Sightseeing in New Orleans by Neighborhood
The French Quarter’s street grid dates to 1718, and most of what you see on its balconies went up after fires in 1788 and 1794, in Spanish colonial style. That layering shows why New Orleans rewards a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach.
French Quarter
Start at Jackson Square, where St. Louis Cathedral (founded 1789) is the oldest continuously active Catholic cathedral in the United States. The Cabildo, where the 1803 Louisiana Purchase transfer was signed, and the Presbytère, which hosts the Mardi Gras and hurricane exhibitions, each cost about $11 for adults. The Pontalba Buildings flanking the square are the oldest continuously rented apartment buildings in the country. Walk Royal Street for brick arches, flagstone courtyards and cast-iron balconies, which are free to admire.
The riverfront
The Moonwalk promenade runs along the levee from Jax Brewery to Woldenberg Park, and from there you can watch tugboats and container ships round the bend in the Mississippi. The Canal Street ferry to Algiers Point is about $2 for a pedestrian and gives you the skyline from the water.
Garden District and St. Charles Avenue
The green St. Charles streetcar costs $1.25 a ride, or $3 for a 1-day Jazzy Pass, and it runs beneath live oaks past the mansions of the Garden District and the campuses of Loyola and Tulane. Walk Prytania Street to see the Greek Revival and Italianate houses and Colonel Short’s Villa with its cast-iron cornstalk fence. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 reopened on 1 October 2026 for guided visits only, run by the Preservation Resource Center in groups of 16 or fewer, with bookings through prcno.org .
Warehouse District
The National WWII Museum covers a six-acre campus and charges from about $37 for adult general admission, with theaters and packages extra. The museum site lays out the tiers. Allow half a day or more, and arrive for the 9:00 opening.
Treme and Basin Street
Treme is the oldest Black neighborhood in the United States, and Congo Square in Louis Armstrong Park is where enslaved Africans gathered on Sundays to drum and dance. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on Basin Street can be entered only with a licensed guide, with tours leaving Basin Street Station at 501 Basin Street about every 15 minutes between 9:00 and 15:45 for about $25 to $33. If you would rather have a local guide, browse New Orleans sightseeing tours on GetYourGuide for walking and bus formats.
Safety by street
Petty theft and street scams are the realistic risk on Bourbon Street, around Jackson Square and on Canal Street. Violent crime against visitors in the heavily patrolled French Quarter is uncommon, but empty side streets in the lower Quarter and Treme are best avoided late at night. The Garden District and Frenchmen Street are comfortable in busy hours. Hurricane season peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
When parades pass
Mardi Gras Day is Tuesday 9 February 2027. Parades roll along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, since floats cannot fit through the Quarter, and Bourbon Street becomes a pedestrian party zone. Jazz Fest is at the Fair Grounds Race Course in Mid-City on 22 to 25 April and 29 April to 2 May 2027.
For routes you can walk with a guide, see the walking tours guide .
Spend the first morning in the Quarter before 10:00, when Jackson Square is quiet and the heat has not arrived.