French Quarter and Jackson Square

The French Quarter, known locally as the Vieux Carre, is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Jackson Square at its center is the best place to begin exploring it. Laid out in the early 1700s by French colonial planners, the Quarter is a grid of narrow streets lined with Creole townhouses, Spanish-era buildings, cast-iron balconies and hidden courtyards. Jackson Square, bounded by Decatur Street and St. Peter Street, is a tidy park with an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, flanked by the Pontalba Buildings, the oldest apartment buildings in the United States, and fronted by St. Louis Cathedral. Artists hang paintings on the iron fence, tarot readers and portrait sketchers set up along the pavement, and brass bands and street performers play most days. Beyond the square, visitors typically walk Royal Street for antiques shops and galleries, Chartres Street for historic houses and museums, and Decatur Street toward the French Market and the Mississippi River levee. Bourbon Street, a few blocks inland, is the loud nightlife strip, while quieter streets such as Dauphine and Burgundy show residential Creole architecture. Most visitors spend half a day, and a full day is easy to fill with museums, lunch at a Creole restaurant and an evening walk. For photographs, the best angle for the cathedral is from the middle of the square looking up the central path, and the Mississippi River from the Moon Walk promenade at the foot of St. Peter Street offers sunset views. Crowds are heaviest on weekends, during festivals and on Mardi Gras and the days before it, and Bourbon Street is busiest after dark. Early weekday mornings are calm, with delivery trucks and shop owners setting up. The National Park Service operates the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park visitor center nearby, and free ranger programs and walking tours have been offered there at times. Pavements are uneven, summers are hot and humid, and pickpocketing can occur in crowds, so visitors usually carry water and keep valuables secure.