141 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

As a 16-year-old immigrant working in the New Orleans shipyards, Henry Lonsdale noticed how many damaged goods were arriving from upriver. Spotting a need for more-protective shipping materials, he developed the burlap sack and made a fortune, only to lose it all in the 1837 depression. Lonsdale turned to coffee importing, and in order to stretch his supply, he thought to cut the coffee grounds with chicory, a bitter root—and New Orleanians have been drinking the blend ever since. This house includes intricate cast-iron work and a carved marble entrance hall. The statue of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the front yard is a remnant of the house's more than 70 years as an active Catholic chapel.

With its huge, lighted gateway and its paths meandering through 32 acres of grassy knolls, lagoons, and historic landmarks, Louis Armstrong Park is a fitting tribute to the famed jazz musician's legacy. Elizabeth Catlett's famous statue of Louis Armstrong is joined by other artistic landmarks, such as the bust of Sidney Bechet, and the park now houses the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

Inside the park and to the left is Congo Square, marked by an inlaid-stone space, where enslaved people in the 18th and early 19th centuries gathered on Sunday, the only time they were permitted to play their music openly. The weekly meetings held here have been immortalized in the travelogues of visitors, leaving invaluable insight into the earliest stages of free musical practices by Africans and African Americans. Neighborhood musicians still congregate here at times for percussion jams, and it is difficult not to think of the musical spirit of ancestors hovering over them. Marie Laveau, the greatly feared and respected voodoo queen of antebellum New Orleans, had her home a block away on St. Ann Street and is reported to have held rituals here regularly.

Behind Congo Square is a large gray building, the Morris F.X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium; to the right, behind the auditorium, is the beautifully renovated Mahalia Jackson Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to the New Orleans Opera and hosts an excellent year-round calendar of events—everything from readings to rock concerts. The St. Philip Street side of the park houses the Jazz National Historical Park, anchored by Perseverance Hall, the oldest Masonic temple in the state. However, be aware that the park is often nearly deserted, and bordered by some rough stretches of neighborhood; it's patrolled by a security detail, but be very careful when wandering and don't visit after dark. The park is open from 7 am to 7 pm year-round.

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, including tunnels, slides, and educational exhibits on Louisiana flora and fauna.

The imposing building that takes up the whole block of Royal Street between St. Louis and Conti streets is the Old New Orleans Court, erected in 1908. Later, it became the office of the Wildlife and Fisheries agency. After years of vacancy and neglect, the magnificent edifice was restored and reopened in 2004 and is now the elegant home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The public can visit the courthouse but must pass through security and cannot take photos inside.

Chartered by the Jesuits in 1912, Loyola University is a local landmark. Its communications, music, and law programs are world-renowned. The Gothic- and Tudor-style Marquette Hall, facing St. Charles Avenue and Audubon Park, provides the backdrop for a quintessential New Orleans photo opportunity. The fourth floor of the neo-Gothic J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library houses the university’s Collins C. Diboll Art Gallery, open to the public seven days a week (Monday–Saturday 10 am–6 pm, Sunday noon–6 pm).

Also called the "Jockey's Mansion," this massive, three-story Italianate mansion is a neighborhood landmark (and now a popular setting for Hollywood film crews). Designed by the prominent New Orleans architect James Gallier Jr., it was built in 1865 for Florence A. Luling, whose family had made a fortune selling turpentine to Union soldiers when they occupied New Orleans during the Civil War. When the Louisiana Jockey Club took over the Creole Race Course (now the Fair Grounds) in 1871, they purchased the mansion and used it as a clubhouse for the next 20-odd years. It is not open to the public.

Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is the final day of Carnival, a Christian holiday season that begins on the Twelfth Night of Christmas (January 6) and comes crashing to a halt on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Though Mardi Gras is merely one day within the season, the term is used interchangeably with Carnival, especially as the season builds toward the big day. As sometimes befalls the Christmas holiday, the religious associations of Carnival serve mainly as a pretext for weeks of indulgence. Likewise, Carnival claims elaborate traditions of food, drink, and music, as well as a blend of public celebrations (parades) and more exclusive festivities, which take the form of lavish private balls.

On Mardi Gras, many New Orleanians don costumes, face paint, and masks, and then take to the streets for the last hurrah before Lent. It's an official city holiday, with just about everyone but the police and bartenders taking the day off. People roam the streets, drink Bloody Marys for breakfast and switch to beer in the afternoon, and admire one another's finery. Ragtag bands ramble about with horns and drums, Mardi Gras anthems pour from stereos, and king cakes (ring-shape cakes topped with purple, green, and gold sugar) are everywhere. Weeks of parades are capped by Zulu, Rex, and the "trucks" parades that roll from Uptown to downtown with large floats carrying riders who throw plastic beads and trinkets (called "throws") to onlookers.

Don't be smug: if you visit, you'll be caught up in the revelry of America's largest street party. After a few moments of astonished gaping, you'll yell for throws, too, draping layers of beads around your neck, sipping from a plastic go cup as you prance along the street, dancing with the marching bands, and having a grand old time.

One of New Orleans's most beloved artists, James Michalopoulos exhibits his expressionistic visions of New Orleans architecture in this small gallery. Michalopoulos's palette-knife technique of applying thick waves of paint invariably evokes van Gogh—but his vision of New Orleans, where no line is truly straight and every building appears to have a soul, is uniquely his own. His work has become a prized adornment of many a New Orleanian's walls. Michalopoulos was commissioned to create the official poster of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2013, bringing a new perspective to some of New Orleans's greatest musicians like Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, Fats Domino, and Aaron Neville.

The widow Amélie Miltenberger built this row of three picturesque brick town houses in the 1830s for her three sons. Her daughter Alice Heine became famous for wedding Prince Albert of Monaco. Although the marriage ended childless and in divorce, Princess Alice was a sensation in New Orleans.

This former private house serves as the most elegant public library in New Orleans. Built in 1907, the Italianate Beaux-Arts mansion was once the home of the silent-movie star Marguerite Clark. The Latter family bought it and donated it to the city as a library in 1948 in memory of their son, who was killed in World War II. An extensive renovation restored the home to its former grandeur.

When facing the river with the French Quarter at your back, you will see, to your right, the Crescent City Connection, a twin-span bridge between downtown New Orleans and the West Bank, and a ferry that crosses the river every 30 minutes. The river flows to the left downstream for another 100 miles until it merges with the Gulf of Mexico. Woldenberg Riverfront Park and Spanish Plaza are prime territory for watching everyday life along the Mississippi: steamboats carrying tour groups, tugboats pushing enormous barges, and oceangoing ships. Directly across the river from the Quarter are the ferry landing and a dry dock for ship repair.

Taking a deep dive into patterns of immigration, commerce, slave ownership, and the bonds of friendship between Jewish settlers and the non-Jewish southerners, this compact museum displays creative tableaus and some 4,000 artifacts that inform the visitor about how Jews influenced and were influenced by the south. Learn about how Jewish and southern cuisines merged, how Jews became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and more. There’s also a beautiful collection of stained glass windows inspired by synagogues throughout the south.

A whimsical creation of repurposed urban wasteland, this artist-built sculpture garden features an interactive landscape of music-making structures and houses. The space hosts seasonal musical acts, performances, and workshops. Most weekend days when there isn't an event, the space is open for the public to explore and play (check the website calendar for "Open Hours" before visiting).

This Italianate house was built by impressionist Edgar Degas's maternal uncle, Michel Musson—a rare Creole inhabitant of the predominantly American Garden District. Musson had moved to his Esplanade Street residence before Degas visited New Orleans, so it's unlikely the artist ever stayed at this address. A subsequent owner added the famous "lace" iron galleries.

Set in a historic villa surrounded by a lovely small park and gardens, this terrific museum offers a year-round calendar of events and exhibits that highlight African and African-diaspora art and artists. The building itself is a prime example of the West Indies–style French colonial architecture that used to fill much of the French Quarter. The house was built in 1829 by Simon Meilleur, a prosperous brick maker; the main house was constructed with Meilleur's bricks, and the brick patio behind it bears imprints identifying the original manufacturer. While the larger museum is currently undergoing a massive renovation, there are several exhibits set up across the street, at  1417 Governor Nicholls Street. The museum holds events and programming in the villa's gardens as well.

See free demonstrations of printmaking, glassmaking and design, and metal 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 is a great place to get in touch with the spiritual side of New Orleans. It's the product of an innovative collaboration of more than a dozen of New Orleans's most progressive (and intriguing) organizations. Visitors can check out everything from the Wild Lotus Yoga Studio to the New Orleans Food Co-Op, from the Café Istanbul Performance Hall to the Island of Salvation Botanica, the famous voodoo shop run by the renowned priestess Sallie Ann Glassman.

This homegrown museum may turn skeptics into believers. Voodoo isn't just something marketed to visitors; it lingers on in the lives of many New Orleanians, who still light candles for good luck or rely on a potion to find love. The large collection of artifacts on display here include portraits by and of voodoo legends, African artifacts believed to have influenced the development of the religion, and lots of gris-gris (African and Caribbean amulets). The gift shop sells customized gris-gris, potions, and handcrafted voodoo dolls. A psychic reader is on duty to divine your future.

One need not be a jazz fanatic to love the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. "Jazz Fest," as it's more commonly known, is a sprawling, rollicking celebration of Louisiana music, food, and culture held the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. It takes place at the city's historic Fair Grounds Race Course, which reverberates with the sounds of rock, Cajun, zydeco, gospel, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, folk, world music, country, Latin, and, yes, traditional and modern jazz. Throw in world-class arts and crafts, exhibitions and lectures, and an astounding range of Louisiana-made food—which, for many, is the star of the show—and you've got a festival worthy of America's premier party town. Over the years, Jazz Fest lineups have come to include internationally known performers, but at its heart the festival is about the hundreds of Louisiana musicians who live, work, and cut their chops in the Crescent City. The festival is an important showcase for local musicians, introducing them to fans around the world.

This women-owned gallery features established, mid-career, and emerging local and international artists who work in a variety of media. The gallery also shows works by 20th-century artist Enrique Alferez, whose sculptures are on display throughout New Orleans.

The Ursulines were the first of many orders of religious women who came to New Orleans and founded schools, orphanages, and asylums, and ministered to the needs of the poor. The original tract of land for a convent, school, and gardens covered several French Quarter blocks. The current structure, which replaced the original convent, was completed in 1752 and is now the oldest French-colonial building in the Mississippi Valley, having survived the disastrous 18th-century fires that destroyed the rest of the Quarter. St. Mary's Church, adjoining the convent, was added in 1845. Now an archive for the archdiocese, the convent was used by the Ursulines for 90 years. The Ursuline Academy, a girls' school founded in 1727, is now Uptown on State Street, where a newer convent and chapel were built. The academy is the oldest girls' school in the country. The Old Ursuline Convent is open to the public Thursday through Monday, with guided tours at 10 am, 11 am, and 1 pm.

In the early 1800s, the wooden-rail balcony extending over Orleans Street was linked to a ballroom where free women of color met their French suitors—as Madame John of "Madame John's Legacy" is said to have done. The quadroons (technically, people whose racial makeup was one-quarter African) who met here were young, unmarried women of legendary beauty. A gentleman would select a favorite and, with her mother's approval, buy her a house and support her as his mistress. The sons of these unions, which were generally maintained in addition to legal marriages with French women, were often sent to France to be educated. This practice, known as plaçage, was unique to New Orleans at the time. The ballroom later became part of a convent and school for the Sisters of the Holy Family, a religious order founded in New Orleans in 1842 by the daughter of a quadroon to educate and care for African American women. The ballroom itself is not open to visitors, but a view of the balcony from across the street is enough to set the historical stage.

This sumptuous mansion was built in 1868 as a wedding gift from Colonel William Lewis Wynn to his daughter. The side building, on the Uptown side of the main building, is an auditorium added in the 1950s. The house is closed to the public, but serves as headquarters to a ladies' social club and hosts many debutante teas and wedding receptions.

One of the few surviving houses that lined the bayou in the late 1700s, and the only Creole colonial–style country house in the city open to the public, Pitot House is named for James Pitot, who bought the property in 1810 as a country home for his family. In addition to being one of the city's most prosperous merchants, Pitot served as New Orleans mayor from 1804 to 1805, the city's first after the Louisiana Purchase, and later as parish court judge. The Pitot House was restored and moved 200 feet to its current location in the 1960s, and is noteworthy for its stuccoed brick-and-post construction, an example of which is exposed on the second floor. The house is typical of the West Indies style brought to Louisiana by early colonists, with galleries around the house that protect the interior from both rain and sunshine. The house is furnished with period antiques from the United States, including special pieces from Louisiana.

The inciting incident leading to the landmark 1896 “separate but equal” Supreme Court case took place at the train tracks between the Bywater and the Marigny, when a man named Homer Plessy boarded an all-whites train as an act of planned civil disobedience. A historical marker at the spot commemorates Plessy’s bravery in paving the way for later civil rights action. Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, modern day descendants of Homer Plessy and Judge Ferguson (who voted against Plessy in the case), unveiled the plaque in 2009 and today run the Plessy & Ferguson Foundation, dedicated to civil rights education and history.

Baroness Micaela Pontalba built this twin set of town houses, one on each side of Jackson Square, around 1850; they are known for their ornate cast-iron balcony railings. Baroness Pontalba's father was Don Almonester, who sponsored the rebuilding of the St. Louis Cathedral in 1788. The strong-willed Miss Almonester also helped fund the landscaping of the square and the erection of the Andrew Jackson statue at its center. The Pontalba Buildings are publicly owned; the side to the right of the cathedral, on St. Ann Street, is owned by the state, and the other side, on St. Peter Street, by the city. On the state-owned side is the 1850 House, and at 540--B St. Peter Street on the city-owned side is a plaque marking the apartment of Sherwood Anderson, writer and mentor to William Faulkner.

This collection of shops was once the location of the south's first roller-skating rink. Locals browse the Garden District Book Shop, which stocks regional and antiquarian books, along with an assortment of autographed first editions by regional writers. Another favorite is Judy at the Rink, an upscale gifts and housewares boutique.

Built in 1859 and styled after an Italian villa, this home is one of the largest in the district. Doric and Corinthian columns support its rounded galleries. It is believed to be the first house in New Orleans with "waterworks," as indoor plumbing was called then.