New Orleans

The town laid out by French engineers in 1721 and rebuilt under Spanish rule, with courtyards, cast-iron galleries, the antique shops of Royal Street and the neon bars of Bourbon Street.

💡 Walk it in the morning, when the streets have been washed and the courtyards are open to delivery drivers, and save Bourbon Street for a stroll in the evening. The Historic New Orleans Collection, on Royal Street, tells the story of the city for free in handsome galleries. Price: free.

The former Place d'Armes, framed by St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo where the Louisiana Purchase was formalised, the Presbytère and the Pontalba Buildings, with painters and brass bands around the garden.

💡 Come in the morning for the cathedral, which can be visited freely outside services, then cross Decatur Street to the Moonwalk levee to watch the boats go by on the Mississippi. Price: free; the Cabildo and Presbytère museums are paid.

One of the oldest African American neighbourhoods in the country, where Congo Square hosted the Sunday gatherings of enslaved and free Africans, one of the cradles of the rhythms behind jazz.

💡 Visit the neighbourhood by day, with a local guide or sticking to the main streets, and have lunch at Dooky Chase's, the restaurant of chef Leah Chase, frequented by civil rights activists. On Sundays during second line season, the parade routes are published the day before by the radio station WWOZ. Price: free.

Three blocks in the Faubourg Marigny where locals go for live music, with traditional jazz, brass bands, blues and funk in a dozen clubs and an evening artisans' market.

💡 Come after 8pm and do the round of the clubs on foot: entry is often free with a drink, sometimes a few dollars, and a note slipped into the musicians' hat is expected. Snug Harbor, a seated jazz venue, should be booked. Price: free to a few dollars depending on the club.

The 1830s quarter of wealthy Americans, with Greek Revival and Italianate mansions under the oaks, reached by the St. Charles Avenue streetcar and its green cars from 1923.

💡 Get off the streetcar at Washington Avenue and walk between Prytania Street and Chestnut Street, then head back up via Magazine Street and its boutiques, cafés and thrift shops. A streetcar ride costs $1.25, about €1.10, and the one-day Jazzy Pass $3, about €2.60, also valid on the buses and the ferry. Price: free.

A 526-hectare park larger than Central Park, with centuries-old moss-draped oaks, lagoons, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the free Besthoff sculpture garden around a lake.

💡 Take the City Park branch of the Canal Street streetcar line to the museum terminus. The sculpture garden is free and open every day, and the museum is free up to age 19. Price: park free, art museum $23 for a visitor from outside Louisiana, about €20.