139 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

The rare books and photography here include works from local artists like Josephine Sacabo and Richard Sexton; luminaries such as E. J. Bellocq, Ansel Adams, and Henri Cartier-Bresson; and contemporary giants, including Annie Leibovitz, Walker Evans, Helmut Newton, and Herman Leonard.

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.

This giant aquatic showplace perched on the Mississippi riverfront has four major exhibit areas: the Amazon Rain Forest, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Maya Reef gallery, all of which have fish and animals native to their respective environments. The aquarium's spectacular design allows you to feel like you're part of these watery worlds by providing close-up encounters with the inhabitants. One special treat is Parakeet Pointe, where you can spend time amid hundreds of parakeets and feed them by hand. A gift shop and café are on the premises. Woldenberg Riverfront Park, which surrounds the aquarium, is a tranquil spot with a view of the Mississippi. Your aquarium tickets include a movie at the Entergy Giant Screen Theater, but the best deal is the Audubon Experience, which includes the aquarium, theater, AudubonInsectarium, and Audubon Zoo. Advance ticketing is recommended but not required.

Formerly the plantation of Etienne de Boré, the father of the granulated-sugar industry in Louisiana, this large, lush patch of greenery stretches from St. Charles Avenue across Magazine Street to the river. Designed by John Charles Olmsted, nephew of Frederick Law Olmsted (who laid out New York City's Central Park and Asheville's Biltmore Estate), it contains the world-class Audubon Zoo; a 1.8-mile track for running, walking, or biking; picnic and play areas; Audubon Park Golf Course; tennis courts; a swimming pool; horse stables; and a river view. Calm lagoons wind through the park, harboring egrets and other indigenous species. The park and zoo were named for the famous ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, who spent many years working in and around New Orleans.

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).

Founded in 1854, this 1,300-acre expanse of moss-draped oaks and 11 miles of gentle lagoons is just 2 miles from the French Quarter, but feels like it could be a world apart. With the largest collection of live oaks in the world, including old grove trees that are more than 600 years old, City Park offers a certain natural majesty that's difficult to find in most other urban areas. The art deco benches, fountains, bridges, and ironwork are remnants of a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) refurbishment and add to the dreamy scenery that visitors enjoy boating and biking through. Within the park are the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, the New Orleans Botanical Garden, the kid-friendly Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, a golf course, equestrian stable, sports facilities, and picnic areas. Check the park's website for seasonal activities and special events, such as music festivals, the annual Easter egg hunt, and the eye-popping wonderland that is Celebration in the Oaks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The Café du Monde coffee stand, behind the Sculpture Garden, serves hot beignets and café au lait 24/7. Most of the park's offerings are free, but several of the venues inside City Park charge separate admission fees.

Open seasonally, the 17-ride Carousel Gardens Amusement Park(504/483–9402; $5 admission, rides $4 each) has a New Orleans treasure as its centerpiece: a 1906 carousel (one of only 100 antique wooden carousels left in the country) listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the cherished "flying horses," the park has rides like the Musik Express, Rockin' Tug, Coney Tower, Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars, Monkey Jump, Red Baron miniplane, Scrambler, and Tilt-a-Whirl. The rides here are mostly geared to children, not hard-core thrill seekers, but adults and kids alike enjoy the miniature train that takes passengers on a gentle sightseeing tour through City Park. There are also two 18-hole miniature golf courses, one with a New Orleans theme and one with a Louisiana theme.

The New Orleans Botanical Garden(504/483–9386; $8), opened in 1936 as a Depression-era project of the WPA, is one of the few remaining examples of public garden design from the art-deco period. The garden's collections contain more than 2,000 varieties of plants from all over the world, complemented by sites such as the Conservatory, the Pavilion of the Two Sisters, and the Yakumo Nihon Teien Japanese Garden, as well as theme gardens containing aquatics, roses, native plants, ornamental trees, and shrubs and perennials. The garden showcases three notable talents: New Orleans architect Richard Koch, landscape architect William Wiedorn, and artist Enrique Alférez. Adding a touch of fun, the Historic Train Garden, open on weekends, offers visitors the chance to enjoy baguette-size cars rolling through a miniature version of New Orleans.

Featuring figures and settings from classic children's literature, the whimsical Storyland(504/483–9402; $5), adjacent to the amusement park, has been a favorite romping ground for generations of New Orleans kids. Youngsters can climb aboard Captain Hook's pirate ship, visit the old lady who lived in a shoe, and journey with Pinocchio into the mouth of a whale. There are more than 25 larger-than-life storybook exhibits in all.

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.

The sounds, colors, and smells here are alluring: ships' horns on the river, street performers, pralines, muffulettas, sugarcane, and Creole tomatoes. Originally a Native American trading post and later a bustling open-air market under the French and Spanish, the French Market historically began at the present-day Café du Monde and stretched along Decatur and North Peters streets all the way to the downtown edge of the Quarter. Today, the market's graceful arcades have been mostly enclosed and filled with shops, trinket stands, and eateries, and the farmers' market has been pushed several blocks downriver, under sheds built in the 1930s as part of a Works Progress Administration project. Latrobe Park, a small recreational area at the uptown end of the French Market, honors Benjamin Latrobe, designer of the city's first waterworks. An evocative modern fountain marks the spot where Latrobe's steam-powered pumps once stood. Sunken seating, fountains, and greenery make this a lovely place to relax with a drink from one of the nearby kiosks.

Surrounded by historic buildings and atmospheric street life, this beautifully landscaped park is the heart of the French Quarter. St. Louis Cathedral sits at the top of the square, while the Cabildo and Presbytère, two Spanish colonial buildings, flank the church. The handsome brick apartments on each side of the square are the Pontalba Buildings. The park is landscaped in a sun pattern, with walkways radiating from the center—a popular garden design in the royal court of King Louis XIV, the Sun King. During the day, dozens of artists hang their paintings on the park fence and set up outdoor studios where they work on canvases or offer to draw portraits of passersby. These artists are easy to engage in conversation and are knowledgeable about many aspects of the Quarter and New Orleans. Musicians, mimes, tarot-card readers, and magicians perform on the flagstone pedestrian mall, many of them day and night.

Originally called the Place d'Armes, the square was founded in 1718 as a military parade ground. It was also the site of public executions carried out in various manners, including burning at the stake, beheading, breaking on the wheel, and hanging. A statue of Andrew Jackson, victorious leader in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, commands the center of the square; the park was renamed for him in the 1850s. The words carved in the base on the cathedral side of the statue ("The Union must and shall be preserved") are a lasting reminder of the Federal troops who occupied New Orleans during the Civil War and who inscribed them.

New Orleans found itself amid a large influx of Italian, German, Irish, and American immigrants from the North when this magnolia-shaded cemetery opened in 1833. Many who fought or played a role in the Civil War have plots here, indicated by plaques and headstones that detail the site of their death. Several tombs also reflect the toll taken by the yellow fever epidemic, which affected mostly children and newcomers to New Orleans; 2,000 yellow fever victims were buried here in 1852. Movies such as Interview with the Vampire and Double Jeopardy have used this walled cemetery for its eerie beauty. Save Our Cemeteries, a nonprofit, offers hour-long, volunteer-led tours daily at 7:00 am. All proceeds benefit the organization's cemetery restoration and advocacy efforts.

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.

Minting began in 1838 in this ambitious Ionic structure, a project of President Andrew Jackson's. The New Orleans mint was to provide currency for the South and the West, which it did until Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861. Both the short-lived Republic of Louisiana and the Confederacy minted coins here. When Confederate supplies ran out, the building served as a barracks—and then a prison—for Confederate soldiers. The production of U.S. coins recommenced only in 1879; it stopped again, for good, in 1909. After years of neglect, the federal government handed the Old Mint over to Louisiana in 1966. The state now uses the building for exhibitions of the Louisiana State Museum collection, and the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park has events here too. At the main Barracks Street entrance, which is set back from the surrounding gates and not well marked, notice the one remaining section of the mint's old walls—it'll give you an idea of the extent of the building's deterioration before it was restored. Hurricane Katrina ripped away a large section of the copper roof, and for months the twisted metal remained on the ground here, one of the most dramatic reminders of the storm in the French Quarter. After repairs, the museum reopened to the public in 2007.

The first-floor exhibit recounts the history of the mint. The principal draw, however, is the second floor, dedicated to items from the New Orleans Jazz Collection. At the end of the exhibit, displayed in its own room like the Crown Jewels, you'll find Louis Armstrong's first cornet. The third floor of the building is now a performance space for the Jazz National Historical Park, which has a packed calendar of free performances throughout the week. Check in with the helpful Park Ranger office for details.

The Louisiana Historical Center, which holds the French and Spanish Louisiana archives, is open to researchers by appointment. At the foot of Esplanade Avenue, notice the memorial to the French rebels against early Spanish rule. The rebel leaders were executed on this spot and gave nearby Frenchmen Street its name.

Gracing the main entrance to City Park since 1911, this traditional fine-arts museum draws from classic Greek architecture, with several modern wings that bring additional light and space to the grand old building. NOMA now has 46 galleries housing an outstanding permanent collection. Made up of nearly 40,000 objects, the installations and exhibits represent historical periods from the Italian Renaissance to the best of the contemporary world. A wealth of American and European art—French, in particular—makes up much of the collection, with works by Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Cornell, and Pollock. Louisiana artists are also well represented, and the museum boasts photography, ceramics, and glassworks from cultures around the globe, plus outstanding holdings in African, pre-Columbian, and Asian art. In addition, the museum offers a year-round schedule of traveling and special exhibitions, events, tours, and public programs.

Henry Moore's handsome Reclining Mother and Child greets visitors at the entrance of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Most of the garden's 60-some sculptures, representing some of the biggest names in modern art, were donated by avid local collector Sydney Besthoff. Meandering trails and bridges carry visitors over bayou lagoons and past a fascinating combination of famed traditional sculpture and contemporary works, including major pieces by Jacques Lipchitz, Barbara Hepworth, and Joel Shapiro. The garden is open daily from 10am to 5pm; admission is free.

To tour this musty shop is to step back into 19th-century medicine—the window display alone, with its enormous leech jar and other antiquated paraphernalia, is fascinating. This building was the apothecary shop and residence of Louis J. Dufilho Jr., America's first licensed pharmacist, in the 1820s. His botanical and herbal gardens are still cultivated in the pretty back courtyard (complete with a postcard-worthy fountain). Watch for free 19th-century seasonal health tips posted in the front window.

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.

The oldest active Catholic cathedral in the United States, this beautiful church and basilica at the heart of the Old City is named for the 13th-century French king who led two crusades. The current building, which replaced two structures destroyed by fire, dates from 1794 (although it was remodeled and enlarged in 1851). The austere interior is brightened by murals covering the ceiling and stained-glass windows along the first floor. Pope John Paul II held a prayer service for clergy here during his New Orleans visit in 1987; to honor the occasion, the pedestrian mall in front of the cathedral was renamed Place Jean Paul Deux. Of special interest is his portrait in a Jackson Square setting, which hangs on the cathedral's inner side wall. Docents often give free tours. You can also pick up a brochure ($1) for a self-guided tour. Books about the cathedral are available in the gift shop. A mass occurs daily at 11:30 am.  Nearly every evening in December there's a free concert at the cathedral, in addition to a free concert series throughout the year.

The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus dominates St. Anthony's Garden, which extends behind the cathedral to Royal Street. The garden is also the site of a monument to 30 crew members of a French ship, who died in a yellow fever epidemic in 1857. The garden has been redesigned by famed French landscape architect Louis Benech, who also redesigned the Tuileries gardens in Paris.

The oldest and most famous of New Orleans's cities of the dead, founded in the late 1700s, is just one block from the French Quarter. Stately rows of crypts are home to many of the city's most legendary figures, including Homer Plessy of the Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the "Jim Crow" laws ("separate but equal"), and voodoo queen Marie Laveau, whose grave is still a popular pilgrimage among the spiritual, the superstitious, and the curious. Visitors are required to be part of a tour group in order to enter the cemetery (all tours leave from  501 Basin St.); tours are frequent---every 15 minutes---but since group sizes are limited, advance reservations are recommended.

One of the twin Spanish colonial buildings flanking the St. Louis Cathedral, this one, on the right, was built on the site of the priests' residence, or presbytère. It served as a courthouse under the Spanish and later under the Americans. It is now a museum showcasing a spectacular collection of Mardi Gras memorabilia. Displays highlight both the little-known and popular traditions associated with New Orleans's most famous festival. "Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond" is a $7.5-million exhibition exploring the history, science, and powerful human drama of one of nature's most destructive forces. The building's cupola, destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, was restored to match the one atop its twin, the Cabildo. Allow at least an hour to see the exhibits.

This well-preserved town house and courtyard provide rare public access beyond the storefronts to the interior of the exclusive Pontalba Buildings. The rooms are furnished in the style of the mid-19th century, when the buildings were designed as upscale residences and retail spaces. Notice the ornate ironwork on the balconies of the apartments; the original owner, Baroness Micaela Pontalba, popularized cast (or molded) iron with these buildings, and it eventually replaced much of the old handwrought ironwork in the French Quarter. The initials for her families, A and P (Almonester and Pontalba), are worked into the design. A gift shop and bookstore run by the Friends of the Cabildo is downstairs. The Friends also offer informative two-hour walking tours of the French Quarter ($22) from this location Tuesday through Sunday at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm that include admission to the house.

This Colonial Revival building, housing a Catholic girls' school, was built in 1900 and features wide, wraparound balconies (or galleries) and colonnades facing a large garden. The academy is exceptionally beautiful during the December holiday season, when the galleries are decked with wreaths and garlands.

Situated at Esplanade Avenue and Mystery Street, this tiny sliver of a park was named for the philanthropist and professor Alcée Fortier, who owned much of the surrounding area in the late 19th century and who founded a public school. A neighborhood favorite, the park is almost completely maintained by the efforts of local volunteers who tend the lush landscaping, which includes palms, caladiums, and azaleas, keep up the collection of whimsical sculptures and art, and make sure the concrete chess tables are ready for game time (complete with baskets of chess pieces). A focal point of the Bayou St. John neighborhood, Alcée Fortier Park is surrounded by a concentration of hip restaurants and neighborhood grocers.

Gallery owner Angela King renovated an 1850s jewelry store into a modern gallery that exhibits oil paintings, prints, and metal and cast-glass sculptures from about 25 contemporary artists.

The emergence of Colonial Revival architecture in the late 19th century was expressive of local weariness with the excesses of the Greek Revival craze that had dominated the mid-century. Anthemion is an excellent example of this return to simplicity. Built in 1896 for the druggist Christian Keppler, it served as the headquarters of the Japanese consulate from 1938 to 1941.

Spend a morning perusing the craftsmanship of 100 or more artists from all over the region in this open-air market held the last Saturday of each month in beautiful Palmer Park. Vendors include jewelry artists, painters, textile designers, soap makers, and potters. Musicians, a kids' tent, and food stands round out the event.

Shrink down to ant size and experience "Life Underground," explore the world's insect myth and lore, venture into a Louisiana swamp, and marvel at the hundreds of delicate denizens of the Japanese butterfly garden. Then tour the termite galleries and other sections devoted to the havoc insects wreak, so you can sample Cajun-fried crickets and other insect cuisine without a twinge of guilt.

Consistently ranked as one of the top zoos in the nation, the Audubon Zoo presents a wide array of animals in exhibits that mimic their natural habitats, including giraffes, lions, and elephants. The Louisiana Swamp exhibit re-creates the natural habitat of alligators, including a rare white alligator (technically a leucistic gator), nutrias (large swamp rodents), and catfish; feeding time is always well attended. Among other highlights are the Reptile Encounter, the Komodo dragon exhibit, and gorilla and flamingo exhibits. Several attractions are available for additional fees, including a train tour that departs every 30 minutes from the swamp exhibit. Cool Zoo, a splash park featuring a 28-foot white-alligator slide, bubbling fountains, and splash zones, has one area set aside for toddlers and young children. Gator Run is a lazy river with sand beaches, water cannons, and jumping jets. (Cool Zoo is open weekends in May, then opens daily until mid-August, when it returns to weekends only until Labor Day; separate admission to both the Cool Zoo and Gator Run attractions is $12 for nonmembers.)

A bayou is a natural inlet, usually a slow-moving, narrow waterway that emerges from the swamp at one end and joins a larger body of water at the other, and this bayou—the only one remaining in New Orleans—borders City Park on the east and extends about 7 miles from Lake Pontchartrain to just past Orleans Avenue. It is named for John the Baptist. June 23 (St. John's Eve, and therefore the day before his feast day) was the most important day in the year for voodoo practitioners, and it was notoriously celebrated on the bayou's banks in the 1800s. The first European settlers in the area, most likely trappers, coexisted with Native Americans here beginning in 1704. Today, the bayou is still a popular destination among New Orleanians, whether for tradition's sake—as is the case for the famed Mardi Gras Indians, who gather here for their annual celebrations—for a festival such as the Bayou Boogaloo in May, or simply for a relaxing afternoon of fishing, canoeing, or picnicking along the grassy banks. Scenic biking and walking trails run alongside the waterway all the way to the lake, where you can watch the graceful old homes of picturesque Moss Street morph into the dazzling waterfront mansions of Bancroft Drive.