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Transportation
The heartbreakingly beautiful French Quarter is where New Orleans began in 1718. Today, battered and bohemian, decaying and vibrant, it's the spiritual core of the city, its fanciful cast-iron balconies, hidden courtyards and time-stained stucco buildings exerting a haunting fascination that has long caught the imagination of artists and writers. Official tours are useful for orientation, but it's most fun simply to wander - and you'll need a couple of days at least to do it justice, absorbing the jumble of sounds, sights and smells. Early morning, in the pearly light from the river, is a good time to explore, as sleepy locals wake themselves up with strong coffee in the neighborhood patisseries, shops crank open their shutters and all-night revelers stumble home.
The Quarter is laid out in a grid, unchanged since 1721. At just thirteen blocks wide - smaller than you might expect - it's easily walkable, bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Avenue, and centering on lively Jackson Square . Rather than French, the famed architecture is predominantly Spanish colonial, with a strong Caribbean influence. Most of the buildings date from the late eighteenth century, after much of the old city had been devastated by fires in 1788 and 1794. Commercial activity - shops, galleries, restaurants, bars - is concentrated in the blocks between Decatur and Bourbon. Beyond Bourbon, up towards Rampart Street, and in the Lower Quarter, downriver from Jackson Square, things become more peaceful - quiet, predominantly residential neighborhoods where the Quarter's gay community lives side by side with elegant dowagers and scruffy artists.
Though New Orleans' most visited neighborhoods are a dream to walk around, getting from one to another is not always easy on foot, and if you're traveling anywhere outside the Quarter after dark you'd be better off calling a cab. The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) runs a network of buses ($1.25, exact fare required; 24hr information 504/248-3900). The most useful routes include "Magazine" (#11), which runs from Canal Street in the CBD to Audubon Park; and "Esplanade" (#48) from the edge of the Quarter up to City Park. You're more likely to use the handsome St Charles streetcar (a National Historic Monument, dating back around 100 years) that rumbles a thirteen-mile loop from Canal Street, along St Charles Avenue in the Garden District, past Audubon Park to Carrollton uptown ($1.25 each way; 25¢ transfers; exact fare). The cars trundle along at an average speed of 9mph; it takes about 45 minutes for a full one-way trip. Though the streetcar runs around the clock, services fall off after dark. There's a newer streetcar along the riverfront, where trolleys make ten stops between the Convention Center and Esplanade Avenue (Mon-Fri 6am-11pm, Sat & Sun 7am-11pm; every 15min; $1.50; exact fare). It's a total trip of less than two miles, however, and of most interest for its pretty river views. VisiTour passes, available from the welcome center and most major hotels, give unlimited travel on all streetcars and buses ($5 per day, $12 for three consecutive days).
Airport
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, eighteen miles northwest on I-10, has an information booth (8am-9pm) in its baggage claim area. Flat-rate taxi fares into town are $24 for up to two people, $10 each for three or more, and shuttles (tel 504/592-0555) will take you to your hotel (every 10min; tickets available 24hr in the baggage claim area or from the bus driver; $10 to downtown hotels). There's also a public bus from the airport to Tulane Avenue in the CBD (daily 6am-6.30pm; every 15-25min; $1.50), but it holds carry-on luggage only. Greyhound buses arrive next to Amtrak at the Union Passenger Terminal, 1001 Loyola Ave, near the Superdome. Take a cab to your lodgings. United Cabs is by far the best firm (tel 504/522-9771).
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