My boyfriend and I are thinking of taking a 4-5 day trip to New Orleans in June. Any suggestions for what to do? Are there any outdoor activities (beaches, parks, etc.) within a 2-3 hour drive? Will it be too beastly hot?

New Orleans is not the best summertime destination because of the heat! Where are you coming from? There are better sites that time of year, such as Hilton Head in South Carolina.

Uh, yeah, I'd say beastly about covers it, although June is 'usually' better than July you can pretty much bet it wont be any less than 80 degree's anytime in June. Now some advantages to coming here in June is that all hotels will have substantially lower rates then and it wont be as crowded as say... October. Beaches within a 2-3 hour drive would be the Mississippi gulf goast, to include Pass Christian, Waveland, Biloxi/Gulfport.

June is hot. Not REALLY hot. We save that for August!

We're coming from New York. We were trying to find a place that was entertaining and relaxing and not too far away. I figured since he's from Texas (hot) and I'm from Virginia (humid), maybe we could handle a real Southern summer.

June will be warm, but since you are both from hot and or humid climates, it shouldn't be too much of a shock to your systems. If I were you, I would plan sightseeing activities in the morning, nap or just lay low someplace in the afternoons, and then go back out at night. If you've got a hotel with a pool, so much the better!

As for things to do while you are there, with only 4-5 days, I don't know that you will have enough time to really explore outside the city too much. I'd focus my time in NO if I were you, esspecially if this is your first trip. You could take a day or a 1/2 day to see some plantations just up the river. We took a tour with Spinato Tours and it was a lot of fun.

French Quarter - there are plenty of museums, shops, restaurants, and clubs to keep a person busy in the Quarter for days. We took a walking tour of the cemetery next to the quarter with the Historic New Orleans Walking Tour Co. I highly recommend it. If you buy souveniers, buy them at the French Market right by the river - same stuff as on Bourbon, much cheaper. You could also take a riverboat cruise.

Garden District - ride the St Carles Streetcar from Canal through the GD - incredible homes and massive trees. There are several companies that give walking tours of this neighborhood too, or you can just walk around.

Audubon Park and the zoo are good places to go.

A word of fair warning - There is no place anywhere in Viriginia which at any time of the year even begins to approach the REAL humidity of South Louisiana in the summer. Even so, don't let it discourage you from visiting New Orleans which is a fabulous vacation destination.

I went 2 years ago in July and though it was hot, does it really matter? I mean, if you get too hot there is always and air conditioned shop or bar you can step into to cool down. Anyway, it didn't bother me a bit. Plus we got a great rate at my favorite hotel, The Royal Sonesta (right on Bourbon w/a rooftop pool which is also nice for cooling off!).

Lots of great restaurants (my pics are Commander's Palace, Brennans for breakfast, beignets at Cafe du Monde, Nola, Arnauds (jazz room), and Acme Oyster. Oak Alley is a nice plantation tour and swamp boats are fun (though you want a small with a few people - the big boats full of people are a waste). A ride on Natchez riverboat is fun too.

It is just gorgeous here now, if you don't mind a brief thunderstorm in the afternoons. Cools things down nicely though. Lots of outdoor and indoor stuff to do -- eat, take tours, see the museums, take a day cruise, see the aquarium, ride the streetcar or the ferry, lots of stuff to do! *{JAMIE}*