New Orleans Sights

  1. 1850 House Museum

    The 1850 House is one of the apartments in the lower Pontalba Building. Madame Micaëla Pontalba, daughter of Don Andrés Almonaster y Roxas, continued her father's improvements around Jackson Square by building the long rows of red-brick apartments flanking the upper and lower portions of the square. She was also responsible for renaming the once barren parade grounds, the Place d'Armes, after her friend Andrew Jackson.

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  2. A Gallery For Fine Photography

    This impressive gallery usually has prints such as William Henry Jackson's early-20th-century views of New Orleans and EJ Belloq's rare images of Storyville prostitutes, made from the photographers' original glass plates. The gallery also regularly features Herman Leonard's shots of Duke Ellington and other jazz legends, as well as the occasional Cartier-Bresson enlargement (available at second-mortgage prices).

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  3. Amistad Research Center

    The center is one of the nation's largest repositories specializing in African-American history. Even if you didn't come to New Orleans to study, the rotating exhibits offer insight on ethnic heritage that you're not likely to get from any other source. The displayed works of art from the Aaron Douglas Collection are another reason to drop by - a few of the works are copied for sale.

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  4. Animazing Gallery

    You won't find local art here. This national dealer specializes in very cool works by legendary illustrators and animators. Chuck Jones' cells from classic Loony Toon cartoons, rare and personal art pieces by Dr Seuss, and the finished doodlings of Simpsons creator Matt Groening are but a few examples of what you're likely to encounter here.

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  5. Anton Haardt Gallery

    Among the finest galleries anywhere to specialize in contemporary folk art from the Deep South. The gallery has featured the works of well-known artists such as Howard Finster and Clementine Hunter, but you are more likely to come across Lamar Sorrento's cool portraits of blues musicians or Jimmy Lee Sudduth's striking earth-tone figures. Alabama artist Haardt quietly mixes her own accomplished work into the gallery.

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  7. Aquarium of the Americas

    Aquarium of the Americas simulates an eclectic selection of watery habitats - look for the rare white alligator. You can buy combination tickets to the Imax theater next door and the Audubon Zoo in Uptown (; boats from Woldenberg Park go there).

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  8. Arthur Roger Gallery

    One of the district's most prominent galleries, Arthur Roger represents several dozen artists from around the South, including Simon Gunning, whose landscapes are haunting records of a Louisiana's disappearing wetlands.

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  9. Audubon Zoological Gardens

    Among the country's best zoos, the Audubon Zoological Gardens contains the ultracool Louisiana Swamp exhibit, full of alligators, bobcats, foxes, bears and snapping turtles. The zoo cruise from Woldenberg Park, downtown, brings you here by riverboat.

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  10. Backstreet Cultural Museum

    The brainchild of Sylvester Francis, has memorabilia of local African American culture, like the Mardi Gras Indians and jazz funerals. Francis provides savory stories to accompany exhibits.

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  11. Barrister's Gallery

    A little ways beyond the Lower Garden District, this gallery has some edge to it. It has represented the works of Julie Crozat, who gained some notice for her lurid and visually stunning 'Deadly Sins' series. The gallery also specializes in works by African American and Haitian artists.

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  13. Beauregard-Keyes House

    Greek-revival structures such as this house, built in 1826, are uncommon in the Quarter. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a native of Louisiana, lived in the house for only 18 months. Beauregard became an instant hero throughout the South when he commanded the first shots of the Civil War, at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

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  14. Bergeron Studio & Gallery

    This gallery has a superb collection of historic photographs by key artists who worked in New Orleans over the past century, from Pops Whitesell to Michael P Smith.

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  15. Berta's & Mina's Antiquities

    This cluttered gallery, with paintings seemingly tumbling out onto the sidewalk, specializes in regional folk art, especially the works of the late Nilo Lanzas. His daughter operates the shop. Lanzas began painting at age 63, and produced an impressive body of work up to his death just a few years ago. Museums and serious collectors have snatched up many of Lanzas' paintings already, but there are dozens of nice pieces, all very eye-catching and worthy of homes.

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  16. Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

    When there is no parade happening in New Orleans, you can get your fill of floats at Mardi Gras World where most of the best parade floats are made and stored. It's across the river from the French Quarter, in historic Algiers Point. The man behind the magic is Blaine Kern - 'Mr Mardi Gras' - who has been making parade floats since 1947.

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  17. Botanical Gardens

    The 12-acre garden has seen better days. But park workers are steadily restoring it after the near-total wipe-out wrought by Katrina's flooding. Parts of the garden were submerged for two weeks in three feet of toxic salt-water bath. Not good for the vast majority of native and exotic species lovingly cultivated here. For many of the native species, it was a cruel irony not to escape the fate of wild plants dying in Louisiana's disappearing wetlands.

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  19. Bourbon St

    There are bars galore on Bourbon St where tourists and locals alike roam, fuelled by booze. Bourbon St is New Orleans' entertainment equivalent of a cut-price buffet - the amusements are slopped out with indifference, but as the great songwriter Lee Hazelwood once said, 'You won't find it on any map, but take a step in any direction and you're in trouble.'

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  20. Cabildo

    The first Cabildo was a single-story structure destroyed by the Good Friday fire of 1788. Reconstruction was delayed by the city's more pressing needs for a prison, cathedral, and police and fire stations. It turned out to be fortuitous that architect Gilberto Guillemard, who was busy with the St Louis Cathedral, did not hurry the reconstruction. The December 1794 fire would have likely destroyed a new Cabildo and the almost completed cathedral as well.

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  21. Carousel Gardens & Storyland

    Kids will love these charmingly dated theme parks. The centerpiece of Carousel Gardens is a restored antique carousel, housed in a 1906 structure with a stained-glass cupola. In the 1980s, residents raised around US$1.2 million to restore the broken animals, fix the squeaky merry-go-round and replace the Wurlitzer organ. The results are naturally spectacular. Other rides on the grounds include a small roller coaster, a tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars and the City Park Rail Rd is boarded here.

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  22. Chez Vodun

    This large space, with an aroused Legba statue guarding its entry, offers a tourist-friendly introduction to the voodoo religion. Within it are the Temple of Pythons, an active place of worship; a gift shop that sells voodoo art and artifacts; a hookah parlor; and a bar that serves voodoo martinis.

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  23. City Park

    The Canal streetcar makes the run from the CBD to City Park. Acquired in 1850, the 1300-acre City Park is famous for its huge moss-draped live oaks and scenic bayou lagoons. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the park sat underwater, but once again it is back up and running. The beautiful Botanical Garden is working to rebuild its lost plant collections.

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  25. Cole Pratt Gallery

    Contemporary Southern artists are showcased in this fine art gallery. Paintings here might include Lea Barton's earthy abstractions or Gustave Blanche's warmly rendered still lifes.

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  26. Confederate Museum

    Dedicated to presenting Louisiana life during the Civil War, this museum is housed in sturdy old Confederate Memorial Hall, designed by Thomas Sully. Opened to the public in 1891, it's the oldest operating museum in the state. Entering the hall, with its exposed cypress ceiling beams and exhibition cases, is worth the price of admission alone, and the exhibit itself is likely to exceed expectations.

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  27. Contemporary Arts Center

    The Contemporary Arts Center maintains airy galleries filled with rotating avant-garde shows.

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  28. Factors Row

    Edgar Degas painted The Cotton Market in New Orleans while visiting his uncle's office in this building in 1873.

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  29. Faulkner House

    Considered one of the greatest American novelists, William Faulkner (1897-1962) briefly rented an apartment in a town house on Pirate's Alley in 1925. (At the time, the narrow passageway was called Orleans Alley). While living in the city he described as a 'courtesan, not old and yet no longer young,' Faulkner worked for the Times-Picayune and consorted with local literati, including the well established author Sherwood Anderson, who was then also living in New Orleans.

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