New Orleans

Currency

Sales tax here is among the highest in the country at about 9.45%, and it is added at the till rather than shown on the shelf. Tipping is 20% and applies to bartenders by the drink — a dollar or two each round, in cash, is how the city works.

ATMs & cards

Bank machines rather than the ones inside Bourbon Street bars, which charge heavily and are a poor place to be seen taking out cash. Carry small notes for tips and for the brass bands on Frenchmen Street, which pass a bucket and deserve it.

Carry small notes: bartenders are tipped by the drink and the brass bands pass a bucket.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

New Orleans has a genuine violent-crime problem and a tourist zone that is largely insulated from it, and the honest advice is to respect the boundary. The Quarter, Marigny, the Garden District and the streetcar line are fine and busy; the blocks north of Rampart Street and east of the Marigny are not somewhere to walk at night. Take a car home after dark rather than walking, keep the drink in your hand rather than on the bar, and be aware that hurricane season runs June to November.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date

Getting treated

The care is excellent and the bill is the risk. There is no universal system, an ambulance ride alone can run into four figures, and an uninsured hospital stay can be genuinely ruinous. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential — this is the one destination where skipping it can cost more than the trip by an order of magnitude.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

The reason to come. Gumbo, jambalaya, po-boys, crawfish in spring and oysters in months with an R. Eat at Cochon or Willie Mae’s rather than the tourist rooms on Bourbon, get beignets at Café du Monde at 3am when there is no queue, and drink a Sazerac where a bartender makes it properly.

Getting around

• Streetcar — the St Charles line is the oldest continuously operating one in the world and doubles as the sightseeing tour
• Walking — the French Quarter is thirteen blocks by six and the humidity does the rest
• Bicycle — flat, and Blue Bikes are everywhere; the Lafitte Greenway crosses the city
• Uber and Lyft — the way home at night, and the way to and from the airport in about 25 minutes
• Ferry to Algiers Point — two dollars, ten minutes, and the best view of the skyline

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 2.4× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 1.7× the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Hear live music on Frenchmen Street rather than Bourbon
• Ride the St Charles streetcar the full length and walk back through the Garden District
• Eat a po-boy and an oyster in the same afternoon
• Take a cemetery tour, which requires a licensed guide at St Louis No. 1
• Go out to the swamps for the alligators and the cypress
• Come for a second line parade on a Sunday if you can time it

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

American English — local usage

• HelloHey / How are you doing?
• The bill, pleaseCan we get the check?
• To go, not eaten inTo go
• Fizzy drinkSoda
• The undergroundThe subway
• QueueLine
• Ground floorFirst floor
• Thank you very muchThanks so much

Religion

Christian majority, no state religion

Constitutionally separated from the state, and enormously varied by region — the south is far more observant than the coasts.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Tip 18-20% at restaurants and bars — servers are paid below minimum wage and depend on it
• Expect sales tax to be added at the till, not shown on the shelf price
• Make small talk with strangers; friendliness is genuine and not a prelude to anything
• Carry ID if you look under about 35 and intend to drink

Don't

• Do not skip the tip to make a point — take it up with the manager instead
• Do not discuss politics, guns or healthcare with strangers unless invited
• Do not stand too close; personal space is larger than in Europe or Latin America
• Do not joke about security at airports or borders