sr. design this anomaly, touted as a "Gothic cottage." The interior departs from a strict Gothic layout to make it better suited for entertaining. A miniature replica of the structure stands next door; it once housed Briggs's servants, who were reputedly free men of color.

This mansion, completed in 1904 for cotton magnate William Perry Brown, is one of the largest houses on St. Charles Avenue. Its solid monumental look, Syrian arches, and steep gables make it a choice example of Romanesque Revival style.

This 1856 home was built by cotton king Henry S. Buckner in overt competition with the famous Stanton Hall in Natchez, built by Buckner's former partner. Among the luxurious details are its 48 fluted cypress columns and a rare honeysuckle-design cast-iron fence. Now privately owned, the house served as the campus of Soulé College from 1923 to 1975 and appeared in American Horror Story.

Mother Frances Cabrini, the first American citizen to become a saint (canonized in 1946), purchased the land between Esplanade Avenue and Bayou St. John near City Park in 1905 and built the Sacred Heart Orphan Asylum here. She stayed in the Pitot House, which was on her property until she gave it to the city during construction of the orphanage. In 1959, the institution was converted to a girls' high school in Mother Cabrini's name. Her bedroom here, preserved as it was in her time, is filled with personal effects and maintained as a shrine. Tours of her room and Sacred Heart Chapel are available by appointment.

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.

At 170 feet wide, Canal Street is often called the widest street (as opposed to avenue or boulevard) in the United States, and it's certainly one of the liveliest—particularly during Carnival parades. It was once slated for conversion into a canal linking the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain; plans changed, but the name remains. In the early 1800s, after the Louisiana Purchase, the French Creoles residing in the French Quarter segregated themselves from the Americans who settled upriver. What is now Canal Street—specifically the central median running down Canal Street—was neutral ground between them. Today, animosities between these two groups are history, but the term "neutral ground" has survived as the name for all medians throughout the city.

Some of the grand buildings that once lined Canal Street remain, many of them former department stores that now serve as hotels, restaurants, or souvenir shops. The Werlein Building (No. 605), once a multilevel music store, is now the Palace Café restaurant. The former home of Maison Blanche (No. 921), once the most elegant of downtown department stores, is now a Ritz-Carlton hotel. One building still serving its original purpose is Adler's (No. 722), the city's most elite jewelry and gift store. For the most part, these buildings have been faithfully restored, so you can still appreciate the grandeur that once reigned on this fabled strip.

This two-story Uptown house features contemporary paintings and sculpture by U.S. artists, with a special nod to those from the South, including Jere Allen, David Goodman, Nell C. Tilton, and Jean Geraci.

The renowned local architect Thomas Sully designed this 1896 Colonial Revival house after the Longfellow House in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The interior has often appeared in the pages of design magazines. It was built for John Castles, president of Hibernia National Bank.

Founded in 1995, this craft distillery is the oldest maker of rum (Old New Orleans Rum, to be exact) in the continental United States. Tours ($15) start with a cocktail and end with a tasting of four different rums. Complimentary transportation from the French Quarter is available during the week—make reservations in advance.

The present-day English Gothic church, completed in 1887, has pitched gables, an architectural detail that prefigured the New Orleans Victorian style. Its congregation was actually established in 1805, however, making it the first non–Roman Catholic church in the Louisiana Purchase territory.

Contemporary paintings and sculptures by more than 40 Southern artists are displayed in this modern space. Opening receptions are held the first Saturday of every month.

Established in the mid-19th century, this lush green space is the centerpiece of the lower Garden District. With cycling and walking trails as well as a beautiful fountain, the wedge-shape park is a great spot to stop and relax after a walk through the neighborhood. Although the area bordered by Race and Melpomene streets can be bustling with activity during the day, it's best not to wander around alone at night.

Built in 1859, this house's stylistic influence was due to the two-story galleries of its dining room wing, which had railings made of cast iron. The fence features a pattern of morning glories and cornstalks and is the most famous work of cast iron in the Garden District. Colonel Robert Short, a cotton merchant from Kentucky, purchased the fence for his wife, who was homesick for her native Iowa. The house was occupied by Union governor Michael Hahn and by governor Nathaniel Banks during the Civil War, but after the war ended, it was returned to Colonel Short.

Rub shoulders with New Orleans chefs as they rush to pick up fresh vegetables, fish, and meat before their restaurants open every Tuesday. The market caters to both home cooks and professionals who embrace the concept of showcasing local and seasonal ingredients. A new chef is featured each month to prepare delicious lunches. Visitors can indulge in tasty treats like homemade popsicles, fresh-squeezed juice, and hot-from-the-oven bread, as well as sample the local produce.

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 expansive and still-used cemetery was founded by the Fireman's Charitable and Benevolent Association in 1840. Over time, as the cemetery expanded, other societies and individuals joined the volunteer firemen in building impressive monuments. Leading architects and craftsmen were called upon to design and build tombs commemorating the lives of many of New Orleans's most prominent citizens. Crafted in marble, granite, and cast iron, tombs at Cypress Grove are among the nation's leading examples of memorial architecture. Of particular note is the Chinese Soon On Tong Association's tomb, which features a grate in front so that visitors can burn prayers written on paper in it. Admission is free and visitors are encouraged to explore on their own, although outside companies do offer tours.

Fragments of wrought ironwork and other architectural details form the inspiration for many of Mark Derby's beautiful pottery pieces, from mugs and vases to handmade Victorian reproduction tiles. His clocks and plaques, fashioned from reproductions of New Orleans's historic art deco water-meter covers, have earned cult popularity, and his reproductions of letter tiles found on Crescent City street corners can be spotted all over town.

The Impressionist Edgar Degas, whose Creole mother and grandmother were born in New Orleans, stayed with his cousins in this house during an 1872 visit to New Orleans, producing 18 paintings and four drawings while here. "This is a new style of painting," Degas wrote in one of the five known letters he sent from New Orleans, explaining that the breakthrough he experienced here led to "better art." Today, this house museum and bed-and-breakfast offers public tours, given by Degas's great-grandnieces, which include the screening of an award-winning film on Degas's family and their sojourn in New Orleans, plus a walk through the historic neighborhood focusing on details from the artist's letters. In 2019, the site was designated as a French monument by the French ambassador to the United States. Feel free to drop by for a look if you're in the vicinity, but check the website or call ahead for event dates or to make an appointment for a full tour.

Thirty years ago, engineers in Paris discovered hairline fractures in the Eiffel Tower supports. To lighten the load, they removed the restaurant on the second platform. New Orleans auto dealer McDonald Stephens bought that restaurant, which was disassembled into 11,062 pieces for shipping. Stephens hired New Orleans architect Steven Bingler to build a "jewel box" out of the pieces for his four beloved daughters. Bingler's vision, assembled on St. Charles Avenue in 1986, incorporated scattered pieces from the original restaurant into a structure meant to resemble the Eiffel Tower. The building has gone through many incarnations; today it is a lounge and event space.

Pioneers of modern and contemporary art are represented, with a large selection of prints and paintings by Marc Chagall, Picasso, and others.

The third-oldest racetrack in the country sits just off Esplanade Avenue, among the houses of Bayou St. John. The popular Starlight Racing series, held Friday nights, features live music, DJs, food trucks, a beer garden, and go-go dancers dressed as jockeys. The grounds are also home to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. For the clubhouse, be sure to make reservations and be aware that proper attire is required—in this case that means collared shirts, closed shoes, and no shorts.