17 Must-Dos in New Orleans

New Orleans isn’t your typical American city. It’s a place where jazz spills out of doorways, where the aroma of fresh beignets mingles with the scent of magnolias, and where every street corner seems to hold a story that’s been brewing for centuries. This isn’t just a destination you visit—it’s a city that wraps around you like a warm embrace and refuses to let go.

The Big Easy has this magical way of making everyone feel like they belong, whether you’re sipping your first café au lait or you’ve been wandering these cobblestone streets for decades. Here’s a list of 17 experiences that capture the true spirit of this enchanting city.

Explore the French Quarter

The French Quarter is like stepping into a living postcard, where every wrought-iron balcony and gas lamp tells a different tale. This historic heart of the city buzzes with energy 24/7, from street musicians playing for tips to the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages navigating the narrow streets. You’ll find everything from world-class restaurants tucked into centuries-old buildings to quirky shops selling everything from pralines to voodoo dolls. The architecture alone is worth the visit—those iconic Creole townhouses with their ornate ironwork balconies create some of the most photographed streetscapes in America.

Experience Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street gets a bad rap for being touristy, but there’s a reason millions of people flock here every year. It’s like the city’s living room where everyone’s invited to the party, complete with live music pouring from every doorway and the sweet smell of hurricane cocktails in the air. Sure, it can get rowdy, especially during Mardi Gras, but there’s an infectious energy here that’s impossible to resist. The street transforms throughout the day—from relatively quiet morning strolls to the legendary nighttime revelry that New Orleans is famous for.

Visit Jackson Square

Jackson Square serves as the city’s front porch, where locals and visitors naturally gravitate to soak up the atmosphere. The majestic St. Louis Cathedral anchors the square, while talented street artists create portraits and caricatures under the shade of ancient oak trees. Horse-drawn carriages line up here for romantic tours, and the whole area feels like an outdoor gallery with musicians, painters, and performers showcasing their talents. It’s the perfect place to grab a café au lait from Café du Monde and people-watch while soaking in the historic ambiance.

Stroll Through the Garden District

The Garden District feels like you’ve wandered into a Southern Gothic novel, with its sprawling mansions draped in Spanish moss and gardens that bloom year-round. These aren’t just pretty houses—they’re architectural masterpieces built by wealthy merchants in the 1800s, each one trying to outdo the next with elaborate columns, wraparound porches, and intricate details. Walking through this neighborhood is like taking a self-guided tour through American history, where every mansion has survived wars, floods, and hurricanes. The tree-lined streets provide a peaceful contrast to the bustling French Quarter, offering a glimpse into how New Orleans’ elite once lived.

Ride the Steamboat Natchez

Cruising on the Steamboat Natchez feels like traveling back to Mark Twain’s era, when these magnificent vessels ruled the Mississippi River. This authentic sternwheeler offers a completely different perspective of the city, showing you New Orleans from the water as early settlers would have first seen it. The calliope music announces the boat’s departure with those distinctive steam-powered melodies that have been echoing across the river for over a century. During the cruise, you’ll learn about the river’s crucial role in building New Orleans into the major port city it became, while enjoying views of the city skyline that you simply can’t get from land.

Listen to Jazz at Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall is where traditional New Orleans jazz lives and breathes, housed in a building that looks like it might collapse but somehow keeps producing magical music night after night. The venue is tiny and intimate—so small that you’ll feel like you’re sitting in someone’s living room while some of the city’s most talented musicians play just feet away. There are no amplifiers or fancy sound systems here, just pure acoustic music the way it was meant to be heard. The musicians are often local legends who learned their craft from the masters, keeping alive a musical tradition that was born in these very streets.

Indulge at Café Du Monde

Café Du Monde isn’t just a coffee shop—it’s a New Orleans institution that has been serving up the perfect combination of beignets and café au lait since 1862. The beignets arrive at your table piping hot and buried under a mountain of powdered sugar that will inevitably end up on your clothes, but that’s all part of the experience. The café operates 24 hours a day, making it the perfect spot for an early morning breakfast or a late-night sugar fix after exploring the French Quarter. Watching the beignet makers work their magic behind the counter is almost as entertaining as eating the final product.

Shop Along Magazine Street

Magazine Street stretches for six miles through several neighborhoods, offering an eclectic mix of antique shops, art galleries, and locally-owned boutiques that you won’t find anywhere else. This isn’t your typical shopping mall experience—it’s more like treasure hunting, where you might discover a vintage poster from the 1920s next to handmade jewelry by local artisans. The street also boasts some of the city’s best restaurants, from casual po’boy shops to upscale dining establishments housed in converted Victorian mansions. Each block offers something different, making it the kind of place where you can easily spend an entire day wandering and discovering.

Tour the World War II Museum

The National WWII Museum tells the story of the war that changed everything, using immersive exhibits that make you feel like you’re experiencing history firsthand. The museum focuses particularly on the American experience in the war, with everything from restored aircraft to personal letters from soldiers. The 4D movie experience puts you right in the middle of major battles, while interactive exhibits let you explore a submarine or walk through a replica of a European town during wartime. It’s the kind of place that puts current events into perspective while honoring the sacrifices made by an entire generation.

Dine at Commander’s Palace

Commander’s Palace represents New Orleans dining at its finest, housed in a Victorian mansion in the Garden District where culinary legends have been born. The restaurant is famous for its jazz brunch, where live music accompanies dishes like turtle soup and bread pudding that have been perfected over decades. The servers are knowledgeable storytellers who can explain the history behind every dish, making your meal feel like a cultural education. This is where famous chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Paul Prudhomme honed their skills, creating the distinctive Creole cuisine that New Orleans is famous for worldwide.

Browse the French Market

The French Market has been the city’s trading post for over 200 years, evolving from a Native American trading ground to today’s vibrant marketplace filled with local crafts and fresh produce. The covered market stretches for several blocks along the Mississippi River, housing everything from spice vendors selling authentic Creole seasonings to artists creating custom artwork. The flea market section is perfect for finding unique souvenirs that actually come from New Orleans, rather than generic tourist trinkets. Street musicians often perform throughout the market, creating a soundtrack for your shopping experience that captures the city’s musical soul.

Wander St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 offers a fascinating glimpse into New Orleans’ unique burial traditions, where above-ground tombs became necessary due to the city’s high water table. These ‘cities of the dead’ look like miniature neighborhoods, with elaborate tombs that reflect the wealth and status of their inhabitants. The cemetery is famous for the supposed tomb of voodoo queen Marie Laveau, where visitors still leave offerings and requests written on scraps of paper. Walking through these historic grounds feels like exploring an outdoor museum, where each monument tells the story of New Orleans’ diverse cultural heritage.

Explore the Audubon Aquarium

The Audubon Aquarium brings the underwater world of the Gulf of Mexico right to the heart of New Orleans, featuring everything from playful sea otters to mesmerizing jellyfish. The walk-through tunnel surrounded by sharks and rays makes you feel like you’re walking on the ocean floor, while the touch tanks let you get hands-on with stingrays and horseshoe crabs. The aquarium does an excellent job of connecting visitors to the local ecosystem, showing how the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico support the incredible biodiversity that makes this region unique. It’s educational without being preachy, making it perfect for families or anyone curious about marine life.

Discover Frenchmen Street

Frenchmen Street is where locals go to hear authentic New Orleans music, offering a more intimate and genuine experience than the tourist-heavy Bourbon Street. The street comes alive after dark, with multiple venues featuring different styles of music, from traditional jazz to funk and everything in between. You can easily spend an entire evening bar-hopping along this three-block stretch, with each venue offering its own personality and regular lineup of talented musicians. The crowds here tend to be more diverse, mixing tourists with locals who genuinely love the music, creating an atmosphere that feels more like a neighborhood celebration than a tourist attraction.

Relax in Louis Armstrong Park

Louis Armstrong Park honors the city’s most famous musical son while providing a peaceful green space in the heart of the Treme neighborhood. The park features a beautiful lagoon, walking paths, and several performance spaces where concerts and cultural events take place throughout the year. Congo Square, located within the park, is historically significant as the place where enslaved and free people of color gathered on Sundays to dance, sing, and play music, helping to create what we now know as jazz. The park serves as a reminder of New Orleans’ complex cultural history while providing a tranquil escape from the busy streets nearby.

Visit Mardi Gras World

Mardi Gras World gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how the magic of Mardi Gras comes together, with massive warehouses filled with colorful floats in various stages of construction. Artists and craftspeople work year-round creating the elaborate sculptures and decorations that make each parade unique, using techniques that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. You can watch painters adding details to giant figures, learn about the history of different krewes, and even try on costumes worn by actual Mardi Gras royalty. It’s like getting a peek behind the curtain of the greatest show on earth, revealing the incredible amount of work that goes into creating New Orleans’ most famous celebration.

Take a Swamp Tour

A swamp tour takes you into the mysterious bayous surrounding New Orleans, where ancient cypress trees draped in Spanish moss create an otherworldly landscape. These ecosystems have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, providing habitat for alligators, herons, and countless other species that call the Louisiana wetlands home. Your guide will likely be a local who grew up in these waters, sharing stories about Cajun culture and pointing out wildlife that you’d never spot on your own. The experience offers a complete contrast to the urban energy of New Orleans, showing you the wild, untamed nature that exists just outside the city limits.

The Essence of New Orleans Lives On

New Orleans continues to reinvent itself while honoring the traditions that make it unlike anywhere else in the world. The city has survived everything from devastating hurricanes to global pandemics, each time emerging stronger and more determined to preserve its unique cultural identity. These seventeen experiences represent just the beginning of what this remarkable city has to offer—each visit reveals new layers of history, culture, and personality that keep people coming back year after year. Whether you’re drawn by the music, the food, the architecture, or simply the infectious joie de vivre that permeates every street corner, New Orleans will leave an indelible mark on your soul that no other destination can match.

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