USA Guide
Louisiana
The French Quarter
Opening time: Daily
Price: Free
The beautiful French Quarter is where New Orleans began in 1718. Today, battered and bohemian, decaying and vibrant, it remains the spiritual core of the city, its fanciful cast-iron balconies, hidden courtyards, and time-stained stucco buildings exerting a haunting fascination that has long caught the imagination of artists and writers. Official tours are useful for orientation, but it's most fun simply to wander – and you'll need at least a few days to do it justice, absorbing the jumble of sounds, sights, and smells. Early morning, in the dazzling light from the river, is a good time to explore.
The Quarter is laid out in a grid, unchanged since 1721. At just thirteen blocks wide – smaller than you might expect – it's easily walkable, bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street, Canal Street, and Esplanade Avenue, and centering on lively Jackson Square. Rather than French, the famed architecture is predominantly Spanish Colonial, with a strong Caribbean influence. Most of the buildings date from the late eighteenth century; much of the old city was devastated by fires in 1788 and 1794. Shops, galleries, restaurants and bars are concentrated in the blocks between Decatur and Bourbon streets, while beyond Bourbon, up toward Rampart Street, and in the Lower Quarter, downriver from Jackson Square, things become more peaceful. Here, you'll find quiet, predominantly residential streets where the Quarter's gay community lives side by side with elegant dowagers, part-time condo-dwellers, and scruffy artists.