15 Best Things to Do in New Orleans

In 2025, New Orleans welcomed more than 19 million visitors for only the third time in its history, making 2024 and 2025 the second - and third-highest-performing tourism years on record, behind only 2019. Those visitors spent $10.8 billion, up $800 million from 2024's $10.0 billion, a sign that people don't just pass through New Orleans, they stay, explore, and come back.

Founded by the French in 1718, the city earns that pull the old-fashioned way. It gave the world jazz, buries its dead in above-ground marble tombs, and treats a weekday afternoon like a reason to celebrate. New Orleans is also one of the country's favorite meeting and event destinations, so plenty of first-timers arrive for a conference and leave already planning their way back. That's good news whether you're here for a long weekend or sourcing the city for your next program.

For event planners and anyone building an off-site or incentive trip, the walkable core that moves a group between sessions is packed with jazz clubs, historic mansions, and museums that double as striking event spaces. Before exploring the best things to do in New Orleans, let’s look at what makes the city an ideal destination for your next event.

What Makes New Orleans an Ideal Event Destination?

New Orleans combines a distinctive cultural identity with the infrastructure needed to host meetings, conferences, and social gatherings. It's walkable downtown, connecting hotels, entertainment districts, dining, and event spaces, making logistics easier for planners and attendees. The city also offers a broad selection of event venues in New Orleans, from large convention facilities to historic settings. For group dining and private events, restaurant venues add local flavor and built-in atmosphere to the attendee experience.

• Walkable and convenient: Key hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and meeting spaces are located close to one another, helping reduce transportation needs.
• Flexible venue options: Event venues in New Orleans support everything from intimate meetings to large conventions and citywide events.
• Memorable dining experiences: Restaurant venues in the city provide private dining, group-friendly spaces, and authentic Creole and Cajun cuisine.
• Culture beyond the agenda: Live music, historic neighborhoods, museums, river experiences, and local attractions give attendees plenty to enjoy outside event sessions.

With the essentials of planning in place, it’s time to explore the top things to do in New Orleans that can make your attendee experience even more memorable.

15 best things to do in New Orleans

You can explore New Orleans a dozen different ways, but the best trips usually start with live jazz and a plate of beignets. From there, the city takes over, blending music, Creole history, and celebrated food into experiences you can't find anywhere else. You've got Frenchmen Street clubs, swamp tours, historic streetcars, and museums that double as event spaces, most within the walkable French Quarter, Garden District, and City Park, plus a few worth the short trip out. Here are 15 of the most memorable.

• Catch live jazz on Frenchmen Street
• Hear a set at Preservation Hall
• Ride the St. Charles streetcar through the Garden District
• Eat beignets with chicory coffee
• Head into the bayou on a swamp tour
• Spend a day at the National WWII Museum
• Go behind the floats at Mardi Gras World
• Order a drink at the revolving Carousel Bar
• Wander City Park, NOMA, and the Singing Oak
• Get delightfully spooked at the Pharmacy Museum
• Cruise the Mississippi on a paddlewheeler
• Take a guided cemetery tour
• Trace cocktail history at the Sazerac House
• Learn real history on a plantation tour
• Play inside interactive art

Now that you've got the overview, let's slow down and explore each of these unique things to do in New Orleans in detail.

1. Catch live jazz on Frenchmen Street

If you only know Bourbon Street, Frenchmen Street will feel like a secret, even though it is barely a 10-minute walk from the French Quarter. This three-block stretch in the Marigny is where locals go to hear the real thing, with small rooms stacked so close together you can club-hop on foot and never repeat a sound. Duck into one spot for a trad-jazz quartet, then follow a trumpet next door to something funkier.

Go early if you want a seat, and bring cash for the tip bucket, since that is how many of these musicians get paid. The energy builds through the night, and part of the fun is simply standing on the corner listening to three bands bleed into one another. For a bigger, more polished jazz experience nearby, The New Orleans Jazz Market in Central City hosts concerts in a purpose-built hall, and Rosy's Jazz Hall pairs live sets with a proper sit-down room.

2. Hear a set at Preservation Hall

A few blocks away in the French Quarter, Preservation Hall has been protecting traditional New Orleans jazz since 1961, and stepping inside feels like time travel. There is no bar, no big stage, and no air conditioning. What you get instead is a bare, candle-worn room where the band plays close enough to touch and the whole crowd leans in.

Two things worth knowing before you go: sets sell out fast, so reserve ahead when you can, and it gets genuinely hot in summer, so dress light. You are hearing music the way it was meant to be heard here, passed down through generations of players who treat the room almost like a shrine.

3. Ride the St. Charles streetcar through the Garden District

The St. Charles line is the oldest continuously operating streetcar in the world, and riding it is both transportation and sightseeing rolled into one cheap fare. Grab a window seat on one of the olive-green cars and roll past the mansions, moss-draped oaks, and wrought-iron fences of the Garden District, a neighborhood that looks almost frozen in the 19th century.

Hop off around Washington Avenue to explore on foot. You can admire the antebellum architecture, browse the boutiques on Magazine Street, and stop for lunch before catching the next car. If you want to stay in the middle of it all, the area has characterful stays like The Garden District Hotel and the Historic Streetcar Inn, both a short walk from the line.

4. Eat beignets with chicory coffee

Beignets are non-negotiable. These square, pillowy fried doughnuts arrive under a small avalanche of powdered sugar, and the classic move is to pair them with a cup of café au lait made with chicory, a slightly bitter root that gives New Orleans coffee its distinctive edge. Order three, share them, and accept that you will end up wearing some of the sugar.

Café du Monde in the French Market is the famous 24-hour institution, but the lines can be long. For a calmer sit-down version in the heart of the Quarter, Café Beignet on Royal Street serves the same treat alongside live music in a courtyard. Either way, go with a plan to slow down. Beignets are a sit-and-people-watch food, not a grab-and-go one.

5. Head into the bayou on a swamp tour

Thirty minutes outside the city, the landscape turns to cypress trees, still black water, and the slow eyes of alligators. A swamp tour is one of the most memorable things you can do near New Orleans, and you have options for how adventurous you want to get. Airboat tours cover more ground with a thrill factor, while smaller pontoon and kayak trips are quieter and better for spotting wildlife up close.

For a free, self-guided version, the Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, protects roughly 26,000 acres of wetlands with boardwalk trails where you can walk out over the swamp and often see alligators, herons, and turtles from a safe distance. Wherever you go, follow your guide's safety guidance and never feed the wildlife. The bayou is a working ecosystem, not a petting zoo.

6. Spend a day at the National WWII Museum

Consistently ranked among the best museums in the country, The National WWII Museum is a genuine surprise for first-time visitors who did not expect it in New Orleans. It sits here because the Higgins boats that carried troops ashore on D-Day were designed and built in the city. Give yourself at least half a day, more if you want to absorb the personal stories, immersive galleries, and restored aircraft.

The scale can be overwhelming, so pick a couple of pavilions to focus on rather than trying to see everything. It also happens to be a striking event space, which is why groups often book it for receptions and dinners among the exhibits.

7. Go behind the floats at Mardi Gras World

You do not have to visit during Carnival to experience Mardi Gras. At Mardi Gras World, the working warehouse where many of the city's parade floats are built, you can walk among towering sculptures, watch artists sculpt and paint, and get a real sense of the year-round craft behind the spectacle. It is colorful, a little surreal, and genuinely fun for kids and adults alike.

For a deeper look at the tradition, the Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture in the French Quarter dives into the history of the krewes, the elaborate costumes, and the customs that make Carnival more than a street party.

8. Order a drink at the revolving Carousel Bar

Inside the historic Hotel Monteleone, the Carousel Bar and Lounge does something no other bar in the city does: it slowly spins. The circular bar rotates a full turn about every 15 minutes, so your view changes as you sip. It sounds gimmicky, and then you sit down and get completely charmed by it.

This is a good place to try a New Orleans classic like a Sazerac or a Vieux Carré, the latter of which was reportedly invented in this very hotel. Come early evening to snag a seat at the bar itself, because the carousel fills up fast and the stools are the whole experience.

9. Wander City Park, NOMA, and the Singing Oak

Bigger than New York's Central Park, New Orleans City Park is a sprawling green escape with ancient live oaks, lagoons, walking paths, and a storybook amusement area for kids. You could spend a whole day here and never feel rushed. Rent a bike, paddle a boat, or just find a bench under a 600-year-old oak and watch the city breathe.

Inside the park, the New Orleans Museum of Art anchors a free, walkable sculpture garden that is one of the loveliest spots in the city. Nearby, seek out the Singing Oak, a huge tree strung with wind chimes, some of them massive, tuned so that the breeze plays soft, echoing notes. It is easy to miss and worth the small hunt.

10. Get delightfully spooked at the Pharmacy Museum

New Orleans has a taste for the macabre, and the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum leans into it in the best way. Housed in the 1823 apothecary of America's first licensed pharmacist, it is packed with 19th-century tools, dubious tonics, old surgical instruments, and voodoo potions. It is small, cheap, and genuinely fascinating, especially if you like your history with a side of unease.

This is also a great rainy-day option in the Quarter. Pair it with a stroll past the nearby historic buildings, and you have an afternoon that feels a little off the beaten path without straying far from the center.

11. Cruise the Mississippi on a paddlewheeler

Seeing New Orleans from the water changes your sense of the place. The Paddlewheeler Creole Queen, an authentic-style riverboat, runs daytime history cruises down to the Chalmette Battlefield and dinner-and-jazz cruises in the evening. The paddlewheel churning behind you, the skyline drifting past, a plate of Creole food in front of you: it is touristy in the way that turns out to be entirely worth it.

The dinner cruise is the crowd-pleaser, but the daytime history sailing is quieter and gives you real context about the river that built the city. Book ahead in peak season, since sailings fill up.

12. Take a guided cemetery tour

New Orleans buries its dead above ground in ornate stone tombs, and its historic cemeteries look like small marble cities. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the oldest in the city, and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District are the most famous. A good guide brings the place alive with stories of yellow fever, family vaults, and the legends surrounding figures like voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.

One practical note: access to several cemeteries is now limited to protect the tombs from damage, so an official guided tour is usually the only way in, and it is the respectful way to visit regardless. Go in the morning before the heat, wear comfortable shoes, and treat the space as the resting place it still is.

13. Trace cocktail history at the Sazerac House

New Orleans has a strong claim as the birthplace of the American cocktail, and The Sazerac House on Canal Street tells that story across three interactive floors. It is part museum, part distillery, part tasting room, and admission is free. You will learn how the Sazerac and the Peychaud's-laced drinks of the city came to be, watch spirits being made, and sample a few along the way.

It is a smart first stop if you plan to drink your way through the Quarter, because it gives you the backstory that makes every later cocktail taste a little more interesting. For the food side of that same coin, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum digs into the region's culinary roots.

14. Learn real history on a plantation tour

A short drive from the city, the River Road plantations offer a sobering, essential counterweight to the party reputation. Rather than romanticizing the antebellum South, the strongest tours confront the reality of slavery that these estates were built on. Whitney Plantation is widely recognized for focusing its entire experience on the lives of the enslaved people who lived and worked there, told through memorials and restored cabins.

Closer to New Orleans, Destrehan Plantation is one of the oldest documented plantation homes in the lower Mississippi Valley and offers guided history tours. Choose a tour that puts history first, go with an open mind, and treat it as a chance to understand the region more honestly.

15. Play inside interactive art

New Orleans has a thriving, hands-on art scene that goes well beyond gallery walls. In the Bywater, the Music Box Village is an outdoor installation of small "musical houses" embedded with instruments that visitors can actually play, turning the whole yard into a collaborative sound sculpture. Elsewhere, immersive galleries built by local artists invite you to touch, climb, and photograph rather than stand back and admire.

For a more traditional but still adventurous art fix, the Contemporary Arts Center and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art both showcase the region's creative energy in the Warehouse District. Together, they round out a trip that proves New Orleans is as much about making things as it is about eating and dancing.

Quick answer: the best unique things to do in New Orleans

If you are short on time, start with live jazz on Frenchmen Street, a set at Preservation Hall, beignets with chicory coffee, a swamp tour, and a spin at the Carousel Bar. Add City Park and the National WWII Museum if you have a full day, and a cemetery or plantation tour for deeper history.

Fun things to do in New Orleans

If your idea of a good trip involves less standing and reading and more laughing out loud, here are some of the most enjoyable ways to spend a day or a night, none of which require a museum ticket.

Follow a second line parade. These rolling street celebrations, complete with a brass band, dancing, and twirling parasols, happen most Sundays through the fall and spring. If you hear the horns, follow the sound and join the back of the crowd. It's the most joyful free thing you can do in the city.

Sip a frozen drink and stroll. New Orleans lets you carry a drink on the street in the French Quarter, so grab a frozen daiquiri to go from a spot like Big Easy Daiquiris and wander with it. Watch the street performers, tarot readers, and artists work their magic around Jackson Square while you're at it.

Take a hands-on cooking class. Learning to make gumbo or jambalaya from a local chef is equal parts fun, tasty, and useful once you're home craving it. Most classes end with you eating everything you made, which is the whole point.

A few more crowd-pleasers worth building in:

• Go boutique bowling and catch live music at Fulton Alley
• Test your team on a themed puzzle at Escape My Room
• Play a round at the City Putt mini-golf course in City Park
• Meet the sharks and penguins at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, then the animals at the Audubon Zoo
• Spend a laid-back evening with live music and wine in the backyard at Bacchanal Wine
• Time your visit to a festival like French Quarter Fest or Jazz Fest for the city at full volume

For groups and event planners, most of these double as easy add-ons to a work trip. Bowling nights, cooking classes, and aquarium buyouts all make for memorable team activities that feel distinctly New Orleans.

Final words

Pick a few things that genuinely excite you, leave room in the schedule for the unplanned brass band or the extra plate of beignets, and let the rest unfold. If you are deciding where to start, think about the trip you actually want. Music lovers should build their evenings around Frenchmen Street and Preservation Hall. History buffs will lose whole days in the National WWII Museum and the River Road plantations. Food-and-drink travelers can trace the city's story from the Sazerac House to its restaurants and markets. 

Families have City Park, the aquarium, and the zoo. And anyone craving the offbeat has the Pharmacy Museum, the swamp, and the city's interactive art scene waiting. For event planners, the same qualities that make New Orleans a great vacation make it a standout meetings destination. The walkable core, the wealth of character-filled venues, and the built-in entertainment mean your attendees' free time takes care of itself, and many of the museums and mansions on this list can be booked for receptions and dinners. When you're ready to plan, browse Cvent Supplier Network to find the right space for your group.

However you spend it, go with an open mind and comfortable shoes. New Orleans has a way of turning a simple trip into the one you keep talking about long after you've left.