Where to stay

Book accommodations in Downtown Lafayette if visiting in April or October, as it's the best location to enjoy the city's two popular festivals. The Festival International de Louisiane arrives in April and includes five days of celebration of the region's culture. In October, it's the turn of the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, a three-day event championing the music and food of South Louisiana. Stay in Breaux Bridge to the east if you want to experience more of the region's Cajun and Zydeco music. The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival takes place in the area every May.

Seafood lovers should book a room in Breaux Bridge, on the banks of the Bayou Teche, to find out why it has been named the crawfish capital of the world. Poche's Market, Restaurant & Smokehouse is a particular lunch-time highlight, serving traditional Cajun dishes, such as cracklins, boudin sausage, or a plate lunch. For a fresh beer and some insight into how it was brewed, stay in a hotel in Broussard where the Parish Brewing Company offers free tours on Saturday afternoons. Alternatively, find a room in Downtown Lafayette for a feast of Cajun and Creole dining options, including Johnson's Boucanière, where smoky Cajun boudins have been served for over 70 years.

Find a room in Broussard for a genuine experience of the Cajun Country of old. Here, more than one of every ten people still speak French. The roots of the neighborhood date back to Valsin Broussard, a descendant of one of the original 200 Acadians who moved to Louisiana. His house remains in the same spot today, alongside 15 Queen Anne Revival residences. Choose accommodations in Breaux Bridge to gyrate on the waxed wooden dancefloor at La Poussiere, a traditional Cajun dancehall and one of the last of its kind. Alternatively, stay in central Lafayette and head for Vermilionville to visit a living history museum set amid a 19th-century bayou village.