Featured New Orleans:
It's hard to find a better place to visit in the U.S. than New Orleans. In the French Quarter, you can stand in the center of Jackson Square and walk upriver or downriver, then circle all the way through the Quarter until you're back where you started. Along the way, you will have marveled at beautiful buildings, peaked through gateways, sipped a cool drink, gazed at street painters, and grooved to sounds emanating from everywhere, whether it be from a bar or a street musician. And because so many of these vibrant streets are alive with activity, you can settle on one or two and still get a French Quarter experience.
You can also head uptown to the Garden District and stroll amidst the canopies of mighty oak trees, where gorgeous antebellum homes with decorative iron fences and lush gardens reside. Toward the river, more than 140 shops line Magazine Street. Inside the many 19th-century brick storefronts are antiques, art galleries, crafts, fashion boutiques, and vintage vinyl. Take a walk through Faubourg Marigny, across Esplandade from the French Quarter, with its funky bohemian mood; Frenchmen Street is the main drag here. Or stroll over to the Warehouse District, upriver a few blocks from the Quarter, and check out all the Julie Street galleries.
Visitors Choose Top 5 Hotels In New Orleans:
 The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans - 921 Canal Street, New Orleans
Soniat House - 1133 Chartres Street, New Orleans
The Fairmont New Orleans - 123 Baronne Street, New Orleans
Hyatt Regency New Orleans - 500 Poydras Plaza, New Orleans
Hotel Monteleone - 214 Royal Street, New Orleans
A CNN poll released in October 2007 ranked New Orleans first in eight categories, behind only New York City, which ranked first in 15. According to the poll, New Orleans is the best U.S. city for live music, cocktail hours, flea markets, antique shopping, nightlife, "wild weekends," "girlfriend getaways," and cheap food. The city also ranked second for gay friendliness, overall food and dining, friendliness of residents, and people-watching, behind San Francisco, California, Chicago, Illinois, Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City, respectively. However, among the top 25 U.S. travel destinations as established by the poll, the city was voted last in terms of safety and cleanliness and near the bottom as a family vacation destination.
New Orleans is world-famous for its food. The indigenous cuisine is distinctive and influential. From centuries of amalgamation of local Creole, haute Creole, and New Orleans French cuisines, New Orleans food has developed. Local ingredients, French, Spanish, Italian, African, Native American, Cajun, and a hint of Cuban traditions combine to produce a truly unique and easily recognizable Louisiana flavor.
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