New Orleans is a year-round departure port for river cruises with Viking River Cruises and Caribbean sailings with Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean.
Set on a broad bend of the Mississippi River, New Orleans serves as both a gateway to river cruising and a destination unto itself. Its French Quarter, within easy walking distance of the pier, unfolds in colorful Creole townhouses, wrought-iron balconies, and the open-air artist colony along Jackson Square. Jazz clubs and Cajun and Creole kitchens keep the streets lively at nearly every hour, echoing the city's layered French, African, and American heritage.
Beyond the Quarter, a historic streetcar line leads to the Garden District's oak-lined avenues and grand nineteenth-century mansions, while dozens of museums preserve the region's cultural and musical legacy. Carriage rides, riverfront strolls, and live music venues reward those who linger past a single afternoon. Few American cities offer such a concentrated, walkable dose of history, flavor, and sound.
Pavlus Recommendations
How our planners would spend a day in New Orleans.
Hear Live Jazz on Frenchmen Street
A few blocks from the French Quarter, this stretch of clubs and bars offers some of the city's most authentic live music, free of the touristy bustle of Bourbon Street. Evenings are best, and most venues have no cover or a modest one.
Tour a Preserved Antebellum Plantation
Grand riverfront estates like Oak Alley or Laura Plantation, roughly an hour's drive from the pier, offer a sobering look at the region's agricultural and slaveholding past. Half-day guided excursions typically include the drive and a house tour.
Sample a Beignet at Café du Monde
This open-air Jackson Square institution has served powdered-sugar beignets and chicory coffee since 1862. Expect a short wait, but the people-watching and river breeze make it a quintessential New Orleans pause.
