Tying in with the launch of the New Orleans Deluxe from our partners McDonald’s, we give you the essential guide to the city that survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and is waiting to keep you entertained… Louisiana style.
There’s a motto in the Louisiana city of New Orleans, a city where hot and steamy days are pretty much always followed by music, dancing and the odd drink or two. That motto is ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ or ‘Laissez les bon temps rouler’ as the French-speaking locals would put it.
New Orleans is one of those places that lives up to the images you’ll have seen on film or on TV, especially during the annual Mardi Gras. And although it’s not most people’s first choice when it comes to picking a US city for a holiday, there’s plenty to keep you occupied, day and night.
Eat Creole food like Obama does at Dooky Chase. Head to Blue Nile for a night of jazz or maybe hip hop. You’ll have plenty of time to sleep on your flight home.
Nestled amid alligator-infested swamps on the banks of the Mississippi, New Orleans has always felt a little bit different from most other parts of the USA. This is a city with plenty of Creole and French influences, which combine to make a uniquely exotic vibe to the place.
Since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the warm welcome that was always there is now doubly so, with the people of the city keen to get back to normal, and that includes playing host to an visitors who’ve decided to pay them a visit.
There’s lots to see and do, and we’ve picked five ways to spend your time in order to get you started.
1. Get your bearings at Jackson Square
If the French Quarter is the heart of New Orleans, then Jackson Square is pretty much the heart of the French Quarter.
At least by day it is. At weekends this is where painters, musicians and mime artists congregate to entertain. Yes, you’ll probably get fed up of the mime artists after a while, but it’s still worth a look.
2. Hang out with the locals of yesteryear
Because of the frequent flooding and other natural hazards in this part of the world, it has long been the custom to house the dearly departed in tombs built at ground level.
These small houses for the dead nestle together to create what can look like some sort of posthumous urbanisation.
The best of these for a lookaround is the oldest, St Louis Cemetery No.1.
A word of warning – this isn’t a place to dwell in the evenings or at night as it’s situated right next to one of the cities rougher, edgier neighbourhoods.
3. Head out into Gator territory
Yes, there’s enough in New Orleans to keep you occupied for a good few weeks, but if you’ve come to New Orleans you really need to step out of the city, get onto a boat, cross the Mississippi (taking in the paddle steamers on the way) and heading into the Louisiana swamp and bayou.
Grayline Tours have been doing tours in these parts for getting on for a century and should be your first port of call for a tour of the steamy habitat that the local alligators call home.
The guides on the boat tend to be people who grew up in and around the swamp so they know exactly where to go for you to see the gators, the turtles and a fair bit of weird stuff up close.
Grayline Tours also do tours around the areas most effected by Hurricane Katrina, including a look at the notorious Superbowl, the place that housed many of the displaced during the immediate aftermath of the horrendous flooding.
4. Bar crawl your way down Bourbon Street
No, you haven’t turned up during some special celebration, it’s always like that.
Some tourist destinations never quite live up to the hype, but you get the feeling that Bourbon Street would be a noisy and slightly sweaty even if there wasn’t a steady flow of tourists making up the numbers.
Head up to one of the iconic first-floor wrought-iron balconies and soak up the atmosphere.
And here’s a treat – Bourbon Street is one of the few American city spots where its considered perfectly OK to walk down the street with an open drink in your hand. Prepare to feel like you’re in a Jack Daniels advert.
5. Climb aboard a streetcar
There’s a chance that after a night on Bourbon Street you’ll be feeling a wee bit tender. If that’s the case, it might be worth taking one of the old-time streetcars that trundle their way through the New Orleans streets.
All you have to do is sit down and let the world pass you by.
New Orleans’ streetcars have operated since 1835, with the best, most scenic route being the one that runs down St Charles Avenue.
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