New Orleans

Airboat tours

New Orleans never stops partying — it just changes costumes. The best time to visit New Orleans is whenever you get there: Catch beads at Mardi Gras, devour crawfish in spring, or haunt the French Quarter for Halloween. Summer is sweaty, but sno-balls and air-conditioned museums make it cooler. Fall means oysters and second lines, while winter brings holiday cocktails.

At any time, expect live jazz on Frenchmen Street, ghostly cemeteries, and parades you didn’t plan for. Here’s what to do each month in New Orleans so you can catch the best events and eat the right foods in each season.

Spend a weekend in New Orleans and step into a jazz-fueled fever dream, where every corner has something to surprise your senses.

At Café du Monde, you’ll find beignets — aka powdered sugar bombs — and po’boys so stuffed they’re a food group all by themselves. The Historic Voodoo Museum will blow your mind, while Bourbon Street might blow your eardrums, though Frenchmen Street is where the real music magic happens. Add in Second Line parades, cemetery tours, and ghost stories, and you’ll have a weekend in New Orleans worth writing home about.

From jazz to Voodoo to perfected bowls of gumbo, New Orleans is one of the most unique destinations in the world. Whether you’re exploring the storied tombs of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 or biting into Louisiana’s iconic po’boy sandwich in the French Quarter, there’s nothing quite like The Big Easy.

If it’s your first time in New Orleans, you’ll want to know how to get around, what dishes to try, and which are the best places to visit. This first-timer’s guide will navigate you through all the essential things to know about New Orleans for your inaugural visit.

The oldest documented plantation home in the Lower Mississippi Valley, Destrehan Plantation offers a glimpse into Louisiana’s sugarcane industry, the history of slavery, and Creole culture. And since the plantation is just a half-an-hour drive from the center of New Orleans, it’s a worthwhile place to visit — especially if you want to visit all the New Orleans must-see landmarks and better understand the city by learning about its history.

Why is Destrehan Plantation worth visiting? And what’s the haunted night tour? From useful tips for visiting Destrehan Plantation to interesting facts, this guide will walk you through all you need to know.