Jazz musicians lounge on French-style verandas. Streetcars trundle through the city. And the Mississippi drifts by. New Orleans oozes southern charm. Explore the old-world style of the French Quarter and wander up Bourbon Street, dotted with underground jazz clubs and mysterious voodoo shops. Then finish the day with a Mint Julep cocktail in the luxury of your boutique hotel.
FOOD
New Orleans has food in its soul – as well as its stomach. Here you’ll savour Cajun and Creole flavours, like steaming bowls of gumbo and jambalaya with chicken or spicy shrimp. If you’re hungry, tackle a Po-Boy – a speciality sandwich piled with meat and gravy – followed by rum-soaked Bananas Foster. Or, if it’s fine dining you crave, this is the city that invented Oysters Rockefeller.
EVENTS
Wander along Bourbon Street after sundown and every night feels like a festival. Of course, if you visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras you’re in for a real treat. Costumed locals dance in the streets and ornate floats shut off the roads for parades – and everyone wears beads. During the rest of the year the city plays host to everything from jazz to seafood festivals.
MUSIC
It’s difficult to walk through NOLA and not hear music drifting out from somewhere. The birthplace of jazz plays host to numerous bars and clubs. Head downstairs to one of the city’s underground venues and listen to everything from acid jazz to traditional tunes, sipping an Old Fashioned as you do.
Pull up a chair at Café du Monde and order coffee with chicory and a plate of beignets, heaped with icing sugar. This NOLA landmark, beside Jackson Square, is perfect for people watching.
