Interesting Thing To Visit In New Orleans

As a famed nexus of French, Spanish Creole and American culture, New Orleans is a prominent deep-water port city in Louisiana. The city is renowned for it’s distinctive museum, Creole-styled cuisine and the immensely popular Mardi Gras Festival. As home to historic buildings, a thriving French Quarter, a vibrant nightlife, a well-preserved culture and unique influences, there are many interesting things to visit in New Orleans.

Location Advice:

Be wary of the people with squirt bottles in the Jackson Square Area.  Many will try to clean your shoes despite protests as part of a small con to entrap tourists.

Make sure to bring cash. Much of New Orleans is fairly old school, including the markets and a couple of shops.  There are several venues which will not accept cards.

It’s recommended to avoid driving in the French Quarter.  The corners and roads are too narrow and it is difficult to navigate.  It’s generally wiser to park further out and take the tram into the city center.

Nightlife in New Orleans is very loud and popular.  Avoid staying in lodgings anywhere in the French Quarter or on Bourbon Street when planning on sleep.

Interesting Thing To Visit In New Orleans

French Quarter

This is the large central district of New Orleans, where most of the food, culture and activities can be found.  The district is extremely dense with narrow streets and lots of interesting shops.  It’s unwise to drive here, since all streets are in a single direction and pedestrian traffic is considerable. This is one of the most interesting things to visit in New Orleans.

Mardi Gras World

This is a semi-outdoor venue which holds many of the more famous Mardi Gras floats.  The display is somewhat creepy and haunting, since many of the floats are getting old and some were damaged during floods. 

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

This is a rather nice seaside aquarium, good for two hours of minor entertainment while watching marine animals.

New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Voodoo culture is an extremely prominent part of New Orleans’ culture, healing, cursing and history.  This museum displays inner workings of symbolism following the pseudo-religious belief system and sells various trinkets.

The Singing Oak

Located in the southern portion of New Orleans City Park, this large oak on a lonely field has various wind chimes hanging in its branches.  It makes a constant ringing thrum and is somewhat peaceful and relaxing place.

Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo

Located in the French district, this is a popular shop for Voodoo goods and tomes.

Escape My Room

Done in the theme of New Orleans counter-culture, this popular escape room has mysteries in a Gothic setting.

The Cats of Jackson Square

Jackson Square is the large and central square in the city center.  It is a popular area for Jazz musicians to play and there are many candy and trinket shops nearby selling candy, alligator jerky and sweets.  At night, cats generally patrol this park in large numbers.

Cafe du Monde

This is an incredibly popular pastry shop which serves powder-sugar beignets.  The shop only accepts cash (USD).

French Market

This is a very popular market area which sells the usual tourist goods for visitors. There are usually live musicians, shops selling handmade goods, a flea market, several smaller cafés and a few informal eateries.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar

This is an amusing bar for enjoying the New Orleans’ nightlife, decorated to look like a Blacksmith workshop.

New Orleans Train Garden

This is a tiny and interesting feature to visit.  Located in New Orleans Botanical Garden, this is a tiny replica of a city with a working miniature trains doing loops around a track.  The attraction is nice to visit during pleasant weather.  

Mardi Gras Bead Tree

Located along St. Charles Avenue, these trees are covered in hundreds of plastic beads, most especially after Mardi Gras.  It’s a popular attraction for photographs during the festival season.

The Carousel Bar and Lounge

This is an expensive bar to visit with a unique feature as part of Hotel Monteleone.  The bar rotates endlessly like a carousel and has been a rotating bar since 1949.

City Park

City Park is a large and wonderful part of New Orleans. This excellent park has numerous features which make it pleasant to walk around, including drooping willows, many waterfowls, small lakes and a series of trails passing by numerous modern sculptures.

Coffee Science

Coffee Science is an excellent grab-and-go coffee shop with tasty pastries and locally famous Flat Whites.

The Spotted Cat

The Spotted Cat is part of Frenchman Street. This is one of several locations which offers live local music, including Jazz, Blues and other cultural performances

New Orleans Museum of Art

This is a huge and diverse modern artwork museum capturing the artistic culture of New Orleans in a variety of settings.

Algiers Point

Accessible via the Algier Ferry, this is a distinct neighborhood in New Orleans which offers quiet cafes, oak-lined streets and narrow streets.

Studio Be

The brainchild of artist Brandon Odums, this huge warehouse district has been converted into enormous murals depicting black culture in New Orleans and their artistic contributions to the city.

Crescent Park

An extended riverwalk area with several trails.  It is a good place to enjoy picnics and watch ships along the river.

Bacchanal

Though Bacchanal is considered an open secret, this is the classiest place in New Orleans to get a cheese platter and nice glass of wine.

Tipitina’s

This is a popular music venue which specializes in nightly live performances showcasing the New Orleans Funk style.

Jamnola

This is a strange warehouse display which involves a lot of interactive, photo artwork.  Visitors can get pictures in giant bowls of crawfish, virtual reality settings and inside rooms filled with somewhat humorous busts of local musicians.

Dark Matters Oddities and Artisan Collectives

This is a macabre antique shop dedicated to strange and outlandish products, including skull artworks, cursed furniture and other profane objects.

Faulkner Book House

Once the home of William Faulkner, this tiny and hard-to-find shop now sells unique books in a somewhat cramped space.

Backstreet Cultural Museum

This museum is a home-grown, locally organized space filled with Mardi Gras Masks. The museum has displays discussing the history and meaning behind the different masks and styles.

Antoine’s Restaurant

Antonine’s Restaurant is the oldest family-owned restaurant in the entire United States. The eatery is considered an institution to New Orleans food culture.  Some of the most iconic French-Creole dishes of the city were founded here.

Music Box Village

The Music Box Village is a whimsical, somewhat rusted feature of the city. The unique attraction can be found in the Bywater Neighborhood.  The various stalls found here incorporate different musical devices and specially recorded “music boxes.”  The venue also offers various regular classes, including metalworking, skilled trades, sewing and artwork sessions.  The neighborhood venue is open only on weekends.

Honey Island Swamp

Renting a kayak and traversing the swamps is a famous method for getting around the area outside of New Orleans.  Honey Island Swamp in particular is famous since it is home to the cryptid creature the Honey Island Swamp Monster (an unholy chimp-gator fusion).  These tours enter some of the last pristine, untouched Louisiana swamps remaining in the United States. This is one of the most interesting things to visit in New Orleans.

Metairie Cemetery

This is the largest and most famously haunted cemetery of New Orleans, this was once a large horse-racing track.  The venue was eventually shut down after a brief stint of hosting the Confederate Army during the Civil War, but the marble tombs still follow the contours of the race course.

Day Trips from New Orleans:

The Northshore

These are series of villages (Covington, Mandiville, Slidell) which exist on the far side of Lake Pontchartrain.  The towns are quiet, relaxing and lovely.  They are known for amazing swamp-foods and peaceful scenery.

Abita Mystery House

Located near Covington, this strange shack is an homage to the strange and outlandish legends surrounding swamps.  There are depictions of cryptid animals, mosaics of New Orleans art and numerous other oddities crammed inside.

Manchac Swamp

This is another strange location: A large swamp is full of huge trees toppling with heavy Spanish moss.  Best experienced by water, the route is considered the heart of Cajun Country.  Numerous animals can be found lurking between the waterlogged tree trunks.

Global Wildlife Center

This is an enormous free-range wildlife retreat for various exotic animals.  Safari cars drive guests though the grounds, where animals such as zebras, giraffes and deer roam freely.  In special designated zones, guests can stick their hands out the windows for herbivores to slurp up some safari-purchased snacks.

Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is a notoriously nice city, in the Southern-Culture Metropolitan area.  There are tourist attractions including museums, African American Culture sites, the Blue Bayou Water Park and large, stately gardens.

The Mississippi Coast

The exiting waters of the Mississippi River create large sweeping curves of white sand freshwater beaches just outside of New Orleans.  The saltwater Gulf itself is also magnificent and a popular swimming area.

Atchafalaya National Park

Located to the West of New Orleans, this large swamp area is a famous heritage area filled with endless waterways for boat explorations.

Read more about interesting things to visit in New Orleans and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Blog.

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