The lifestyle in New Orleans is one of the city’s biggest draws for new residents. New Orleans has long been called the Paris of the South, and you won’t be short of variety when it comes to entertainment.
As the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans is known the world over for its nightlife, and you’ll be spoilt for choice in the evenings. Foodies will be well looked after too. You’ll find everything from Southern soul food and Creole cooking to international fusion.
New arrivals will find plenty to do with their downtime, and New Orleans is a colourful, lively place to call home.
Shopping in New Orleans
You’ll find everything from grand old department stores to quirky boutiques when you go shopping in New Orleans. Magazine Street is the big one, and it’s lined with shops, galleries, cafés, and antique dealers for roughly six miles (10km) between the Central Business District and Audubon Park.
Royal Street in the French Quarter is the place for antiques and art galleries, while Freret Street and Oak Street are younger and more independent in feel. The French Market has been a fixture beside the river for more than two centuries, and you’ll come across weekend arts markets around Frenchmen Street and the Bywater.
If you’re after big-name brands or outlet shopping, Canal Place downtown and the Outlet Collection at Riverwalk are both on the water.
Arts and culture in New Orleans
Arts and culture in New Orleans are a serious business. The city has a long history in music, theatre, film, and the visual arts. The first documented opera performance in the US took place here in 1796, and a century later, in 1896, Vitascope Hall opened on Canal Street as the country’s first commercial movie theatre. New Orleans is, of course, the home of jazz.
New Orleans has a great many museums and art galleries. The best known are the National WWII Museum and the New Orleans Museum of Art, but there are quirkier spots too, such as Mardi Gras World, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, the Historic Voodoo Museum, and the Sazerac House.
Eating out in New Orleans
There’s a real pleasure to eating out in New Orleans, and the city has a well-deserved reputation as one of the USA’s food capitals. Creole cooking here draws on French, Spanish, West African, and Caribbean cuisine, so there’s a lot of history in a bowl of gumbo or a plate of red beans and rice. You can work your way through mouth-watering jambalaya, an overstuffed shrimp po’boy, a bowl of crawfish étouffée, and a sugar-dusted beignet. The next day, dig into the food of the city’s Vietnamese, Honduran, Italian, and Middle Eastern communities.
You don’t need to spend a fortune eating out here, either. There’s fine dining for when you want to push the boat out, but New Orleans is really about comforting soul food, and you’ll find it dished up at humble eateries and markets all over the city.
Nightlife in New Orleans
The nightlife in New Orleans is at its liveliest after dark in the city where Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Dr John, and Trombone Shorty got their starts. There are live jazz clubs and quirky cabaret shows all over town, and you’ll find entertainment on just about every corner.
There are nightlife spots scattered across the city, so there’s plenty to see. Walk from Frenchmen Street to the French Quarter, and you’ll pass block upon block of lively little cafés, bars, music clubs, and restaurants. In the French Quarter, the world-famous Bourbon Street is the obvious draw. Further downriver, Bywater has plenty of excellent local music too.
Sport and outdoor activities in New Orleans
Sport and outdoor activities in New Orleans are easy to come by, whether you’d rather watch or take part. NFL supporters can cheer on the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome, while basketball fans can catch the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center downtown. The Superdome is also home to the annual Sugar Bowl, and it’s been the venue for several Super Bowls. There’s top-level sport on for much of the year.
If you like spending time outdoors, you’ll find plenty to do, although the hot, humid summers are best enjoyed in the mornings and evenings. City Park is even bigger than New York’s Central Park, and it’s a fine place to spend a lazy day in the sun. Audubon Park uptown is another. When you fancy time on the water, the Mississippi River is the place for boat rides and fishing trips.
See and do in New Orleans
French Quarter
A walk through the French Quarter is high on most newcomers’ lists, and its quaint Creole townhouses date back centuries. The Vieux Carré is full of top-notch restaurants, lively bars, antique shops, clothing boutiques, and mysterious voodoo dens.
Mardi Gras World
Mardi Gras World is the creation of Blaine Kern, the man they called Mr Mardi Gras. He started building floats in 1947, and his company, Kern Studios, still makes many of the parade floats today. On a tour, you can walk through the history and craft behind Mardi Gras and get a good feel for one of New Orleans’s signature festivals.
Steamboat Natchez
New Orleans was once at the centre of the Mississippi River’s shipping trade, and the Steamboat Natchez is the last true steam-powered sternwheeler still working the river here. Aboard this historic vessel, you can picture the city in its steamboat heyday, and the dinner jazz cruise is a memorable evening out.
New Orleans Jazz Museum
It’s only right that the home of jazz should have a jazz museum. The New Orleans Jazz Museum is in the Old US Mint, and it’s a good place to get to grips with the music New Orleans is famous for. There are concerts throughout the year, and programmes for children too.
Meeting people and making friends in New Orleans
There are plenty of ways to go about meeting people and making friends in New Orleans, as long as you’re willing to put yourself out there. Shared interests are usually the easiest route in. The city is mad about sport, music, food, and the outdoors, so join a recreational sports league, sign up with a cycling or running club, take a cooking class, or become a regular at a neighbourhood music venue.
Volunteering is another good way to meet like-minded neighbours, and plenty of community and cultural groups need helpers, especially around Carnival season. New arrivals who want to build a professional network will find business breakfasts and industry mixers across the city, which are a comfortable way to meet colleagues outside the office.