New Orleans Travel Guide

With the hits of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, New Orleans is, rebuilding. However, the areas of interest to tourists such as the French Quarter, the shopping district on Magazine, and Downtown are open for business as these areas are naturally on higher ground and therefore sustained less damage. Water, air and land tests in these areas have also proven that it is safe. New Orleans is still a destination that should be considered and sought after. The spirit in the city is unlike ever before. This spirit teamed with its reknown reputation for being fun and free makes it a great place to visit.

Practically everything in New Orleans is different and special. It's a city that never ceases to amaze its visitors as well as its inhabitants.

Start your visit by taking the streetcar to the French Quarter. A walk through the street gives you the opportunity to admire the lacy, wrought-iron balconies or to be mesmerized by a street musician playing on the Moonwalk across from Jackson Square. One of the main attractions of the area is the Old U.S. Mint. Here you can tour a world-renown exhibit that will take you back to the days when jazz was bornThere's always a party on Bourbon Street, an antique you can't live without on Royal or Chartres.

The list of must-dos here is as long as the main parade route on Mardi Gras day. You can check out the always-changing exhibits at the Aquarium of the Americas, visit Louis Armstrong at the wax museum, or you can just park yourself on a bench in Woldenberg Park and watch the river roll by. It's the Big Easy, dawlin'. You have to do nothing sometime.

From the Warehouse District, get on the St. Charles Streetcar and head for the Garden District and the Uptown area. Some of the most opulent homes in the country are here in every color and with every kind of curlicue imaginable. This is the way to the Tulane and Loyola university campuses, which are across the street from Audubon Park. Behind the park is Audubon Zoo, with an updated Louisiana Swamp Exhibit and two new white tigers. It's one of the top zoos in the country. On the way back to town, go down Magazine Street, where you'll find six miles of antique and gift shops, art galleries, restaurants and more.

One of the things that fascinates tourists most in New Orleans is the "Cities of the Dead," the above-ground cemeteries.

-Taken from world66.com