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Frommer's Favorite Experiences
Beignets & Café au Lait at Café du Monde: Sit on the crowded patio gazing at the action on Decatur Street and Jackson Square. Gorge on hot French-style doughnuts liberally coated in powdered sugar (everyone will know what you've been doing from the sprinkles on your shirt) and washed down with potent chicory coffee. And do it at any hour of the day -- 3pm or 3am. It's open 24 hours!
Jazz at Preservation Hall: Drop your eight bucks in the hat and squeeze into one of the country's time-honored jazz institutions. Your feet will be moving and your ears will be happy, even if they never knew they liked jazz before.
A Crowded Night at the Maple Leaf: The Maple Leaf is a very "New Orleans" club and a terrific place to hang out. On nights when popular bands fill the place to hot, sweaty capacity and the crowd spills over into the street and dances right on the sidewalk, it's sublime.
Dinner at Commander's Palace: It took over a year after Katrina for this legendary restaurant to reopen, thanks to massive reconstruction requirements. It's romantic, gracious, attentive, and delicious.
A Cemetery Tour: New Orleans's above-the-ground tombs are hard to forget once you've seen them, and touring these ghostly cities of the dead provides you with a unique look into the history and culture of the city.
A Stroll through the Garden District: These elegant (not flashy) old homes, nestled among lush trees, are wonderful to gaze at and covet. At the right time of day, you might have the streets largely to yourself and feel you've slipped back in time -- or into an Anne Rice novel.
A Stroll along St. John's Bayou: Most tourists don't get much beyond the Quarter or they speed past this low-slung body of water as they head for City Park. Slow down local-style, finally away from the hordes as you meander along the bayou and admire the less high-profile but no less romantic neighborhood around it.
Bourbon Street After Dark: Even if you end up hating it, you have to see it at least once. Music spurts and oozes out of windows and doors, drinkers reign supreme, and sex is widely available -- on paper, on stage, and on video. It's wild, disgusting, and strangely exhilarating.
Club Hopping in the Frenchmen Section: This portion of the Faubourg Marigny (the neighborhood that borders the French Quarter to the north and east) features at least a dozen clubs and several bars, each with its own personality and charm. Stroll from one to the other, dipping in for a bit or just listening to the music pouring out the doors before moving on to sample something farther down the street.
Food, Glorious Food: With a nearly infinite selection of outstanding restaurants and other food sources, meal planning in New Orleans is very serious indeed. There is never time to do it all: a muffuletta from Central Grocery eaten on the banks of the Mississippi; boiled crawfish or oyster shooting at Acme or Felix's; a po' boy from Gene's; classic Creole at Arnaud's; and amazing, innovative cuisine at Cuvee. Can you eat five meals a day here? We've tried!
Dancing to the ReBirth Brass Band, John Boutte, and/or Kermit Ruffins: Dancing to three of the best musical acts New Orleans has to offer (a brass band, an astonishing soul crooner, and a jazz musician in the tradition of Louis Armstrong, respectively) is the physical manifestation of the word fun -- and the truest spirit of New Orleans.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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