French Quarter

A look around

What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.

1/4

Where it sits

The circle is French Quarter and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.

How far is everything?

From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.

• The Mississippi Riverfront6 min walk508 m
• Creole & Cajun food6 min walk513 m
• The above-ground cemeteries7 min walk544 m
• Frenchmen Street10 min walk874 m
• The National WWII Museum22 min walk1.8 km
• The St Charles Streetcar8 min taxi2.5 km
• The Garden District12 min taxi3.9 km
• Magazine Street shopping12 min taxi4.1 km

On your doorstep

What you’re living next to if you stay here.

• 1.The French Quarter — The magical heart of the city — the French Quarter, a compact grid of pastel Creole townhouses draped in lacy wrought-iron balconies, hidden courtyards, jazz drifting from doorways, atmospheric bars and the grand Jackson Square with its cathedral. Simply wandering its streets, soaking up the architecture, music and buzz (and steering around rowdy Bourbon Street), is the essential New Orleans experience. Go by day for the beauty and by night for the magic; it feels like nowhere else in America. Utterly unmissable and endlessly atmospheric.
• 2.Live jazz & brass bands — New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and hearing it live is the soul of any visit — from the historic Preservation Hall (a tiny, sweaty shrine to traditional jazz) to the clubs of Frenchmen Street and the spontaneous brass bands and second-line parades in the streets. The music is everywhere, raw and joyous, and utterly woven into the city's being. Squeeze into Preservation Hall, wander Frenchmen Street's clubs, and follow a brass band; it's a magical, essential, only-in-New-Orleans experience. Soulful and unforgettable. Don't miss it.
• 3.Café du Monde & beignets — A New Orleans institution since 1862 — Café du Monde, the famous open-air coffee stand by the river, where you sit under the green awning over a plate of hot, pillowy beignets buried in powdered sugar and a cup of chicory café au lait. It's touristy, cash-only and often busy, but utterly essential; the sugar-dusted beignets and chicory coffee are a quintessential New Orleans treat. Go early to beat the queue, and expect to wear some powdered sugar. A delicious, iconic ritual. A must-do, morning or late-night.
• 4.Frenchmen Street — The locals' answer to Bourbon Street — Frenchmen Street in the Marigny, a two-block strip packed with live-music clubs where you can bar-hop between brass, jazz, funk and blues bands almost any night, plus a nightly outdoor art market. It's where New Orleanians go for the real music, without the drunken tourist chaos of Bourbon. Wander from club to club, catch a few sets, and soak up the authentic, joyous music scene; it's a highlight of any night in the city. The heart of the real New Orleans nightlife. Brilliant and unmissable.