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The New Orleans Bucket List — Trip Planner
Planning this trip in New Orleans? Here’s how to decide what’s worth your time. The once-in-a-lifetime experiences that define a New Orleans trip — the bucket-list tours and tickets worth planning around.
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Top experiences in New Orleans
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What's actually worth your time in New Orleans
Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral cost nothing and give you the Quarter's best twenty minutes. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 has admitted visitors only with a licensed guide since 2015, so the free wander people still expect no longer exists. The St. Charles streetcar through the Garden District is a $1.25 sightseeing tour. Bourbon Street is a photo stop, while Royal and Chartres are the streets worth walking.
New Orleans's museums, and which one to pick
The National WWII Museum is the serious one, with general admission from $27 to $37, Beyond All Boundaries and the submarine experience priced separately, and it consumes most of a day. The Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal Street is free and holds the city's own documents. NOMA sits in City Park beside the free Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Backstreet Cultural Museum documents Mardi Gras Indian suits.
New Orleans after dark
Open containers are legal in the Quarter provided the cup is plastic, which is why bars hand you a go-cup on the way out. Louisiana sets no statewide closing time and plenty of Bourbon Street bars never lock the door. Frenchmen Street, three blocks downriver, is where residents go for brass and jazz across a dozen rooms. Preservation Hall sells short acoustic sets, roughly $25 to $50, with no drinks and no air conditioning.
What to eat in New Orleans
Red beans and rice is a Monday dish here for a laundry-day reason that outlived laundry day, and Monday menus still say so. Central Grocery on Decatur invented the muffuletta, while Parkway and Domilise's argue over roast beef po-boys. Cafe du Monde serves beignets and chicory cafe au lait around the clock. Charbroiled oysters at Drago's are butter, garlic and open flame, not a raw bar.
New Orleans with kids, realistically
City Park's Storyland and the antique Carousel Gardens target under-eights and cost far less than the zoo does. Audubon Zoo and the Audubon Aquarium sit at opposite ends of the streetcar network, and the streetcar itself entertains small children for the fare alone. Bourbon Street is genuinely unsuitable after dark. Uptown Mardi Gras parades along St. Charles are family territory; the Quarter's routes are not.
When to go to New Orleans
| Best months for bucket list | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| October | 26°C / 79°F | 7 days |
| December | 18°C / 64°F | 9 days |
| November | 21°C / 70°F | 10 days |
The month to avoid is July — around 31°C (88°F) with roughly 24 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: October is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, A packable rain shell or compact umbrella earns its space, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.
Where to base yourself in New Orleans
- French Quarter — The 300-year-old heart — wrought-iron balconies, Bourbon chaos, quiet Royal Street elegance one block over.
- Faubourg Marigny — Frenchmen Street's live-jazz row — where locals actually go at night.
- Garden District — Oak-shaded mansions, Lafayette Cemetery, Magazine Street shopping.
- Bywater — Pastel shotgun houses, murals, and the city's indie café-and-gallery scene.