About the City:
New Orleans is the largest city in southern part of the state of Louisiana in United States. It’s located on the Mississippi River and most of the city is situated between the east bank of the river and Lake Pontchartrain in the north. It’s called the Crescent City, as it is built on the great turn of the river. With a population of around 497,000, New Orleans is one of the principal cities on the South.
New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and was structured on higher grounds along the banks of Mississippi river. Thus, until the early 20 th century, most of the city was located below sea level and by 1910, drainage and wooden pumps allowed the city to expand in area.
New Orleans is a home for people from all over the world including Anglos, French, Italians, Irish, Spanish, and Cubans, so make it truly a cosmopolitan city. Most important event of the city is Mardi Gras, which is celebrated for a week before the start of the Lent. It’s famous for its fine restaurants with different exotic attractions.
Tourist Attractions:
For museum and art lovers, New Orleans offer National D-day Museum that praises the sacrifice of American men and women who served in World War II. New Orleans Museum of Art highlights pre-Columbian art and paintings by Picasso and Degas. In addition, to have taste of something different and spine chilling, The Historic Voodoo Museum displays historic culture of spiritual practice and lure tourists to take home a love portion or a voodoo doll as souvenir. Musee Conti Wax Museum has lifelike wax figures to guide tourists through the history of Louisiana.
Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Zoo in New Orleans is a home to varied sea creatures from Amazon, Caribbean and have 1500 animal species from Asia, Africa and Australia. To get a feel of Mardi Gras Festival, a visit to Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World proves to be the right way to spend the whole day. Nights in this city can be equally busy in places like Preservation Hall where food and drinks could be enjoyed with jazz music and in MidCity Lanes Rock n’ Bowl, bowling could be enjoyed with drinks at the bar and rocking music.
Close Destinations:
In the neighborhoods of New Orleans is French Quarter that’s brimming with life with its high-energy, diverse history, music and street performances, jazz clubs, finest art galleries and restaurants and even shops. For people, Bourbon Street is a good hang out, located in French Quarter its liveliest and wildest experience as you can swing on the rhythmic sounds of jazz and country western. French Quarter fulfills all wishes from shopping to music to Cajun food and to nightclubs.
Just 140 miles from New Orleans is Lafayette, which is in the heart of Cajun country where food, drinks, music and dancing is in plenty. This place will make you swing with foot tapping Cajun music and lets you enjoy bars and many restaurants where Crawfish and smothered rabbit are enjoying. To take the whole city in one glance, climb up to the 27 th floor observation deck of Baton Rouge. Other nearby destination includes Biloxi and Jackson in Mississippi.
Booking:
All major arilines fly to New Orleans. From India airlines like Air India fly to New Orleans in colabroation with Delta Airlines and KLM fly to New Orleans with 2stopovers. Flight time varies from 25hours to 27hours.
Traveling with in the city is arranged by New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) that operates Buses, Rails, Subways throughout the city to make all destinations easily reachable. Shuttle service is also operated between other neighboring cities. Rent-a-car offices are located all over the city and would provide any car for private transport.
Accommodation:
Staying in and around the city could be decided according to location of the Hotels, motels, lodges and resorts and according to their price range. There are many choices to stay in New Orleans like in the heart of the city, or to stay near the airport or just to stay in a historic or french style hotel. There’s also an alternative to stay in Bed and Breakfast Inns that provides comfortable and economic stay.
Hotel Rates And Charges:
Anyone can enjoy pleasures of New Orleans at a low cost by choosing the lodging option of staying at any of Bed and Breakfast Inns available all over the city. Cost of such a stay would be in a range of $93-$160 whereas for a more classic choice of a lodging you can choose from Two-Star to Five-Star hotels. Two to Three-Star hotels would cost around $100-$350, whereas Four to Five-Star hotels providing a much-pampered and luxurious stay would start from $350 and might go upto whoophing $4000.
Lodging:
Whatever the Lodging option chosen New Orleans has a unique competence to make every tourist comfortable and feel at home. Hotels, Motels, and Resorts provide some basic room amenities like spacious and comfortable beds, large cupboards, safe-deposit box, working desk, fully stocked wet bar with refrigerator, TV with cable, big bathrooms where most of them have Jaccuzi Tubs, blow-dryer, iron and ironing board, two to three lines telephone with voice mail and dataport.
If booked over the internet some hotels in New Orleans also provide certain vouchers which can be avialed for complimentary breakfast and vouchers free meals in the restaurants and drinks in the bar.
Whereas most of the hotels in New Orleans offers various facilities and servives to tourists and visitors for making their trip worthwhile. Some of the facilities include laundry service, valet parking, 24 hours concierge, exercise room and gym with advanced exercising machines, health clubs and spa’s that provide unique body massage and wraps, business center with high-speed internet connection and confrence call options and top of all this, tourists also take advantage of splendid views and sights.
Amusing Facts:
New Orleans receive annual rainfall between 60” to 100” therefore till today massive pumps that exceeds the size of Venice in Italy drains this water from city. The very first SkyScapper built in 1807 which is located at the corner of Royal St. and St. Peter street is still very much in use. Another interesting point about New Orleans is its Opera House, which was the first in the whole America.
With its colorful history and even more colorful present there’s no doubt left, Why New Orleans is one of the most visited cities in the United States.
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