We are considering flying to New Orleans for 5 days [over Memorial Day weekend]. Since we have US Air vouchers that will expire, need to make a decision. Have never been to New Orleans. Is this a good time to visit and how is the weather?
Thanks to all who reply.

May is a wonderful time to visit New Orleans. Actually, there are few BAD times to visit America's most interesting city. It will be getting warm (80-90 degrees), so bring shorts!

Before you book your flights, check the rates at a couple of hotels. New Orleans had numerous weeks/weekends throughout the year when the city is full (due to events or conventions) where you'll have to pay exhorbitant rack rates (I discovered this - too late - to be the case over Thanksgiving weekend).

May should be a good time to go, just make sure it's not a "full" weekend.

John and Brian,

Thank you for your replies. Am checking hotels, inns, etc. for a good room rate. Should we travel to New Orleans, would it be necessary to rent a car? Hopefully, I can 'wrap this up' today, as the air add on [after voucher] is very reasonable.

Don't know if hotels are full or not for Memorial Day (I would not think so this far out!) but I'll suggest historiclodging.com as a good place to start if you want a B&B. There are also many B&Bs listed under Yahoo!'s local directories. Good luck and enjoy the city!!

Unless you have some desire to self-tour areas outside of New Orleans (plantations, bayou) there's no need for a car. Taxis are plentiful and cheap (but not usually airconditioned) and the trolley can take you where you'll want to go in the city (Garden District, zoo, etc.). And getting the best feel for the city is by walking anyway.

One more bit of advice. I attended a wedding the weekend after Memorial Day last year, and it was HOT. That's not such a big problem as everything in the city, with the exception of cabs it seems, is air-conditioned. However, the wedding party (us) was booked a block of rooms at the Hilton Riverwalk, which is a nice (if characterless) hotel about a 5 minute walk to the French Quarter. In the evening, when wearing nice clothes to dinner, those 5 minutes were enough to soak us in sweat. The moral - stay in the Quarter.