Best time to travel in New Orleans?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with 2015-2024 averages
Best time: February to May and October to November
Best avoided if possible: July to August (less pleasant weather or big crowds).
Temperatures and rainfall: 1991-2020 normals from the New Orleans Audubon station, NOAA data (public domain).
Humid subtropical in a bend of the Mississippi: muggy summers around 33°C with almost daily thunderstorms, mild winters around 17°C with the odd cold snap, and a hurricane season from June to November. The best time to visit New Orleans is February, March, April, May, October and November, with temperatures reaching 33-34°C (July). By contrast, January, June, July, August, September and December are generally less favourable (less pleasant weather or big crowds, depending on the destination), though a trip is still possible with a bit of planning. In high season, book early: prices and visitor numbers climb fast.
Go against the flow. To avoid the crowds without sacrificing too much on the weather, aim for January, June, September and December: the crowds thin out, prices drop too, and the climate stays pleasant.
Do these months appeal to you? See what's best elsewhere too: where to go in February · where to go in March · where to go in April · where to go in May · where to go in October · where to go in November.
At a glance
Why go to New Orleans?
New Orleans is the most French city in the United States, and yet it looks nothing like France. Founded in 1718 by Bienville, ceded to Spain in 1763, sold by Napoleon along with the whole of Louisiana in 1803, it was populated by French settlers, enslaved Africans, refugees from Saint-Domingue, Acadians, Spaniards, Irish, Germans and Sicilians. From this mix came a cuisine, an architecture and a music that exist nowhere else, and streets that are still called Toulouse, Bourbon or Chartres.
It is the city of jazz, born in the early 20th century among the brass bands of the benevolent societies, the churches and the dance halls of Storyville and Tremé, and music remains an everyday practice here rather than a museum piece. You hear it in the clubs of Frenchmen Street every evening, in the streets of the French Quarter at all hours, and on Sundays in the second lines, the neighbourhood parades where the crowd follows a brass band for kilometres. The festivals, Mardi Gras, the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest, set the rhythm of the year.
Finally, it is a city to eat your way through: gumbo, jambalaya, fried shrimp po'boys, Monday red beans, boiled crawfish in spring, beignets dusted with icing sugar and chicory coffee. The grand Creole restaurants of the French Quarter have been serving for more than a century, alongside neighbourhood canteens and chefs reinventing Southern cooking. More than twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, which flooded 80% of the city in 2005, New Orleans has kept what gives it its character.
Tourist map of New Orleans: what's where?
The map below pinpoints the 6 places covered in this guide: a handy way to picture the distances between each stop and plan your route in New Orleans.
- Jackson Square
- Frenchmen Street
- Garden District
- National WWII Museum
- St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
- City Park
How much does a trip to New Orleans cost in 2026? Budget calculator
Estimate your budget for New Orleans based on your travel style: accommodation, meals, activities and local transport included (flights excluded). Adjust the length and the number of travellers, and the totals update.
Totals for all travellers over the chosen length; the daily amount is per person. Flights extra, indicative amounts to adjust depending on the season.
Dollars are paid by card almost everywhere, but keep small notes for street musicians, the hats passed round in clubs and tips at second lines. Prices are shown before tax: sales tax is added to purchases and meals, and rooms carry high hotel taxes. Tips of 18 to 22% are expected in restaurants, and a dollar or two per drink at the bar.
Safety in New Orleans: should you be worried?
New Orleans has one of the highest violent crime rates of any major American city, even though it mainly affects neighbourhoods that visitors do not frequent. In the French Quarter, the Marigny and the Garden District, which are very busy, vigilance is enough: keep your phone and wallet in front of you in the Bourbon Street crowds, turn down street bets and hustlers, and leave nothing visible in a car. At night, do not stray from the lively streets, avoid walking through Louis Armstrong Park and the deserted stretches around Rampart Street, and get back by taxi or ride-hailing car. Alcohol flows at all hours, and so do the excesses. In summer, the humid heat is quickly tiring, so drink often. Storms regularly flood the low-lying streets within minutes. Hurricane season runs from June to November: follow the city's instructions if a storm approaches. Health insurance covering the United States is essential.
Things to see and do in New Orleans
Our first-hand favourites, and the great classics:
- French Quarter
- Jackson Square
- Frenchmen Street
- Garden District
- National WWII Museum
- St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
- Tremé and Congo Square
- City Park
What to book before you go to New Orleans →
🧭 Discover the New Orleans itinerary, day by dayMap, timings, budget and where to stay: free to access, to fit your dates. Create my tailor-made itinerary →The French Quarter
The French Quarter, or Vieux Carré, laid out in 1721, lies between Canal Street, Esplanade Avenue, Rampart Street and the river. Royal Street and Chartres Street are the most beautiful, with their cast-iron galleries, antique shops and courtyards. Jackson Square and the cathedral form its centre, the French Market and the river levee its edge. Bourbon Street, the street of bars, is noisy and lively until late; the lower part of the quarter, towards Esplanade, is residential and peaceful. Preservation Hall, a small venue from 1961, plays traditional jazz several times a night.
Faubourg Marigny and Bywater
East of the French Quarter, the Marigny is a Creole faubourg of low wooden houses, Creole cottages and shotgun houses, in bright colours. Frenchmen Street concentrates its music clubs. Further on, Bywater, a former working-class district, has become the artists' quarter, with its painted walls, its cafés and Crescent Park, a promenade along the Mississippi with views of the city. In the evening, the Marigny is more intimate and more local than the French Quarter.
Tremé
North of Rampart Street, the oldest African American neighbourhood in the city, where free people of colour owned their homes from the early 19th century. Louis Armstrong Park, with Congo Square, the New Orleans African American Museum, St. Augustine Church of 1842 and the Creole houses of Esplanade Avenue tell its story. The benevolent societies organise their second lines here, and the Mardi Gras Indians, groups in beaded feather costumes, parade here on Mardi Gras day.
Garden District and Uptown
Upriver, the St. Charles Avenue streetcar runs through 10 km of oaks and mansions, from the centre to Tulane and Loyola universities and Audubon Park, with its zoo. The Garden District, at the start of the route, lines up the finest Greek Revival houses in the city, and Magazine Street, running parallel, its boutiques, second-hand shops and cafés for several kilometres. This is the area where you take your time, by streetcar or by bike, far from the bustle of the French Quarter.
Warehouse District and CBD
Between Canal Street and the motorway, the old cotton warehouses of the business district have become galleries, lofts and restaurants. Here you find the National WWII Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, devoted to artists from the South, and the Contemporary Arts Center. Julia Street lines up galleries and restored facades. It is also the district of the big hotels, 10 minutes' walk from the French Quarter, and the departure point for the Canal Street ferry to Algiers Point, a village on the other bank.
Mid-City and City Park
To the north, at the end of the Canal Street streetcar line, Mid-City mixes large cemeteries, neighbourhood houses and Bayou St. John, a former waterway where people paddle kayaks and picnic on the banks. City Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country, brings together the art museum, the free sculpture garden and the botanical garden. Jazz Fest is held every spring at the neighbouring racecourse, the Fair Grounds. This is where you eat the most renowned neighbourhood po'boys.
How many days, and which itinerary in New Orleans?
Three days cover the French Quarter, the Garden District, the National WWII Museum and two evenings on Frenchmen Street. Four or five add Tremé, City Park, the Marigny and Bywater, and a second line Sunday. Beyond that, the city becomes the gateway to Louisiana: the River Road plantations, the bayous and Cajun Country.
🗺️ Day-by-day New Orleans itinerary · 📓 Printable New Orleans travel guide (PDF) · 🌍 Discover all of the American West
The essentials (3 days)
Day 1: Jackson Square and the cathedral in the morning, beignets at the French Market, Royal Street and its galleries, a guided tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in the afternoon, Creole dinner and Frenchmen Street in the evening. Day 2: the National WWII Museum from opening time until the early afternoon, the St. Charles streetcar to the Garden District, a walk and Magazine Street, a concert at Preservation Hall. Day 3: Tremé and Congo Square in the morning, lunch at Dooky Chase's, City Park and the sculpture garden, last evening in the Marigny.
The city in depth (5 days)
The three days of the essentials, plus a day in Bywater and Crescent Park, the ferry to Algiers Point and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and a day by bike in Mid-City, Bayou St. John by kayak and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Plan to be there on a Sunday to follow a second line. A car is unnecessary: streetcars, bikes and taxis are enough.
New Orleans and Louisiana (1 week)
Four nights in the city for the essentials and a second line evening, then three days by car: the River Road and its plantations, including Whitney, devoted to the history of slavery, a boat trip in the Atchafalaya swamps, and a night in Lafayette, in the heart of Cajun Country, where people still dance to the accordion. Return by road or fly from Lafayette.
How to get to New Orleans and get around?
From Europe, Louis Armstrong International Airport is usually reached with a connection in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Washington or London, for a journey of 12 to 14 hours. It lies 25 km west of the centre, 30 minutes by taxi, at a flat rate, or by ride-hailing car; an RTA express bus line also links the airport to the centre.
Streetcars are the city's means of transport: the St. Charles line to the Garden District and Uptown, the Canal Street line to Mid-City and City Park, the Riverfront line along the river and the Rampart line to the Marigny. A ride costs $1.25, about €1.10, and the one-day Jazzy Pass $3, about €2.60, bought in the Le Pass app or on board with the exact fare.
The French Quarter, the Marigny and the Warehouse District can be done on foot. Cycling, with a bike-share network, is handy in this flat city, provided you watch out for potholes. The Canal Street ferry crosses the Mississippi to Algiers Point in a few minutes, for about $2.
A car is unnecessary in the city and parking is expensive in the French Quarter, where hotels charge $40-55 a night for it. Hire one only for excursions to the plantations, the swamps or Cajun Country.
Where to stay in New Orleans?
The French Quarter offers boutique hotels in Creole houses with inner courtyards and balconies, from €150 to €350 a night outside events. Avoid rooms on Bourbon Street if you want to sleep: the music rarely stops before 3am.
The CBD and the Warehouse District group together the big chain hotels and a few characterful places, from €130 to €280, 10 minutes' walk from the French Quarter. Luxury hotels go above €400.
The Marigny, Bywater and the Garden District offer B&Bs and guesthouses in old houses, quieter, from €120 to €250. They suit a stay of several days, with the streetcar or a bike to reach the centre.
Prices triple during Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest in late April and early May, New Year and the big games at the Superdome: book six months ahead for these dates. July, August and December are the cheapest months. Hotel taxes, which are high, are added to the advertised price.
Our picks stop by stop, in three price ranges →
What to eat in New Orleans?
Creole cooking, urban and heir to French, Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisines, is distinct from Cajun cooking, more rustic, brought by the Acadians of the bayous, but the two meet on every menu: gumbo thickened with roux or okra, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, and red beans and rice, traditionally served on Mondays.
The grand Creole restaurants of the French Quarter and the Garden District, some of which have been serving since the 19th century, offer oysters Rockefeller, trout meunière and pain perdu for dessert, for $50-100 per person; lunch there often costs half as much as dinner.
The po'boy, a sandwich of crusty French bread filled with fried shrimp or oysters or roast beef in gravy, is eaten for $12-20 in neighbourhood canteens, as is the muffuletta, a large round loaf filled with cured meats and olive salad, a legacy of the Sicilians. In spring, boiled crawfish are sold by weight.
Square beignets covered in icing sugar and café au lait with chicory are taken at the French Market or in City Park. For drinks, there is the Sazerac, the city's official cocktail, and the rum-based Hurricane. You can drink in the street, in a plastic cup. Add a tip of 18 to 22% at restaurants.
Which kind of traveller is it for?
New Orleans lends itself to a cultural, foodie and festive trip. Whether you travel with friends, as a couple or even with family, everyone finds their own pace. For accommodation, you will mostly find classic hotels and boutique hotels.
Entry requirements & practical info
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: before you leave, check your country's official travel advice.
Once there, to stay online without paying roaming charges, an New Orleans eSIM activates in a few minutes and works as soon as you land (plans from €3.99). Remember suitable travel insurance too.
Frequently asked questions about New Orleans
When is the best time to visit New Orleans?
From February to May and in October-November, with 20 to 28°C. Spring concentrates Mardi Gras, in February or March depending on the date of Easter, the French Quarter Festival in April, which is free, and Jazz Fest in late April and early May, at the cost of very expensive hotels. Summer is muggy, above 33°C with high humidity, and coincides with hurricane season.
How many days do you need in New Orleans?
Three days for the French Quarter, the Garden District, the National WWII Museum and two evenings of music. Four or five for Tremé, City Park, Bywater and a second line Sunday. Add two or three days for the plantations, the bayous and Cajun Country.
Is French still spoken in New Orleans?
Very little in the city itself, where English has dominated since the 19th century, even though the names of streets, neighbourhoods and dishes remain French. Cajun French is still spoken in Cajun Country, around Lafayette, two hours' drive to the west, mostly among older people and in immersion schools.
Do you need a car in New Orleans?
Not for the city: the French Quarter and the Marigny can be done on foot, the streetcars reach the Garden District and City Park for $1.25 a ride, and parking is expensive. A car becomes useful for the plantations, the swamps and Cajun Country.
Can you visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on your own?
No, entry is allowed only on an official guided tour run by the archdiocese, lasting about 55 minutes, to be booked online or at the Basin St. Station counter, from $29 per adult, about €25. Other cemeteries, such as those on Canal Street in Mid-City, remain open for independent visits.
Is New Orleans dangerous?
The city has a high crime rate, concentrated in neighbourhoods far from the tourist sites. In the French Quarter, the Marigny and the Garden District, the usual precautions are enough: stay on the lively streets at night, get back by taxi or ride-hailing car when it is late, and watch your belongings in the crowds.
What is a second line in New Orleans?
A neighbourhood parade organised by a benevolent society, a social aid and pleasure club, behind a brass band: the first line is the club in costume, the second line is the crowd that follows, dancing. They take place on Sunday afternoons from roughly August to June, and anyone can follow. The radio station WWOZ publishes the routes.
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