During the day? Head out to romantic little French Quarter. It’s a great area to stroll and take in the old world charm.

Check out this site for reviews. http://www.yelp.com/new-orleans-la

I agree; French Quarter is nice, and there are some beautiful gardens and houses to tour; (so-called ‘shotgun’ houses as well as “haunted” tours) as well as various walking tours. There are wildlife preserves around (if you’re a birdwatcher this is an excellent place for it, just outside the city) I think it’s called Honey Island swamp?, and depending if you’re interested in history, there are of course small museums dedicated to everything from Marie LeVeau (Voodooienne of fame) to the Jazz greats.
Have a great time!

There is lots to do during the day!

There are several companies that offer Swamp Tours- Dr. Wagners Honey Island is a really good one.

You can take a Cemetary Tour, Plantation Tour, Katrina Tour, French Quarter Tour. There is the Zoo and the Aquarium. Ride the Street car through the Garden District. There are many historic homes in the French Quarter: The Cabildo and Presbytere, St. Louis Cathedral, Pontalba Apts. US Mint,
Beauregard-Keyes House, Gallier House, Pitot House, Cornstalk Fence Hotel, Edgar Degas House, Hermann Grima House, LongVue House and Gardens. Just walking through the French Quarter is an experience taking in all the iron work and architecture.

Grab a Muffaletta and some Zapps from Central Grocery and take a walk over to the Moonwalk and relax and enjoy watching the boats travel along the Mississippi.

Mardi Gras world just opened a new exhibit near the Convention Center. NOMA is the Art Museum at City Park. There is also exhibits in The PResbytere and Cabildo. WWII Museum, Confederate Museum….

I could go on and on and on. I have been to New Orleans close to 30 times and still have not done all the things I want to!

Hello…I actually lived in New Orleans For 7 years (post Andrew pre Katrina) The French Quarter is a nice place to go during the day as their is a lot of old quaint restaraunts. Visit Jackson Square and Pirates Alley too. There are alot of Museums. Avoid the Tours They do not do much for you and are expensive. Visit Salt Fork State Park on the Gulf of Mexico…Great hiking trails, photo ops and Gator sitings. A great local web site to search is www.nola.com it is the only verifiable authentic new orleans site. Hence the name NOLA (New Orleans LouisianA) good Luck To you
Try to avoid the French Quarter at night…tourist trap.

The Audubon Zoo is not to be missed – http://www.auduboninstitute.org/, and I have heard wonderful things about the Aquarium of the Americas, but not visited personally. The Garden District is wonderful to stroll through, whether part of a tour or wandering, and you can ride the streetcars. You MUST HAVE café au lait and beignets at the Café du Monde. Any time of day is perfect, but my favorite time as at night, watching the world pass by.

Depends on what you want to do;

The French Quarter is interesting and a bit strange but there are some places that could offend others. Lots of interesting places to eat; one my faves is Angeli on Decatur.

The Audubon Zoo is huge and the Aquarium of the Americas is incredible- not sure if this changed with Katrina.

In a about 3 weeks some of the Mardi Gras festivities will be starting (official date is Feb 24th this year; the parades start a few weeks before).

Outside of the city (such as in Slidell) there are ‘Swamp Tours’ where you get on boat with a group of people and get an up-close tour of the Alligator habitats.

Check out nola.com for some info.

Check out St. Louis Cemetery #1. Several interesting characters entombed (but not buried) there including the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. The crypts are interesting in themselves. This has also been the scene for a few movie shots. The one that comes to mind is a shot from the 1969 movie Easy Rider.

there’s quite a bit to do during the day in new orleans but if you want to go outside of the city to explore a bit, you could take a drive out to st. martinville during the day..or drive to the tabasco factory (the tour itself leaves something to be desired but the place itself is awesome), drive to beaux bridge and eat at mulate’s cajun restaurant (really famous place actually where lots of celebrities have gone to dine). hope this is helpful :o)

For the love of God don’t go into a cemetery at night. I would suggest that if you do visit a cemetery to go with a tour group. You can get lost and shady dealings to happen at times. One thing no one mentions is the Piazza D’Italia. Its in the Central Business District (just down the street from the french quarter) and its a cute place to have a picnic lunch. Its a crazy little plaza with multiple types of architecture styles. I used to eat lunch there when i worked in the area. Also, the lake front is a neat place to have a meal that over looks Lake Ponchatrain. I would suggest Landry’s Seafood esp. if the deck over the water is open.

Oh, and expect to stake out a place for parade viewing hours in advance, depending on where you stand. It can get crowded and the closer to Roll TIme you look for a spot, the harder it will be.

I just looooved the art museum and the Cabildo. The French Quarter is really awesome, and taking the great old cable cars to the zoo one day was fun, too.

Have a great time! My few days there was one of my all-time favorite trips, even though I spent the daytime mostly alone, with my husband and friends in their work seminars.

Depends on what kind of person you are. The French Quarter is nice, but if you don’t want to be confronted with drunk belligerent tourists, go in the daytime. I find Sunday afternoon is always the best. I suggest you go down Royal Street (french quarter), it has some museums, are shops and an antique weapons store that just kicks ass! And you must visit the graveyards. There are also FQ type places uptown around Magazine St. and Jackson Ave. If you stay for Mardi Gras just make sure you catch Zulu and the Elks. I always enjoy the architecture, especially on Esplanade St. Try to find a second line, I don’t know about after katrina, but before there was pretty much a second line uptown every Sunday, around Claiborne Ave. I don’t think we have alligators in the city, but there are nearby swamps. For food, do not go to Commander’s Palace – you’ll pay too much money for mediocre food and the cars there always block traffic. Honestly, the best food comes from the people who just live there, friends and family. I’ll come back later with more food choices, gotta go to class

The obvious choice is walking around the French Quarter where you can see the Cafe Du Monde, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, and etc. Get a tourist map where it will show you all the restaurants, stores, antiques, and etc. Take a ride on the street car especially on St. Charles and Carro;llton. When St. Charles and Carrollton meet up, there is a diner called Camillia Grill, great greasy burgers and freezes. My favorite place is Magazine street where there are local artists and shops. Enjoy.

Thanks for all the answers… lots of great ideas!