Best Breakfast & Brunch in New Orleans

New Orleans doesn’t just eat breakfast — it celebrates it. Beignets buried in powdered sugar, bananas set on fire tableside, jazz bands playing during brunch, and Bloody Marys that could double as a meal.

The Icons

Café Du Monde (French Quarter) — Open since 1862. Three items: beignets (fried dough covered in a mountain of powdered sugar), café au lait, and orange juice. Open 24 hours. Sit at the open-air tables overlooking Jackson Square. Powdered sugar will coat everything within a 3-foot radius. Don’t wear black.

Best Restaurants in New Orleans

New Orleans may be the best food city in America. The culinary traditions here — Creole, Cajun, French, African, Caribbean — have been layering on top of each other for 300 years, and the result is a food culture so deep that even the gas station food is good.

The Icons

Commander’s Palace (Garden District) — The grande dame of New Orleans dining. Haute Creole cuisine in a turquoise Victorian mansion. The turtle soup, the pecan-crusted Gulf fish, and the bread pudding soufflé are legendary. Lunch is the best value — the 25-cent martini lunch special (yes, really) is a New Orleans tradition.

Bourbon Street — Complete Nightlife & Bar Guide

Bourbon Street is the most famous party street in America.

Legends

Pat O’Brien’s — home of the Hurricane. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop — built 1720s, oldest bar structure. Preservation Hall — pure jazz, $25, no drinks.

How It Works

Bars open until whenever. Go-cups are legal. Balconies are the best spots. Gets wilder as you walk from Canal toward St. Ann.

Beyond Bourbon

Frenchmen Street — the locals’ version. Spotted Cat, d.b.a., and The Maison. This is where the real music scene lives.

Day Trips from New Orleans

New Orleans sits at the edge of the Louisiana bayou — one of the most unique ecosystems in North America. Swamp tours, Cajun country, historic plantations, and the Gulf Coast are all within easy reach.

Swamp Tours — 30-60 Minutes

The Louisiana bayou starts just outside the city limits. Airboat and pontoon boat tours navigate through cypress swamp, past alligators, herons, turtles, and Spanish moss-draped trees. It’s a completely different world from the French Quarter — and it’s 30 minutes away.

Free Things to Do in New Orleans

New Orleans gives away more free culture per square mile than any city in America. The music alone — jazz pouring out of every club on Frenchmen Street, brass bands on street corners, second line parades on random Sunday afternoons — is worth the trip. And it’s all free.

Free Music

Frenchmen Street — The real live music street in New Orleans (Bourbon Street is for tourists; Frenchmen is where locals go for music). Many clubs have no cover charge — you can walk down the street, listen from the doorway, step inside for a song, and move to the next. d.b.a., The Spotted Cat, and The Maison all have nightly live music, often free.

New Orleans Timeshare Promotions

New Orleans is one of the most unique cities in America — a place where the music, food, architecture, and culture are unlike anything else you’ll find in the country. Timeshare promotional deals in New Orleans offer suite-style accommodations for qualified visitors who want to experience the Crescent City at a fraction of the retail hotel rate.

Here’s how it works, what it costs, and how to decide if it’s right for your next New Orleans trip.

New Orleans with Kids — Family Guide

New Orleans is one of the most interesting cities in America for kids — the music is everywhere, the food is extraordinary (and kid-friendly), and the experiences are unlike anything else in the country. Street parades, alligators, beignets, and streetcar rides make NOLA a family adventure.

Can’t-Miss Experiences

Beignets at Café Du Monde — Hot beignets covered in powdered sugar. Kids get covered in powdered sugar. Everyone laughs. It’s the quintessential New Orleans family moment. Open 24 hours.

Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is unlike any other city in America. The food is its own cuisine. The music was born here. The architecture looks like it belongs in France. And the attitude toward having a good time is baked into the culture at a molecular level.

You don’t visit New Orleans — you experience it.

The French Quarter

The oldest neighborhood in the city and the epicenter of everything tourists come for.