Greater New Orleans
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Centered around New Orleans, Louisiana's biggest city and top visitor attraction, the region encompasses the South East portion of the state including the lower Mississippi River, smaller cities and towns, bayous, wetlands, and nature preserves.
Hard hit by Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the levee system in 2005, recovery has been taking place over many years. Still, a wealth of attractions are available for travellers.
Regions
Synonymous with New Orleans.
Understand
Greater New Orleans refers to the city of New Orleans and the surrounding regions, which is the main center of Creole culture in Louisiana. The Louisiana Creole people are from a mix of different ethnic origins, with their culture being largely a fusion of African, Native American, French and Spanish influences.
Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Greater New Orleans, which makes it stand out together with neighboring Acadiana in contrast to the rest of the largely Evangelical Protestant South.
Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Greater New Orleans, which makes it stand out together with neighboring Acadiana in contrast to the rest of the largely Evangelical Protestant South.
Talk
English is almost universally spoken and understood; French and Spanish are the most common second languages. Some older residents speak a French-based creole known as Louisiana Creole, though this language is now moribund, and most younger people cannot speak it.
Get in
The major International Airport is in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans.
Interstate 10 is the main highway in and out from east to west; Interstates 55 and 12 have their southern ends here.
A number of cruise ships dock in New Orleans.
Interstate 10 is the main highway in and out from east to west; Interstates 55 and 12 have their southern ends here.
A number of cruise ships dock in New Orleans.
Get around
A private automobile is the best way to get around the region. While the city of New Orleans can be enjoyably experienced without a car, outside of the city transport options for those without a vehicle range from inconvenient to non-existent.
See
- New Orleans has a wealth of attractions, detailed in that city's articles.
- Jefferson Parish has an urban area adjacent to New Orleans; further away are bayou towns and the Gulf coast island of Grand Isle.
- Saint Bernard Parish is has the city of Chalmette, site of the historic "Battle of New Orleans" in 1815, and is home of Louisiana's distinctive Isleño culture.
- Plaquemines Parish offers historic plantations and forts, tasty citrus fruit, and fishing at the end of the Mississippi River.
- Old plantations line the old River Roads on either side of the Mississippi River north of New Orleans towards Baton Rouge
Eat
New Orleans, and Louisiana itself, has the best food in the US. With more selections than you can count.
Drink
As New Orleans may seem very enjoyable and fun, there are many parts you don't want to go. New Orleans has a higher murder rate than any other city in the US.
Go next
- St. Tammany Parish, across Lake Pontchartrain
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana's state capital
- Acadiana, Louisiana's "Cajun country", is to the west.