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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of New Orleans
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The fleur-de-lis, the French lily-like heraldic symbol, has long been associated with New Orleans. But the emblem that graces the former colonial city's flag has gained new poignance, blossoming into a symbol of post-Katrina recovery. Whether it's blazoned on a storefront banner or molded in sterling silver as a lapel pin, the mark is an ever-present reminder of the Crescent City's recent travails, proud history, and distinctive urban culture. Veteran travelers will find this romantic destination surprisingly unchanged in the popular French Quarter and Garden District. And while the Big Easy is still in the early phases of recovery, and each hurricane season threatens a repeat of flooding, all visitors qualify as honorary citizens, a witness to unfolding history and a participant in New Orleans's renaissance.
Attractions & Activities For many, New Orleans is synonymous with the historic French Quarter, the city's centuries-old footprint on the mighty Mississippi River. With its narrow streets and abundance of shops, galleries, restaurants, and nightclubs, the Quarter is a walkable, easily navigated zone that eclipses other neighborhoods for first-time visitors. The grandeur of St. Louis Cathedral echoes New Orleans's French origins, while the area's other buildings' picturesque wrought iron balconies and intimate courtyards date back to the Spanish era in the late 1700s. Spend part of the day wandering the maze of streets and alleys around oak-shaded Jackson Square, where street musicians, fortune-tellers, and sidewalk artists ply their respective trades. Just a stone's throw from the Mississippi, in the historic French Market, Café du Monde serves café au lait and hot beignets—pillowy square doughnuts dusted with powdered sugar—round the clock (800 Decatur St.; 504-581-2914). The Quarter's famous (and infamous) Bourbon Street is as enigmatic as it is renowned. Though dominated by neon-lit tourist bars, thumping dance clubs, and Mardi Gras-themed trinket shops, Bourbon Street is also home to celebrated creole eateries and stretches of picturesque town houses. During the daylight hours, window-shoppers can duck into the one-of-a-kind boutiques, galleries, and antiques shops that fill the Quarter. Along Chartres and Royal streets, antiquarians specialize in everything from flintlock firearms to decorative porcelain to Art Deco costume jewelry. The seven blocks closest to Canal Street illuminate and crank up after dark, becoming a veritable playground for hard-drinking college kids and those looking to recapture that "few too many" feeling long after graduation, many of whom take advantage of the citywide tradition of plastic "go cups," which allows pedestrians to sip and stroll on extended pub crawls. Just past the city's nondescript downtown area (called the Central Business District, or CBD) and steps from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Warehouse Arts District is a booming neighborhood where new restaurants, hotels, and loft apartment buildings occupy former warehouse spaces. Two standout institutions—the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (504-539-9600; ogdenmuseum.org) and the National World War II Museum—showcase, respectively, the region's finest visual art and the history of World War II. Almost unspeakably picturesque, St. Charles Avenue follows the Mississippi in a broad curve through the Garden District and Uptown areas, ending just beyond the neighboring campuses of Tulane and Loyola universities. The neighborhoods' historic green streetcars are on post-storm hiatus, but the stately Victorian and Greek Revival mansions along St. Charles still stand proud, even though Katrina's winds considerably thinned the sheltering canopy of live oaks. Families traveling with energetic children will appreciate the playgrounds and running paths of Uptown's Audubon Park, as well as two other enterprises run by the Audubon Nature Institute. The first is Uptown's Audubon Zoo, a small gem of an animal preserve inside the park itself, with interactive exhibits that explore the wildlife of Louisiana's wetlands and other natural habitats across the globe (800-774-7394; auduboninstitute.org). For a watery view of wildlife, there's the Audubon Nature Institute's Aquarium of the Americas, on the river between the French Quarter and the CBD, with virtually every conceivable aquatic animal, and an IMAX theater to boot (800-774-7394; auduboninstitute.org). Magazine Street cuts through several neighborhoods in its cross-town arc. Alternating stretches of distinctive residential and commercial areas make Magazine one of New Orleans's more bustling thoroughfares. In the Garden District, students and Quarter-weary travelers linger in coffeehouses, while bargain-savvy hipsters prowl the boutiques and secondhand shops. It's nearly impossible not to find live music and other nightlife in New Orleans—from neighborhood watering holes to upscale concert halls. Fans of the Neville Brothers make a pilgrimage to Tipitina's (501 Napoleon Ave.); lovers of traditional New Orleans jazz gravitate to Preservation Hall (726 St. Peter St.); devotees of funky contemporary street music hit the Maple Leaf Bar in hopes of catching the aptly named Rebirth Brass Band during their weekly gig (8316 Oak St.). But for concentrated musical variety, spend an evening on Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigney, a short hop from the French Quarter. Weekends, it's possible to take in an early jazz show at Snug Harbor (626 Frenchmen St.), catch some salsa at Café Brasil (2100 Chartres St.), and then spend the wee hours listening to barrelhouse blues at the Spotted Cat (623 Frenchmen St.). The bars in New Orleans don't have an official closing time: Keep an eye on your watch or rage on until dawn. Lodging A popular convention city and host of no-holds-barred springtime celebrations such as Mardi Gras and the Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans has a wide range of lodging options, from luxe establishments to homegrown B&Bs, and the choices are expanding as hotels reopen. Two of the city's three establishments on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List—the Hotel Monaco and the Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans—are undergoing extensive post-storm renovations, while the Windsor Court Hotel is back in full swing. Most national chains have properties in and around the French Quarter, from two incarnations of the W (one in the French Quarter, another in the CBD to a high-rise Sheraton fronting Canal Street. In the CBD, sister hotels the International House and Loft 523 bring urbane, minimalist elegance to a Beaux Arts apartment block and former warehouse space. Ask a New Orleanian where to stay and he'll likely steer you to the Hotel Monteleone, a local favorite for its French Quarter location and surreal Carousel Bar and Lounge. The rooms, done up in traditional chintzes and frills, are somewhat dowdy, but several have river views. Dining Given New Orleans's obsession with food, eating is done as much for sport as for sustenance by locals and visitors alike. In the Crescent City, trips are measured in meals instead of days, and it's not uncommon for dedicated foodies to pack five squares into a single 24-hour period, appropriately punctuated with naps and cocktail breaks. The French Quarter is home to century-old establishments that turn out creole cuisine—the traditional cooking of Louisiana that blends French, Spanish, and African-American traditions—with plenty of fancy-restaurant flourishes. The signature old-line meal is a three-hour lunch at Galatoire's, preferably in the mirrored downstairs dining room. Tuxedo-clad waiters are your guides and attendants, and can steer you through the seemingly endless menu of crabmeat-laced specialties and the day's catch from the nearby Gulf of Mexico (209 Bourbon St.; 504-525-2021; entrées, $15-$27). Hard-core fans of Cajun food—the native cuisine of rural southwest Louisiana, which uses local ingredients and lots of spices—might drift over to K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, home base of Paul Prudhomme. The iconic Louisiana chef brought this boldly flavored rustic fare to the world in the 1980s and still turns out a savory crawfish étouffée and a dark-roux gumbo spiked with spicy andouille sausage (416 Chartres St.; 504-524-7394; entrées, $26-$36). Arguably the best Cajun dishes in town can be had at Cochon, in the Warehouse District. Here, chef Donald Link goes whole hog exploring south Louisiana's distinctive flavors, usually conveyed in creations centering on the place's namesake (cochon is French for pig). Try the crunchy patty of slow-roasted pork topped with pickled peaches (931 Tchoupitoulas St.; 504-588-2123; entrées, $12-$18). Fine dining gets a fine-tuning at several restaurants run by award-winning Louisiana natives influenced by the city's legendary food traditions. Local boy Frank Brigtsen does wonders with local fish in his homey Uptown bistro, Brigtsen's (723 Dante St.; 504-861-7610; entrées, $18-$24). Susan Spicer's eclectic, globally influenced cuisine shines at Bayona, a stylish creole cottage in the Quarter (430 Dauphine St.; 504-525-4455; entrées, $24-$27). Young turk John Besh reigns over the elegant Restaurant August (301 Tchoupitoulas St.; 504-299-9777; entrées, $24-$46). You don't have to blow the budget to enjoy quintessential New Orleans dishes. For a pitch-perfect po-boy sandwich overstuffed with crispy fried shrimp or gravy-smothered roast beef, head to Midcity's Parkway Bakery and Tavern (538 Hagan Ave.; 504-482-3047; entrées, $6-$9) or the pleasantly divey Johnny's Po-Boys (511 St. Louis St.; 504-524-8129; entrées, $6-$9). During the cooler months, slurp oysters by the dozen at Casamento's (4330 Magazine St.; 504-895-9761; entrées, $6-$14). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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