New Orleans can burst into song at any moment. Music flows out of open-door clubs. Street-corner jazz bands stir up classics and impromptu dancing.
Even Louis Armstrong International Airport welcomes travelers with occasional live bands belting it at baggage claim. Iconic second-line brass-band processions are the best, though, because they can come out of nowhere, usually marking a marriage or memorial, and everyone is invited to join in. Music, dancing, parades, rain bow flags—this is New Orleans, serving free-form fun and a side of gumbo. It’s a perfect LGBTQ-friendly long-weekend getaway, where you won’t need a car, but you will need a hearty appetite.
EAT
Dining is a big deal in New Orleans, and The French Quarter is a good place to explore both classic and nouveau menus, starting with seafood-centric Cajun and Creole dish es at Saint John (saintjohnnola.com), just a few blocks from the heavenly beignets at Café du Monde (shop.cafedumonde.com). Drift a little south to the Warehouse Arts District for several of the city’s standout con temporary restaurants, including outstanding rustic-Italian at Gianna (gianarestaurant. com), and superb French-Southern cuisine at Couvant (couvant.com) inside the Eliza Jane Hotel (hyatt.com)—both serving tasty weekend brunches, too.
Culinary mashups are big in New Orleans, and you can try Chef Nina Compton’s spicy blend of Creole and Caribbean flavors, along with epic cocktails, at lovely Compère Lapin (comperelapin.com). At King Brasserie (kingbrasserieandbar.com), sample Cajun dishes with French-Mediterranean flair, like Gulf fish over Moroccan couscous. Head Uptown for an eclectic “tropical roadhouse” menu at Mister Mao (mistermaonola.com). celebrating local ingredients and global flavors unlike any other restaurant here or anywhere.
Po-Boy Sandwich (Photo by Hashem Issam Alshanableh)
And then there’s the po-boy, a quintessential part of New Orleans. You’ll find them served all over town, usually at delis or counter-order joints. Among so many great choices, a few solid bets for delicious fried shrimp, catfish, or roast beef po-boys (try the “debris” with gravy): Parkway Bakery (parkwaypoorboys.com), Verti Marte, (vertimartenola.com), NOLA Po-boys (face book.com/NolaPoboys), and Domilise’s (domilisespoboys.com).
STAY
Many of the best hotels are outside of the Quarter, inviting visitors to explore more of the city. The biggest splash in recent years comes from the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans (fourseasons.com/neworleans), which converted one of the city’s few high rise towers into a premier luxury accommodation. Located by the river, guests here enjoy spacious rooms, impeccable service, a standout spa, and access to the fifth-floor rooftop pool and bar—plus dreamy cocktails at the Chandelier Bar, refined Creole dining at Miss River, and steakhouse classics at Chemin à la Mer.
The Four Seasons Pool
The Warehouse Arts District is now a front-runner for best hotel neighborhood, and a standout is the cozy, contemporary Kimpton Hotel Fontenot (hotelfontenot.com). It’s perched on a great corner with easy access to the Quarter or a streetcar or taxi ride to the Garden District, with the opulent Peacock Room (peacockroomnola.com) beckoning guests for fabulous cocktails, bites, and special events from drag shows and brunch to tropical happy hours and costume parties.
Hotel Henrietta Porch (Photo by Alex marks)
Down St. Charles Avenue, Hotel Henrietta (hotelhenrietta.com) opened in 2024 as a new boutique accommodation and sister property to the Columns (thecolumns.com), a few blocks away. With big balconies overlooking the streetcar line, Henrietta guests can expect gracious service and warm, modern design that unfurls into the stylish lobby and lush front porch and terrace (open for breakfast by day and cocktails by night).
DRINK
New Orleans’s reputation for quality drinking is founded on centuries of truth—after all, the local motto is laissez les bons temps rouler, or “let the good times roll.” And while a handful of cocktails were invented here (the sazerac, brandy milk punch, and the hurricane), the city’s bartenders are more famous for making virtually any drink really, really well. Ace libations are prioritized at spots like Peychaud’s (thecelestinenola.com/peychauds), Arnaud’s French 75 (arnaudsrestaurant.com), Jewel of the South (jewelnola.com), and Tujague’s (tujaguesrestauant.com), which serves fine food, too). Or opt for champagne flights and other wines and bites at Effervescence (nolabubbles.com) on Rampart Street.
Sazerac Cocktail (Photo by 5PH)
LGBTQ+ nightlife runs hot in New Orleans, and you just need to head to Bourbon Street around the cross streets of St. Ann and Dumaine for a cluster of go-to French Quarter gay bars that are low-key by day (great for balcony people-watching) and steamy by night, like Lafitte’s (lafittes.com), Bourbon Pub & Parade (bourbonpu.com), Corner Pocket (cornerpocket.net), and GrandPre’s (facebook.com/grandpres) on Rampart, a neighborhood favorite with a nice courtyard. Meanwhile, the Golden Lantern (thegolden lanternneworleans.com) on Royal is a flirty fave with all-day drink specials.
The LGBTQ+ community comes alive in the Quarter, Marigny, and Bywater every June for New Orleans Pride (newor leanspride.org), and again over Labor Day weekend for Southern Decadence (southerndecadence.com). And ladies are lucky to catch the zesty queer-women pop-up party Grrlspot (grrlspot.com), hitting different venues around town monthly.
DO
Ghost tours, food and drink tours, Garden District architecture tours—they are all marvelous in one of America’s oldest, most diverse cities, and both Unique NOLA and Tour Orleans (uniquenola.com) offer some great adventures. For a nice city overview, join the excellent two-wheeled Creole & Crescent tour with New Orleans Bike Tours (neworleansbiketour.com), either by pedal or e-bike. You also can learn all about the city’s storied LGBTQ+ history with a Queer Underground Tour (queerundergroundtour.com), helmed by Quinn Laroux, who also does private Tarot readings.
The Big Easy is rich in history and culture, and you can combine both with a streetcar ride (itself a piece of living history) to the New Orleans Museum of Art (noma.org), housing an exceptional regional-art collection and enthralling temporary exhibits. NOMA is inside sprawling City Park, where you’ll find the free-entry Besthoff Sculpture Garden, open daily and featuring incredible large-scale, international works. Side note: Nearby you can grab beignets and coffee at the open-air City Park Café du Monde.
For more fine and modern art in a smaller package, check out the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (ogdenmuseum.org) in the Warehouse Arts District. You can also browse galleries along Royal Street in the Quarter to see work by famous local artists.
UNWIND
To hear some of the music that fills the soul of New Orleans, you can stay around the French Quarter for clubs like Fritzel’s Jazz Pub (fritselsjazz.com) and Mahogany Hall or nearby Frenchmen Street for shows at The Spotted Cat (mahoganyhall.net); or nearby Frenchmen Street for shows at The Spotted Cat (spottedcatmusicclub.com) and D.B.A (dba neworleans.com). Take a St. Charles Streetcar ride uptown for famous venues featuring bigger acts, like Tipitina’s (tipitinas.com) and Maple Leaf Bar (mapleleafbar.com) in Carrollton. Grab local weekly The Gambit (nola.com/gambit) for the latest concert calendar.
The Spotted Cat (Photo by Ezellh Photography)
Unsurprisingly, boozy brunches are major in New Orleans, and you can take your pick of wild drag brunches around town, especially in the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods.
One of the best brunches (and dinners) is at LGBTQ-owned The Country Club (thecountryclubneworleans.com), a beloved restaurant and bar that brings queer elegance to the Bywater. On top of the indulgent dining menu and great happy hour, you can spend a day unwinding in the Country Club’s huge back private pool and bar area with a $20 day pass. The poolside scene reflects the overall vibe of New Orleans: a slower pace to sip and snack in the shade, where joie de vivre resonates like music.
