New Orleans

Jackson Square, the Garden District and Frenchmen Street in three days

Day one. Spend the morning in the French Quarter: Jackson Square, St Louis Cathedral, and the Cabildo and Presbytère museums on either side. Walk Royal Street for its galleries and balconies in the afternoon, then end at the riverfront. At night head to Frenchmen Street in the Marigny for live bands.

Day two. Take the morning for the National WWII Museum in the Warehouse District. After lunch board the St Charles streetcar at Canal Street and ride to the Garden District, walking a few blocks of Victorian houses and one of the old above-ground cemeteries. Ride on to Audubon Park and the zoo if you have time, and come back for dinner Uptown.

Day three. Ride the Canal streetcar to City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art in the morning. Spend the afternoon in Tremé, then cross on the Algiers ferry for the skyline at sunset. If you have a car and an extra day, the swamps and plantations outside the city make a fourth.

Ride the St. Charles streetcar at least once between the Garden District and Uptown. Cars have run along this route since 1835, making it the oldest continuously operating street railway line in the world, and the green cars still have wooden seats and open windows. RTA lists it as Route 12. Sit on the side facing the oaks and mansions, get off at Washington Avenue for the Garden District streets, and carry on to Audubon Park and the universities. The ride is slow and the cars fill at rush hour, so treat it as part of the sightseeing and go mid-morning, when seats by the open windows are easier to find.

Give a full morning to the National WWII Museum in the Warehouse District. Historians Stephen Ambrose and Nick Mueller opened it on 6 June 2000 as the National D-Day Museum and Congress designated it America's National WWII Museum in 2004. It has grown into several pavilions, so most people need four hours or more.

Gumbo, po' boys and beignets beyond Bourbon Street

The local tradition is Creole, the cooking already established when the United States bought Louisiana in 1803, mixing French, Spanish, African and Caribbean roots. Order gumbo, a dark roux-based stew with seafood or sausage, and jambalaya, rice cooked with meat and spices. Red beans and rice is the traditional Monday dish.

The po' boy is a sandwich on light French bread, filled with fried shrimp or oysters or roast beef in gravy, sold in corner shops and neighbourhood bars across town. The muffuletta, a round loaf filled with Italian meats and olive salad, comes from the Quarter's Italian grocers. For dessert, beignets are square doughnuts buried under powdered sugar, eaten with chicory coffee.

Spring brings crawfish boils, and the Creole Tomato Festival celebrates the local crop. Old grand restaurants in the Quarter serve the formal side of Creole cooking, while Uptown and Mid-City hold the neighbourhood joints. Bring cash, as some of the best small places do not take cards.

Carnival krewes, Jazz Fest and the Sugar Bowl through the year

The festival year starts at New Year with the Sugar Bowl college football game at the Superdome. Carnival season follows, building to Mardi Gras in February or early March, with parades rolling down St Charles Avenue and through the city. The French Quarter Festival comes in April, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival spans late April into early May at the Fair Grounds. Summer brings the Essence Festival, Satchmo SummerFest and the NOLA Caribbean Carnival; Halloween is celebrated with parades and costumes.

Weather plays its part. January highs average 17C with lows of 8C; by April they reach 26C. June to August sit at 32 to 33C with lows of 24 to 25C, and June is the wettest month at 194 mm. October is the driest, at 94 mm, with highs of 27C, which makes it the easiest month for walking. Hurricanes are the summer and early autumn concern, so check forecasts from August to October.

Many visitors pair the city with a drive along the Gulf, or a flight on to Atlanta or Miami.