In One Day

If you have only a day in New Orleans, you might as well spend it largely in the French Quarter -- after all, you could easily spend a much longer trip entirely within its confines. (But we won't let you do so if you have the additional time.) This day will include all the important factors of a New Orleans visit: eating, walking, drinking, soaking in the history, 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 powdered sugar-covered beignets is the ideal way to start a New Orleans day. You can watch this city come to lazy life and the carriage drivers line up across the street. But wear white, the better to camouflage any stray powdered sugar.

2. Take a Walking Tour of the Quarter

Get the overall lay of the land with a map, or take an official one from Historic New Orleans Tours. Our tour 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 (mostly slave-made, originally), are rather plain. The Creoles saved the embellishments for their indoor living quarters.

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 garden, a serene oasis (though usually locked) that legend has it was a favorite haunt of good Catholic Marie Laveau (the infamous Pere Antoine, sent to New Orleans by none other than the office of the Inquisition, urged her to forsake voodoo -- to no avail). The imposing statue of Jesus lost a thumb and the garden lost its sweeping oaks to Katrina. There are plans to redesign the landscape 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 along the river, stopping to notice some of the curious public art installations and local cultural monuments along the way. Ol' Man River will keep rolling along, and you can watch riverboats, cruise ships, and cargo vessels sail by, much like they have for centuries.

6. The Cabildo

The site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, this is 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 museum housing the terrific Living with Hurricanes exhibit, which is well worth an hour of anyone's time.

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, to choose a literary souvenir. Then walk down Royal Street and admire the antiques. Head around the corner to Chartres and Bienville streets and drop in at A Gallery for Fine Photography; with its stunning pictorial representations of local culture and history. Swing by the shops toward the Esplanade Avenue end of Decatur Street, with its mélange of edgy, antiquey, and artsy goods (all considerably less posh than those on Royal St.).

9. Take a Walk on Bourbon Street

Dusk is the best time to do this, between the too tame and the too rowdy hours. 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, when things are heating up but the obnoxious drunks aren't too plentiful, when different kinds of music pour from every door, it's also seductive and exhilarating. Everyone has to do it once, and some people need to do it often. 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 crumbly romantic Napoleon House bar and 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. Try the deservedly famous and long-lived Commander's Palace, which serves 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. For fun without the frat party, head to the Frenchmen section of the Faubourg Marigny, where at least a dozen clubs and bars are within a few blocks. Wander from one to another, mingle with the crowds, people-watch, and maybe even go inside. Hungry again? Head back to Acme Oyster House or Felix's Restaurant & Oyster Bar for a couple dozen raw. 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.