19 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.