The Mississippi port city where jazz, Creole cooking and iron-lace balconies meet in the 300-year-old Vieux Carré
The French Quarter stretches roughly 13 blocks along the Mississippi from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue and inland to North Rampart Street, and it can be crossed on foot in about 20 minutes. Its anchor is Jackson Square, a gated park framed by St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, the Presbytère and the Pontalba Buildings, where painters, tarot readers and street musicians work the flagstones. From there the streets fan out: Royal Street with its galleries and antique shops, Decatur Street and the open-air French Market along the river, and Bourbon Street, which changes character completely after dark, when its bars and live music take over.
Despite its name, most of what you see is Spanish colonial or later. After fires destroyed most of the town in 1788 and 1794, new building codes required brick and stucco, and the result is a streetscape of pastel walls, tiled roofs, hidden courtyards and cast-iron galleries. The wider city of New Orleans, nicknamed the Crescent City and the Big Easy, is known for its own music, Creole cuisine, dialects and festivals, above all Mardi Gras.
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718, and in 1721 the royal engineer Adrien de Pauger laid out the grid of streets that still defines the Quarter, naming them after French royal houses and Catholic saints, including the House of Bourbon. The Old Ursuline Convent of 1745 is the oldest surviving French colonial building in the Mississippi Valley. Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1763, and after the great fires of 1788 and 1794 the town was rebuilt under Spanish rules, which is why almost every building in the Quarter dates from the late 1790s onward. The final transfer papers of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 were signed in the Cabildo.
As Americans arrived after 1803, they settled mostly upriver beyond Canal Street, and the Quarter remained the Creole heart of the city. The Vieux Carré Commission was set up in 1925 to protect its character, and the district became a National Historic Landmark in 1965. When Hurricane Katrina flooded more than 80 per cent of New Orleans in 2005, the Quarter stayed largely dry and was officially reopened that September. The city marked its tricentennial in 2018.
Food is central to life in the Quarter. Century-old Creole restaurants such as Antoine's, Galatoire's, Arnaud's and Brennan's sit alongside cheap stalls in the French Market selling gumbo, jambalaya and po'boys, and late-night delis that feed locals. New Orleans claims to be the birthplace of the cocktail, and Napoleon House's Pimm's Cup and the French 75 at Arnaud's are local classics. Drinks may be carried in the street in plastic go-cups, though glass is not allowed. Street performers, painters and fortune-tellers keep Jackson Square lively every day, and the neighbourhood fills for festivals such as the French Quarter Festival in April and Satchmo SummerFest in early August.
The Quarter is best explored on foot, starting at Jackson Square and taking in the cathedral, the Louisiana State Museum sites in the Cabildo and Presbytère, and the free permanent exhibits of the Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal Street. Visitors browse the French Market, walk the riverfront Moonwalk and Woldenberg Park, ride the Steamboat Natchez, or join a history, food, cocktail or ghost tour after dark. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park has a visitor centre on Decatur Street, the New Orleans Jazz Museum is close to the French Market, and evenings are for live music, whether in a traditional jazz hall or the clubs of Bourbon Street.
Spring and autumn bring the most comfortable weather and the main festivals, including the French Quarter Festival in April. Summer is hot and humid but brings lower hotel rates and events such as Tales of the Cocktail and Satchmo SummerFest. Winters are short and generally mild, and Mardi Gras, the city's best-known celebration, falls on the last Tuesday before Lent. For a quieter Jackson Square, go early on a weekday morning.
Checked against the sources on 29 October 2026. Opening times and fees can change — confirm before you go.
General guidance from our specialists, not official information.
Faubourg Marigny lies just east of the Quarter beyond Esplanade Avenue, and Tremé is across North Rampart Street to the north. The Central Business District and the Sazerac House, which tells the story of the city's cocktail heritage, are across Canal Street, and the Audubon Aquarium sits at the foot of Canal Street beside Woldenberg Park on the riverfront. The Old U.S. Mint, a former branch of the United States Mint, now operates as a museum in the Quarter, and the Steamboat Natchez sails from the Toulouse Street Wharf behind the Jax Brewery
Miami is a city on Biscayne Bay shaped by Cuban and wider Latin American culture, and Miami Beach is the separate resort city on the barrier islands across the water. South Beach holds the Miami Beach Architectural District, some 960 historic buildings in Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival and Miami Modern styles facing the Atlantic.
ExploreChicago is the third-largest city in the United States, set on the south-western shore of Lake Michigan. Rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871, it became the birthplace of the steel-framed skyscraper, and today its riverfront towers, lakeside parks, museums, blues and jazz clubs and local food make it one of America's great city breaks.
Explore
United States · 9 nights4★ HotelUnited States · 8 nights3★ LodgeThis guide was researched from the sources below and reviewed by our team on 29 October 2026. Facts under “Verified information” link to the page they were checked on; travel tips are general guidance. Photos are credited on each image. The ambient recording’s author and licence are shown in the sound player.
