What to See in New Orleans - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans Mint operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins of nearly every American denomination, with a total face value of over US$ 307 million. It was closed during most of the American Civil War and Reconstruction.

After it was decommissioned as a mint, the building has served a variety of purposes, including as an assay office, a United States Coast Guard storage facility, and a fallout shelter.

Since 1981 it has served as a branch of the Louisiana State Museum. Damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, after over two years of repairs and renovations, the museum reopened in October 2007.

Exhibits include instruments used by some of New Orleans' notable jazz musicians, photographs, and posters, now part of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The site is also a performance venue for jazz concerts, in partnership with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and the private Music at the Mint organization.

The Louisiana Historical Center is located on the third floor of the building. The center includes collections of colonial-era manuscripts and maps, and primary and secondary source materials in a wide range of media. It is open to anyone with an interest in Louisiana history and culture.

The New Orleans Mint has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and it is the oldest extant structure to have served as a U.S. Mint. Along with the Charlotte Mint, it is one of two former mint facilities in the U.S. to house an art gallery.^[2]

Soaring, majestic 18th-century church. The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also called St. Louis Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States. It is dedicated to Saint Louis, also known as King Louis IX of France. The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, under the Spanish rule, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The original St. Louis Cathedral was burned during the great fire of 1788 and was expanded and largely rebuilt and completed in the 1850s, with little of the 1789 structure remaining.

Saint Louis Cathedral is in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on the Place John Paul II (French: Place Jean-Paul II), a promenaded section of Chartres Street (rue de Chartres) that runs for one block between St. Peter Street (rue Saint-Pierre) on the upriver boundary and St. Ann Street (rue Sainte-Anne) on the downriver boundary. It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River in the heart of New Orleans, situated between the historic buildings of the Cabildo and the Presbytère.^[3]

Amusement park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Pontchartrain Beach was an amusement park located in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was founded by Harry J. Batt Sr. and later managed and owned by his sons, Harry J. Batt Jr. and John A. Batt. It opened on Saturday, June 30, 1928, across Bayou St. John from an existing amusement resort at Old Spanish Fort. Pontchartrain Beach's original location is the present-day lakefront neighborhood of Lake Terrace.

In the early 1930s, subsequent to the construction of a seawall extending from West End to the Industrial Canal which created a new shoreline for Lake Pontchartrain, Pontchartrain Beach was moved to a new location at the lake end of Elysian Fields Avenue, a location formerly offshore of Milneburg.

Pontchartrain Beach included a beach with a large art deco style bathhouse and swimming pools, amusement rides (including a wooden roller coaster called the Zephyr), and concession stands. The park featured live music concerts, including many local musicians and touring national acts such as Elvis Presley.

Other rides and amusements included the Zephyr Junior, Smoky Mary, the Wild Maus, Musik Express, Log Ride, the Ragin' Cajun (a modern, looping steel coaster), the Bug, Paratrooper, Scrambler, Calypso, the "airplanes", Haunted House, Ghost Train, bumper cars, carousel, Ferris wheel, the Monster, Trabant, Sky Ride, Hard Rock, Galaxy, Laff in the Dark, Magic Rainbow, Red Baron, and Kiddieland. As with other amusement or theme parks, over time certain older rides were changed out for new ones.

In addition to rides, there were also the summertime shows which changed every few years (Skipper & Dolly dolphin show, Great American High Dive Show, Merlin's Magic Rainbow Show). For a few years there was also a fairly large petting zoo with many farm animals and a huge red barn house. A miniature golf course was added, when this pastime became popular. Just outside the entrance gates was the Bali Hai Tiki-style restaurant. Another popular restaurant was the Ship Ahoy, which featured hamburgers and seafood.

Pontchartrain Beach was sold on September 23, 1983. The main reason it closed down was due to declining attendance.

In 1943, Corporal Douglas O'Brien, a World War II serviceman from Springfield, Massachusetts, fell 75 feet (23 m) to his death from the top of the Zephyr roller coaster. He was 28 years old.^[4]

Multi-purpose stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Caesars Superdome is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.

Plans were drawn up in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis and the building opened as the Louisiana Superdome in 1975. Its steel frame covers a 13-acre (5.3 ha) expanse and the 273-foot (83 m) dome is made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet (207 m), making it the largest fixed domed structure in the world.

The Superdome has routinely hosted major sporting events; it has hosted seven Super Bowl games (and will host its eighth, Super Bowl LIX, in 2025), and five NCAA championships in men's college basketball. In college football, the Sugar Bowl has been played at the Superdome since 1975, which is one of the "New Year's Six" bowl games of the College Football Playoff (CFP). It also traditionally hosts the Bayou Classic, a rivalry game played between the HBCUs Southern University and Grambling State University. The Superdome was also the long-time home of the Tulane Green Wave football team of Tulane University until 2014 (when they returned on-campus at Yulman Stadium), and was the home venue of the New Orleans Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 until 1979.

In 2005, the Superdome housed thousands of people seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina. The building suffered extensive damage as a result of the storm, and was closed for many months afterward. The building was fully refurbished and reopened in time for the Saints' 2006 home opener on September 25.^[8]

Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Woldenberg Park is a park in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was created in the late 1980s on land that had been occupied by old wharves and warehouses along the Mississippi Riverfront, in the upper French Quarter, first opening as a park in October 1989. It is named after philanthropist Malcolm Woldenberg who helped fund its construction.

The upriver end of the park is at Canal Street and the Aquarium of the Americas. It continues downriver to connect with the riverfront "Moon Walk" across from Jackson Square. Woldenberg Park is occasionally the location of live music performances, especially during the French Quarter Festival.

The park includes several art installations. The New Orleans Holocaust Memorial Sculpture, created by Yaacov Agam, sits near the middle of the park. The sculpture presents several different images from various angles, including a Star of David and a menorah. There is also the Monument to the Immigrant, created by Franco Alessandrini and installed in 1995, and "Ocean Song," a stainless steel sculpture.^[12]

Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region of the United States. It is located in New Orleans' French Quarter. The institution was established in 1966 by General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams to keep their collection of Louisiana materials intact and available for research and exhibition to the public.

The Collection operates a museum, which includes the Williams Gallery, Louisiana History Galleries, the Williams Residence, a house museum, and a museum shop. The Williams Research Center, which opened in 1996, makes The Collection's holdings available to researchers. The holdings consist of some 35,000 library items, and approximately 350,000 photographs, prints, drawings, paintings, and other artifacts.

Museum exhibitions have been presented on a wide variety of topics relating to the history and culture of the Gulf South region and the peoples who have influenced it, ranging from the Battle of New Orleans to the development of New Orleans cuisine to more modern subjects, such as the Sugar Bowl and life after Hurricane Katrina. Many of the museum's exhibits are free and open to the public.^[14]

Casino in New Orleans. Harrah's New Orleans is a casino in New Orleans, Louisiana, near the foot of Canal Street a block away from the Mississippi River. It is a 115,000 sq ft casino with approximately 2,100 slot machines, over 90 table games and a poker room. The casino is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment.

There are several places to eat ranging from buffet style to fine dining. Since its opening in 1999 Harrah's has been renting nearby hotel rooms to accommodate its guests; currently, the newly renovated 202-room Wyndham Riverfront Hotel is providing such accommodations. In order to avoid leasing rooms, the casino opened its own 27-story hotel tower with 450 rooms across the street from the casino on September 21, 2006, just days ahead of the New Orleans Saints return to the Louisiana Superdome. It is the only land-based private casino with table games in the state by Louisiana law (there are other casinos in the state with their gambling facilities on floating boats and horse racing racinos with slot machines). It is referred to in state statute as "the official gaming establishment".

The casino shut down in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but reopened in the midst of Mardi Gras on February 17, 2006.

The location of the casino was most recently previously the site of the Rivergate Convention Center, demolished in 1995. A short tunnel built as part of the canceled Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway is used for valet parking and for an entrance passing underneath Poydras Street.^[15]

Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Hermann–Grima House is a historic house museum in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The meticulously restored home reflects 19th century New Orleans. It is a handsome Federal-style mansion with courtyard garden, built in 1831. It has the only extant horse stable and 1830s open-hearth kitchen in the French Quarter.

The house has been restored to its original splendor through archaeological studies and careful review of the building contract and inventories. The house is recognized as one of the earliest examples of American architecture in the French Quarter. The restoration accurately depicts the gracious lifestyle of a prosperous Creole family. Approximately one-half of the collection can be sourced to original families.

The Christian Woman's Exchange (now The Woman's Exchange), a local non-profit organization, purchased the property in the 1920s and ran it as a boarding house for single women until 1975. It was restored and reopened as a museum in 1975, and The Woman's Exchange still owns and operates the building today. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.^[16]

City park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis Armstrong Park is a 32-acre park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter.

In the 1960s a controversial urban renewal project leveled a substantial portion of the Tremé neighborhood adjacent to Congo Square. After a decade of debate, the City created the present-day park from that land. This park was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley and was named after New Orleans-born Jazz legend Louis Armstrong.

The footprint of the present-day park contains the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts and several buildings owned by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. The portion of the park immediately in front of the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium is the site of Congo Square, formerly known as Beauregard Square, famous for its role in the history of African American music and spiritual practice.

Some elements of the park's design have been subject to critique throughout the years. Residents of the adjacent Tremé and French Quarter neighborhoods have called for the removal of the large fence that separates the park from surrounding areas and for incorporating the large concrete parking lots in the rear of the park into the park's greenspace The presence of these parking lots are often attributed to high rates of subsidence and flooding along N. Villere Street.

Louis Armstrong Park was home to the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1970. While that festival has moved to the larger space of New Orleans Fairgrounds, Armstrong Park has more recently been the home of many other events, including the "Jazz in the Park" free concert series, the Treme Creole Gumbo Fest, and the Louisiana Cajun & Zydeco Festival.

Monuments include a 12-foot statue of Louis Armstrong. by Elizabeth Catlett, a bust of Sidney Bechet, and a depiction of Buddy Bolden.^[17]

Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. City Park, a 1,300-acre public park in New Orleans, Louisiana, is the 87th largest and 20th-most-visited urban public park in the United States. City Park is approximately 50% larger than Central Park in New York City, the municipal park recognized by Americans nationwide as the archetypal urban greenspace. Although it is an urban park whose land is owned by the City of New Orleans, it is administered by the City Park Improvement Association, an arm of state government, not by the New Orleans Parks and Parkways Department. City Park is unusual in that it is a largely self-supporting public park, with most of its annual budget derived from self-generated revenue through user fees and donations. In the wake of the enormous damage inflicted upon the park due to Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism began to partially subsidize the park's operations.

City Park holds the world's largest collection of mature live oak trees, some older than 600 years in age. The park was founded in 1854, making it the 48th oldest park in the country, and established as the "City Park" in 1891.^[18]

Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium is an insectarium and entomology museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. As part of its move from its previous location at the U.S. Custom House Federal Building to the site of the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, the museum is closed with an undetermined opening date.

The Butterfly Garden and Insectarium opened on June 13, 2008. In 2009, it was awarded the Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Science Center.

Part of the Audubon Nature Institute complex, it was located on the first floor of the U.S. Custom House Federal Building. With more than 50 live exhibits and numerous multimedia elements, the 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) facility was the largest free-standing American museum dedicated to insects.

In September 2020, the Audubon Nature Institute announced the temporary closure of the Insectarium, owing to revenue shortages caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Some of the Insectarium's exhibits will be relocated to space within the Aquarium of the Americas.^[19]

Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans African American Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, is located in the historic Tremé neighborhood, the oldest-surviving black community in the United States. The NOAAM of Art, Culture and History seeks to educate and to preserve, interpret, and promote the contributions that people of African descent have made to the development of New Orleans and Louisiana culture, as slaves and as free people of color throughout the history of American slavery as well as during emancipation, Reconstruction, and contemporary times.

The NOAAM property encompasses seven historical structures located on the site of a former plantation. The main large building, built of brick in 1828–1829, is the Meilleur-Goldthwaite House, the finest remaining Creole "maison de maître" or master's house in the city. It is a raised center-hall cottage with large dormer windows. Its outbuildings, original interior, and much of the large lot on which it was built have been preserved as part of the site.

In September 1991, the Villa Meilleur was purchased by the City of New Orleans. This historic landmark was restored under the administration of Mayor Marc H. Morial, the Mayor's Division of Housing & Neighborhood Development, New Orleans Affordable Home Ownership, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

It has become the cornerstone of redevelopment in Tremé. Permanent and temporary exhibits spotlight contemporary artists in the main house and in the former slave quarters. Having suffered substantial roof and water damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the museum was restored and reopened in February 2008. Additional improvements to the remaining structures started under the leadership of former Executive Director Jonn Hankins.^[20]

Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lafayette Square is the second-oldest public park in New Orleans, Louisiana, located in the present-day Central Business District. During the late 18th century, this was part of a residential area called Faubourg Sainte Marie.

The park was designed in 1788 by Charles Laveau Trudeau aka Don Carlos Trudeau (1743–1816), Surveyor General of Louisiana under the Spanish government; who later served as New Orleans' acting mayor in 1812, after Louisiana statehood. The Square was named after Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War. The park has a bronze statue of Henry Clay in the center of the park, and statues of John McDonogh and Benjamin Franklin on St. Charles Avenue and Camp Street.

Gallier Hall, the former City Hall of New Orleans faces the square on St. Charles Avenue. Although the city government has moved elsewhere, the square is still used for inaugurations and civic events. The square also often hosts live music.

From 1834 to 1938 First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans occupied much of the Western side of the square and was the tallest steeple in the city. It was from this steeple that General Benjamin Butler used the bell to ring curfew during the occupation of New Orleans (1862–65) during the American Civil War. Most of the architectural elements (including the bell) were moved to First Presbyterian's subsequent location at the corner of South Claiborne and Jefferson Avenues in New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the trees in the park, with broken glass and debris from nearby buildings making the park unsafe. A group of neighborhood residents and downtown workers formed a charitable organization, the Lafayette Square Conservancy, to transform it into a premier urban space.^[25]

Bridge in Gretna, Louisiana. The Crescent City Connection, formerly the Greater New Orleans Bridge, is a pair of cantilever bridges that carry U.S. Highway 90 Business over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. They are tied as the fifth-longest cantilever bridges in the world. Each span carries four general-use automobile lanes; additionally the westbound span has two reversible HOV lanes across the river.

It is the farthest downstream bridge on the Mississippi River. It is also the widest and most heavily traveled bridge on the lower Mississippi; the only other comparable bridges on the Mississippi are in the St. Louis area, those being the Poplar Street Bridge, the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, and the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge.^[26]

Amusement park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Carousel Gardens is a seasonally operated amusement park located in New Orleans, Louisiana at City Park. It features many rides, including the Live Oak Ladybug Rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, a drop tower called the Coney Tower, and a miniature train that tours the park. It is also home to one of the oldest carousels in the US, also known as the “Flying Horses”.

The park is open on the weekends and closed on holidays. Admission is $4/ person or ride, $18/ unlimited rides, and children under 36” are free. Season passes are also available which last for the year. In the park there are a few important rules guests are asked to follow. A few of the ones which are most emphasized are no pets or food are permitted, and to enter, wristbands are required.^[27]