When to go to Louisiana?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: March to May and October to November
At a glance
Why go to Louisiana?
Louisiana is the piece of America that was French, then Spanish, then French again before Napoleon sold it in 1803 for 15 million dollars. That history shows in the street names of New Orleans, in a civil law that still takes its cue from the Napoleonic code, in the parishes that stand in for counties and in the Cajun French still spoken by 100,000 people around Lafayette. For French speakers, it is a change of scene with familiar landmarks, and conversations that start easily.
Music is everywhere, and not just for visitors. Jazz was born in the Tremé and Storyville neighbourhoods, brass bands still parade on Sundays behind the second lines, the clubs on Frenchmen Street play seven nights a week, and Cajun country dances on Saturday mornings to accordion and rubboard. The calendar adds Mardi Gras in February or March, Jazz Fest at the end of April, the Festival International in Lafayette at the same time, and village festivals for every local product, crawfish, gumbo or boudin.
Finally, Louisiana is a place to eat. Gumbo with its dark roux and okra, jambalaya, boiled crawfish in spring, Gulf oysters, the fried shrimp po'boy and the beignets at Café du Monde make up a cuisine found nowhere else, born of African, Caribbean, French and Spanish cooking. The great Creole restaurants of New Orleans, Galatoire's, Antoine's and Commander's Palace, have been serving for more than a century, and the bayou dives cost next to nothing.
Map of Louisiana: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- New Orleans
- Oak Alley Plantation
- Lafayette
- Atchafalaya Basin
- Baton Rouge
- Avery Island
How much does a trip to Louisiana cost?
Louisiana costs less than the East Coast or California, with affordable rooms and meals outside the big events. Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and football games make hotel prices triple. The flight and the hire car remain the main expenses, while museums and clubs weigh little.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €70-100/day | Hostel in Marigny, po'boys and red beans, streetcar, free clubs on Frenchmen, plantations by car-share |
| Comfort | €160-230/day | French Quarter boutique hotel, hire car, WWII Museum, two plantations, Creole dinner and a bayou trip |
| Premium | €400+/day | The Roosevelt or Windsor Court, a driver for the River Road, tables at Commander's Palace and Galatoire's, a box at Jazz Fest |
Dollars are paid by card almost everywhere, including in clubs and at food trucks. Tips are expected: 18-22% in restaurants, a dollar or two per drink at the bar, a few dollars for the musicians who pass the hat. Prices are shown before tax: add 9.45% in New Orleans on purchases and 15% on rooms. Keep some cash for the streetcars and outdoor stalls.
Is Louisiana safe?
New Orleans has a high crime rate, but the neighbourhoods visitors frequent, the French Quarter, Marigny, the Garden District and the Warehouse District, remain safe by day and lively until late. Avoid wandering on foot at night towards Central City, the eastern Bywater or northern Tremé, and take a ride-hailing car home after midnight, even for two kilometres. Snatch thefts on Bourbon Street target the phones and wallets of drunk people. Alcohol is drunk in the street from plastic cups, which makes for long nights. The second issue is the climate: from June to November, hurricanes can force an evacuation, in which case airlines give refunds, and summer storms flood the streets within minutes. Finally, the humid summer heat is quickly exhausting, so drink plenty and schedule outdoor visits for the morning. Healthcare is excellent but very expensive, and health insurance is a must.
What to see and do in Louisiana
- French Quarter
- Frenchmen Street
- Garden District and the St. Charles streetcar
- National WWII Museum
- Oak Alley Plantation
- Whitney Plantation
- Atchafalaya Basin
- Lafayette and Cajun country
New Orleans
A city of 380,000 people below sea level, between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain, 80% of which was flooded by Katrina in 2005 and which got back on its feet without losing its character. The French Quarter, Frenchmen Street and the Garden District can be done on foot and by streetcar. Tremé, north of the Vieux Carré, is the cradle of jazz, with Congo Square and the Backstreet Cultural Museum. The Bywater, downriver, is home to murals, galleries and Crescent Park on the riverbank. Allow three nights, four with the WWII Museum and a bayou trip.
River Road and plantations
Between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, both banks of the Mississippi line up 110 km of former sugar cane plantations and the refineries that replaced them, in an area that locals call Cancer Alley. Oak Alley for its avenue of oaks and its architecture, Whitney for the history of the enslaved, Laura for a Creole plantation told through four generations of women. A day by car allows two or three visits, with a gumbo lunch in Vacherie or Donaldsonville. Coach excursions from the city cost more than a hire car.
Lafayette and Cajun country
The state's fourth city, with 120,000 people, is the base for Acadiana, twenty-two parishes where French has survived. Vermilionville and the Acadian Cultural Center tell the story of the 1755 exile, while weekend dances and French-language radio keep it alive. Around it lie Breaux Bridge and its crawfish, St. Martinville and its Evangeline Oak, New Iberia and its main street dating from 1830, and Avery Island, where Tabasco has been made on a salt dome since 1868. Two nights allow for a dance, a bayou trip and a tour of the villages.
Atchafalaya Basin
The largest swamp in North America, a 5,700 km² maze of cypress trees, lakes and channels on Lafayette's doorstep. Boat trips from Henderson or Breaux Bridge last two hours and reveal alligators, turtles, herons and ospreys under the Spanish moss. Lake Martin, 15 km from Lafayette, can be explored on foot or by kayak and hosts a colony of thousands of egrets and roseate spoonbills from February to June. The I-10 bridge crosses the basin for 29 km, and the Butte La Rose visitor centre explains the flood system.
Baton Rouge
The state capital, with 220,000 people, halfway between New Orleans and Lafayette. The 1932 State Capitol, 34 storeys and 137 metres tall, is the tallest in the United States, commissioned by Governor Huey Long, who was assassinated in its corridors in 1935: the observation deck on the 27th floor is free. The Old State Capitol, a neo-Gothic castle from 1847, houses a museum of political history. The destroyer USS Kidd, moored on the Mississippi, is open to visitors. The LSU campus, with its oaks and its 100,000-seat stadium, sets the tone for autumn Saturdays of college football.
Avery Island and New Iberia
A 900-hectare salt dome rising out of the marshes 50 km south of Lafayette, owned by the McIlhenny family, who have made Tabasco there since 1868. The tour takes in the factory, where the peppers ferment for three years in oak barrels under a crust of salt, and the Jungle Gardens, 70 hectares of bamboo, oaks and azaleas with an egret colony saved from extinction in 1895. New Iberia, 10 km away, lines up the 19th-century houses of Main Street along Bayou Teche, including Shadows-on-the-Teche, a planter's mansion from 1834.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Four nights in New Orleans for the city, the WWII Museum and a day of plantations. A week adds Lafayette, the Atchafalaya and Avery Island. Ten days allow for Baton Rouge, Natchitoches to the north or the Gulf coast at Grand Isle.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Louisiana guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of the American West
New Orleans (4 days)
Day 1: the French Quarter on foot, Jackson Square, beignets at Café du Monde, jazz at Preservation Hall in the evening. Day 2: the St. Charles streetcar, the Garden District, Lafayette Cemetery, back via Magazine Street, then the Frenchmen Street clubs. Day 3: the National WWII Museum in the morning, Tremé and Congo Square in the afternoon, Creole dinner. Day 4: the River Road plantations by car, Oak Alley and Whitney, or a bayou trip at Jean Lafitte before your flight.
New Orleans and Cajun country (1 week)
Four days in the city, then a hire car heading west: plantations on the way, a night in Baton Rouge or straight on to Lafayette. Two days in Acadiana with Vermilionville, the Saturday zydeco breakfast in Breaux Bridge, a boat trip in the Atchafalaya and on Lake Martin, and a day out to Avery Island, New Iberia and St. Martinville. Back to New Orleans on the I-10 in two and a half hours, with a last night on Frenchmen Street.
Louisiana in depth (10 days)
The one-week circuit, extended by a northern loop: Baton Rouge and its Capitol, St. Francisville and its cotton plantations in the hills, Natchitoches, the oldest town in Louisiana, founded by the French in 1714, with its river and Creole houses, then back via the bayou road and the coast: Houma, Grand Isle and its beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, with a stop at Jean Lafitte. This format needs a car from the second to the tenth day and legs of 200 to 300 km.
Getting there and getting around
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is 20 km from the centre: shared shuttle $24, taxi $36 at a flat rate, bus 202 at $1.50.
In town, RTA streetcars and buses cost $1.25 a ride and $3 a day, in exact change or via the Le Pass app. The French Quarter, Marigny and the Warehouse District can be done on foot, the Garden District by streetcar. Blue Bikes, the bike-share scheme, covers the flat neighbourhoods.
A car is needed for the River Road, Cajun country and the bayous. Allow €40-60 a day at the airport, less if you book from home before you travel. Parking in the French Quarter is scarce and expensive, so pick up the car on the day you leave the city.
Distances remain reasonable: Baton Rouge is 130 km away, Lafayette 220 km, Natchitoches 400 km, on toll-free highways. Coach excursions to the plantations or the bayous cost $60-90 per person, a price that quickly exceeds that of a hire car.
Where to stay in Louisiana?
Hostels and guesthouses at €30-50 a bed or €80-110 a room in Marigny, Bywater or Mid-City, ten minutes from the Vieux Carré. Highway motels around Lafayette or Baton Rouge cost €70-100 a room.
Boutique hotels in the French Quarter, in Creole houses with courtyards and balconies, €130-220 a night. Prices double for Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, when a three-night minimum is often required. The Warehouse District offers the same price ranges in renovated warehouses.
Grand historic hotels, the Roosevelt, the Monteleone and Windsor Court, at €250-400 a night, with the bars where the Sazerac and the Ramos Gin Fizz were invented. Garden District B&Bs offer columned villas for €180-300.
In Cajun country, the B&Bs of Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville, €100-150, are run by French speakers and include a generous breakfast. A few cabins on stilts can be rented on the edge of the Atchafalaya, at around €150 for four people.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Louisiana?
Gumbo, a thick roux-based soup with okra, smoked sausage, chicken or seafood, is served over rice for $12-20. Jambalaya, rice cooked with meat and spices, and Monday's red beans and rice are the everyday dishes, at $10-15 in neighbourhood cafés.
Gulf oysters are eaten raw by the dozen for $18-25, or chargrilled with garlic butter at Drago's. The po'boy, a sandwich on crusty French bread filled with fried shrimp or oysters, costs $12-18 at Parkway or Domilise's, two institutions.
From March to June, crawfish are sold boiled by the 2 kg with corn and potatoes, $25-35, to be eaten with your fingers at tables covered in newspaper. In Cajun country, boudin, a pork and rice sausage, is eaten hot at petrol stations for $5.
The beignets at Café du Monde, three for $4 with a chicory coffee, and the muffuletta from Central Grocery round out the repertoire. As for drinks, there is the Sazerac with rye and absinthe, the Hurricane at Pat O'Brien's and Abita beer, brewed 60 km from the city.
Entry requirements
UK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Louisiana
When is the best time to visit Louisiana?
From March to May and from October to November: 20-28°C, little rain, crawfish season in spring and one festival after another. Mardi Gras falls in February or March depending on the year, and Jazz Fest at the end of April, with hotels full. Summer is sultry, stormy and exposed to hurricanes, especially from August to early October.
Is French still spoken in Louisiana?
Yes, but not much. Around 100,000 people speak Cajun or Creole French, mostly over-60s in Acadiana, around Lafayette, Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville. Immersion schools and CODOFIL are reviving it, and many shopkeepers are delighted to meet a French speaker. In New Orleans, French survives mainly in the street names.
How many days should I spend there?
Four nights in New Orleans are enough for the city, a museum, a day of plantations and the clubs. A week adds Lafayette and the Atchafalaya bayous, which require a car. Many travellers combine Louisiana with Texas, Memphis and Nashville on a two- to three-week road trip through the South.
Can you visit the plantations without a car?
Yes, on coach excursions from New Orleans, $60-90 per person for one or two plantations, transport and entry included. It is convenient but rigid, and more expensive than a car hired between two or three people, which lets you add Whitney or Laura and stop for lunch on the way. There is no bus or train along the River Road.
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