New Orleans Travel Guide

Welcome Y'all

THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

nola.gov For planning your trip, visit: neworleans.com

New Orleans is world-renowned for its distinct music, Creole cuisine, unique dialect, and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its French and Spanish Creole architecture and vibrant nightlife along Bourbon Street. The city has been described as the “most unique”in the United States, owing in large part to its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. Founded in 1718 by French colonists, New Orleans was once the territorial capital of French Louisiana before being traded to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. New Orleans in 1840 was the third-most populous city in the United States, and it was the largest city in the American South from the Antebellum era until after World War II. The city’s location and flat elevation have historically made it very vulnerable to flooding. State and federal authorities have installed a complex system of levees and drainage pumps in an effort to protect the city we all love and call home.

New Orleans was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which resulted in flooding more than 80% of the city, thousands of deaths, and so much displacement because of damaged communities and lost housing as to cause a population decline of over 50%. Since Katrina, major redevelopment efforts have led to a rebound in the city’s population.

Concerns about gentrification, new residents buying property in formerly closely knit communities, and displacement of longtime residents have been expressed.

Experience 300 years worth of stories, celebrations, and one-of-a-kind culture.

POPULAR RESTAURANTS BORGNE 601 Loyola Ave. New Orleans, LA 70113 504-613-3860

BOURBON HOUSE 144 Bourbon St. New Orleans, LA 70130 504-522-0111

GW FINS 808 Bienville St. New Orleans, LA 70130 504-581-3467

At Borgne, chef Brian Landry does for Louisiana seafood cookery what partner-boss John Besh does for French-Creole more generally at Restaurant August: He embraces it anew by way of innovation (crawfish etouffee fried rice) and through the elevation of dishes (oyster spaghetti, stuffed flounder) that deserve wider audiences. Borgne, located just off the lobby of the Hyatt Regency, is simply delicious. The focal point is a long bar, well-stocked with beer and oysters, that is very conducive to watching sports. But at its best, Borgne’s kitchen is among New Orleans’ most accomplished.

Best catch: Raw oysters, ceviche, stuffed flounder, seared yellowfin tuna.

The oyster bar is what you see upon entering Dickie Brennan’s sprawling French Quarter seafood house. This is appropriate because the oyster bar is a major attraction: the source of not just fine raw bivalves and seafood salads but also charbroiled oysters and the city’s most generous and statuesque plateau de fruits de mer. Executive chef Darin Nesbit is a seasoned executor of classic French-Creole seafood dishes.

Best catch: Plateau de fruits de mer, barbecue shrimp, Gulf fish on the halfshell, paneed veal with crab.

GW Fins opened in the early 2000s as a radical, fully formed idea: A New Orleans seafood restaurant that traffics in seafood and recipes from around the globe. The international lens takes in local products and dishes, too; it’s all united by chef Tenney Flynn’s talented kitchen staff, as skilled in internationally inclined new American cuisine as it is in FrenchCreole, and the fact that the air-freighted fish is as fresh as the local stuff.

Best Catch: Blue crab pot stickers, sizzling oysters, wood-grilled Scottish salmon, Parmesan-crusted sheepshead.

AUDUBON NATURE INSTITUTE AUDUBON ZOO 6500 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA 70118 Monday–Friday | 10am–5pm Saturday & Sunday | 10am–6pm

AUDUBON AQUARIUM OF THE AMERICAS 1 Canal St. New Orleans, LA 70130 Monday–Sunday | 10am–5pm

AUDUBON BUTTERFLY GARDEN & INSECTARIUM 423 Canal St. New Orleans, LA 70130 Monday–Sunday | 10am–4:30pm

Located in historic Uptown New Orleans Audubon Zoo offers an exotic mix of animals from around the globe, engaging educational programs, hands-on animal encounters and lush gardens. Unique natural habitat exhibits such as the award-winning Louisiana Swamp and Jaguar Jungle showcase the relationship between people and nature. Don’t miss the daily animal presentations, chats and feeds; our highly endangered whooping cranes, Amur leopards, and orangutans; our tiger; and our mysterious white alligators. Audubon Zoo is often ranked among the country’s best for innovation and entertainment value!

Located on the Mississippi River adjacent to the French Quarter Audubon Aquarium of the Americas immerses you in an underwater world. The colors of the Great Maya Reef come alive in our walk-through tunnel, while our penguins and Southern sea otters are visitor favorites.

Touch a sting ray, feed a parakeet, and marvel at our gigantic sharks and rays in the 400,000-gallon Gulf of Mexico Exhibit. Watch for sea turtles throughout the Aquarium as coordinator of the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program, we prepare many of them for release to the wild.

Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, located in the U.S. Custom House on Canal Street, encourages you to use all five senses as you explore North America’s largest museum devoted to insects and their relatives. You’ll discover why insects are the building blocks of all life on our planet and along the way, you’ll be shrunk to bug size; wander through a mysterious Louisiana swamp; join the active audience of an awards show for bugs, by bugs; and be captivated by thousands of butterflies in an Asian garden. Voted “A top museum for you and your kids” by CNN.com, 2009.

PICTURESQUE PARKS NEW ORLEANS CITY PARK 1 Palm Dr. New Orleans, LA 70124

CONGO SQUARE LOUIS ARMSTRONG PARK Bound by St. Philip St., Rampart St., Basin St., St. Peter St., and N. Villere St.

AUDUBON PARK 6500 Magazine St. New Orleans, lA 70118

City Park is as magical and unique as the city of New Orleans. The 1,300-acre outdoor oasis has enchanted New Orleanians since 1854, making it one of the nation’s oldest urban parks. Each year, millions of visitors stroll under the same historic oaks and picturesque moss canopies that served as the backdrop for dances, concerts and even gentlemanly duels or “affaires d’honneur” for generations. Today’s City Park offers something for everyone. Stop and smell the roses in the Botanical Garden.

Enjoy art in the open-air Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Stroll through the sprawling green space or get active on the park’s biking, jogging, and walking paths. Practice your serve on one of 26 tennis courts or hit the links on City Park’s new 18-hole golf course.

In a city famous for its musical traditions, perhaps no other single location claims as much musical and cultural history and importance as Louis Armstrong. Located at 701 N. Rampart Street on the edge of the French Quarter, the park is dedicated to one of the City’s most celebrated native sons and to the tradition of jazz in the City. The park is located in the Tremé neighborhood, birthplace of many of New Orleans’ most famous jazz musicians. Within the park confines is historic Congo Square.

Formerly known as Place de Negres, it took its name from the tradition of slaves who gathered there on Sundays, their day off, to sing, beat drums, sell home-made goods, and celebrate. The park annually hosts Martin Luther King Day celebrations, Red Dress Run, weddings, festivals, concerts, filming and more.

Seated in historic uptown New Orleans Audubon Park is a favorite spot for recreation, picnics or enjoying a beautiful day. For more than a century, people have enjoyed this urban oasis with allées of ancient live oaks, a tranquil 1.8 mile jogging path, a lagoon, picnic shelters and playgrounds for the whole family to enjoy.

Come Back, Y'all!