In One Day

If you have only a day in New Orleans, you might as well spend it all in the French Quarter -- after all, you could easily spend a much longer trip entirely within its confines. (We just won't let you do so if you have the additional time.) But this is a day that will include all the important factors of a New Orleans visit: eating, walking, drinking, eating some more, listening to music, and dancing. Start: River side of Jackson Square.

1. Café du Monde

Downing a cup of chicory coffee and some beignets is a good way to start a New Orleans day, all hopped up on sugar and caffeine. You can watch this city come to lazy life (most tourists will likely still be sleeping off the previous evening), as the carriage drivers begin to line up across the street. Just don't wear black, unless you want everyone you encounter during the day to know where you had breakfast.

2. Take a Walking Tour of the Quarter

You need to get the overall lay of the land before you start branching out. You can take an official one from Historic New Orleans Tours. Ours gives you a bit of history in addition to pointing out individual buildings, and it also helps you slow down and admire the architecture of this unique neighborhood. As you wander, take notice of how the building exteriors, apart from the ironwork (slave-made, originally, most of it), are rather plain. The Creoles believed that because they lived inside, that's where all the beauty should be.

3. St. Louis Cathedral

It's a humdrum ecclesiastical building, but it is the center of spiritual life for a town that is surprisingly devoutly Catholic (it's always a shock to note how many foreheads soberly bear ashes the day after the frantic party antics of Mardi Gras). Go around the back to the little garden (usually locked, but you might be able to coax someone into letting you in), a serene oasis that legend has it was a favorite haunt of good Catholic Marie Laveau, who went to Mass daily at the cathedral, where the infamous Pere Antoine (sent to New Orleans by none other than the office of the Inquisition) futilely attempted to get his parishioner to forsake her voodoo ways. It lost its sweeping oak trees to Katrina, and the lack is felt, but plans are to re-landscape it to reflect the original early 1800s design.

4. Central Grocery

Get a muffuletta for lunch at Central Grocery (split it with somebody; they're gigantic) and thread your way through the buildings across the street to eat it by the banks of the Mississippi River. 923 Decatur St. tel. 504/523-1620.

5. Stroll the Moonwalk

Walk off your lunch on a stroll down the Moonwalk, the park and pedestrian walkway that runs long the river, stopping to notice some of the curious public art installations and local cultural monuments planted along the way. Ol' Man River will keep rolling along, and you can watch riverboats, cruise lines, and other ships sail on by, just like they have, minus some modern engineering, ever since there was a New Orleans.

6. The Cabildo

The site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, one of two buildings erected by the Baroness Pontalba's father, who thus set the tone for the Place D'Armes, as Jackson Square was originally known. It has fine exhibits illustrating New Orleans and Louisiana history and culture. But we love the Napoleon death mask here the best.

7. The Presbytère

The former home of the priests who worked at St. Louis Cathedral has been turned into a wonderful Mardi Gras museum that covers in admirable detail all the many aspects of this varied and misunderstood local holiday institution. Take the time to watch the short film on the phenomenon known as the Mardi Gras Indians and shake your head over the elaborate dresses worn by Mardi Gras queens. And don't miss the section on the Cajun Mardi Gras, especially the video installation that allows you to experience life inside a Cajun house when a bunch of drunks in costumes come around to play tricks and demand a chicken for their gumbo.

8. Shop the Quarter

You are released from sightseeing and freed up for browsing through some of the curious shops in the Quarter. We suggest starting in nearby Pirate's Alley, at Faulkner House Books so you can ease into the whole "not-seeing-the-sights" thing with a glance at the author's former residence. Consider choosing a literary souvenir from the comprehensive selection of New Orleans-related books. Then walk down Royal Street and admire the antiques. Head around the corner and drop in at the new Chartres Street address of A Gallery for Fine Photography; it's like a museum of photos, many of which relate to local culture and history. Swing by the shops toward the Esplanade Avenue end of Decatur Street, where the objets d'art are a lot cheaper than the goods on Royal Street.

9. Take a Walk on Bourbon Street

Dusk is the best time to do this; during the day, it's too tame, and once night really falls, it's pretty rowdy. Sure, it's gaudy, loud, and kind of disgusting and comes off as a combination giant T-shirt shop and bar. At the right time of day, when things are starting to heat up but the real obnoxious types aren't too drunk, when different kinds of music pour from every door, when captivating smells waft from restaurants, it's also seductive and exhilarating. You have to do it once, though probably no more than that. Have a predinner drink at the darkly mysterious Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (the oldest building in town, at the end of the business part of the street) or sample a Hurricane at the not-so-dark-but-always-lively Pat O'Brien's, or get off Bourbon and go to the darkly romantic Napoleon House Bar & Cafe.

10. Commander's Palace

Food is a very, very important part of your time in New Orleans. Tonight we are forcing you out of the Quarter, just for variety's sake. You could try the deservedly famous and long-lived Commander's Palace, which recovered from severe storm damage to return to serving excellent examples of nouveau Orleans cuisine that have influenced the cooking of many a local chef. 1403 Washington Ave. tel. 504/899-8221.

11. While Away an Evening in New Orleans

Nightlife is too important a part of this city to leave it off your list. Do not miss hearing some jazz at Preservation Hall -- it's cheap, and it's the real McCoy. You may also want to navigate Bourbon Street; now that night has fallen, the scene will have truly kicked in. You have to see it once, even if you never want to see it again. For equal fun, less like that found at a frat party, head to the Frenchmen section of the Faubourg Marigny, where there are at least five clubs and a couple of bars within a few blocks. Wander from one to another, sometimes never even going inside (often the music can be heard outside just as easily), simply mingling with the friendly crowds. You can also drop by Donna's for some fine local music. Suddenly feeling hungry again? Grab a dozen oysters at Acme Oyster House or Felix's. Have you exercised restraint and missed a bar or two? Go now. If you don't collapse exhausted -- and full -- in your bed, you haven't done your day properly.