French Quarter Sightseeing Featured Stories

Photo by Cheryl GerberThe French Quarter is without a doubt the most touristy neighborhood in New Orleans — but is it also a place where locals hang out? Are there even French Quarter locals?Yes and yes. To be fair, the Quarter isn’t the residential neighborhood it once was. Well into the...

By: Jyl BensonIn 1947, Tennessee Williams penned “A Streetcar Named Desire,” effectively immortalizing the public transit line that, from the 1920s, served the rollicking French Quarter as well as the working class Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods, located downriver.Sadly, the last car...

The Mississippi River looms large in the American identity, from the history and literature taught in schools to the nation’s modern economy.In New Orleans, you can easily experience the river in all its bustling activity, natural splendor and historical significance via the Riverfront area...

With a city as robust and cultured as New Orleans, you can imagine the overwhelming number of attractions, restaurants, shops and much more. We found ourselves asking – What neighborhoods are must-sees? Which museums are worth the price of admission? How will we get there? What do the locals...

While the French Quarter is a fascinating place to simply sit and stare, it becomes ever more so when you make the effort to learn a bit about its history, quirks and secrets. A veritable panoply of guided tours are available to address all manner of subjects specific to the French Quarter and...

By: Ian McNultyVisitors who think a clutch of plastic beads, a hurricane glass and an obscene T-shirt are the best they can bring back home from a trip to New Orleans clearly haven’t experienced one of the city’s distinctive cooking schools.Anne Gormly has, and after a lunchtime class...

By: Sally ReevesDetail, Ignace Broutin, Plan de la Nouvelle Orléans telle qu'elle estoit le premier janvier mil sept cent trente-deux. French Centre des archives d'outre-mer 04DFC 90A. Broutin's plan of the garden and the Capuchin complex in 1732. Several drainage features seem to be...

By: Sally Reeves Every quarter-hour, the thin peal of bells at St. Louis Cathedral calls saints and sinners, mostly the latter. They clang out a slightly off-key sound, as if they well know the offbeat rhythms of the neighborhood below them. The pulse of a circus atmosphere around the church...