New Orleans Attractions

Compiled by Jim McGuire
Chair of the Physics Department
Tulane University
New Orleans

New Orleans, perhaps the most European of American cities, is famous for its food, music and festivals. The French Quarter, across Canal Street from the convention hotels, is a National Park, so designated because of its rich history, unique architecture, and abundance of food and entertainment. A century ago Louis Armstrong grew up here, playing jazz in the now displaced brothels of our Vieux Carre (French for "old quarter"). Now it is customary to visit Jackson Square with its entertaining street people in the middle of the Quarter, by wandering down infamous Bourbon Street with its many famous bars or using the more elegant Royal Street with its many antique shops and expensive art galleries. I have always found that the spirit of the Quarter uplifting — you are expected to have a good time and your senses will be filled with mostly exotic smells, sounds and sights. Exploring our French Quarter is an experience not to be forgotten.

My wife and I spent over a decade here before we began to run out of things to do. We found Zugat Guide useful and generally reliable. Here are some things we like to do in New Orleans:

  Restaurants
  Music
  The French Quarter
  Other parts of New Orleans
  Day trips