Source: Wikipedia.
New Orleans is best known for its vibrant French Quarter, but there’s a lot more to this city than just one neighborhood. Whether you’re visiting for a vacation or you’re here for the foreseeable future, New Orleans is sure to keep you busy.
Restaurants and Cuisine in New Orleans
New Orleans is a wonderful place to live or to visit if you love food. According to TripAdvisor there are over 1,100 restaurants in the city, with a very eclectic mix of cuisines available. Of course, New Orleans is best known for its Cajun and Creole food – with a style that’s developed over several hundred years with influences from France, Spain, Italy, Africa, and Native America to blend the unique tastes you’ll find here today.
There are some local dishes that you must try such as the famous beignets (fried pastries), especially from the renowned Café du Monde. Crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya, and seafood are particularly special too. Among the many restaurants some that stand out include Boucherie with its contemporary Southern cuisine, and GW Fins for seafood.
The French Quarter
There’s no doubting the French Quarter is what the majority of tourists come to see, and deservedly so. It’s an amazing neighborhood, full of personality and life, history and culture. Walk the streets by day to admire its historic architecture with famous wrought-iron balconies then come back in the evening when all the bars and clubs are buzzing with patrons, and live music wafts out into the streets. Bourbon Street is at the heart of this historic neighborhood, and it’s New Orleans’ most famous street, and, where the French Quarter meets the Mississippi River, you’ll find one of the city’s best known landmarks: Jackson Square and the St Louis Cathedral.
Just a block from here you can take a harbor or dinner cruise aboard the famous SS. Natchez, a sternwheel steamboat that departs from the Toulouse Street Wharf.
Museums in New Orleans
There are several museums in the Central Business District of New Orleans – the National World War II Museum focuses on the efforts of the United States in aiding the Allies to victory and it has exhibits on aircraft and tanks, and an Enigma Machine is on display too. The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Louisiana Children’s Museum are also here, while in City Park is the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Parks, Gardens and Zoos
City Park is a 1,300 acre park north of the center of the city. It’s a very popular place, ranked seventh most visited urban public park in the country, and it’s the sixth largest. As well as being home to the Museum of Art the park has many walking trails, lagoons and lakes with boating, tennis courts, a stadium, golf courses, and driving range. It’s a great place to bring the family as younger children can enjoy Storyland, and the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park.
Also within City Park is the New Orleans Botanical Garden where tropical, temperate and semi-tropical plants are featured.
Audubon Park is another major park of New Orleans where you can walk, play golf, or visit Audubon Zoo, and see the roughly 2,000 animals living there.
