5 Must-Sees in New Orleans

The heartbreakingly beautiful French Quarter, where New Orleans began, is battered and bohemian, decaying and vibrant. Kristina Pentland from travel publishers, Rough Guides takes a stroll passed its fanciful cast-iron balconies, hidden courtyards, and time-stained stucco buildings.

Bourbon Street

The tawdry, touristy, booze-swilled stretch spans the seven blocks from Canal to St Ann streets: a frat-pack cacophony of daiquiri stalls, novelty shops, noisy karaoke bars, and rowdy gay discos.

This self-contained enclave is best experienced after dark, when a couple "" though by no means all "" of its bars and clubs are worth a look, and the sheer mayhem takes on a bacchanalian life of its own. You'll even come across some fine old-time restaurants.

When the attraction of fighting your way through the crowds wanes, it's easy to dip out again into the quieter parallel streets to regain some sort of sanity.

Cafe du Monde

Despite the hype, the crowds, and the sugar-sticky tabletops, this old market coffeehouse is an undeniably atmospheric place to drink steaming cafe au lait, imbued with chicory, and snack on piping hot, sugary beignets for a couple of dollars "" apart from orange juice and hot chocolate, they serve little else.

Come early when it's quiet, or join the night owls in the wee hours, when you can gaze at the starry sky from the covered patio.

Ironwork balconies

With the intricate filigree tracery, the Quarter's elegant cast-iron balconies have defined its haunting beauty since the mid-nineteenth century.

Elegant Royal Street was the main commercial thoroughfare of the Creole city, inhabited by the wealthiest sugar planters and lined with the finest shops. Its fabulous cast-iron balconies create a stunning streetscape familiar from countless movies, coffeetable books, and postcards.

Jackson Square

This is where you'll find some of the city's major sights: the chic, terraced Pontalba Buildings, their street-level rooms taken up by shops and restaurants; St Louis Cathedral; and flanking the cathedral like stout bodyguards, the Cabildo and Presbytere museums.

During the day, everyone passes by at some time or another, weaving their way through the tangle of artists, rainbow-clad palmists, magicians, shambolic jazz bands, and blues musicians.

Street musicians

You'll find excellent makeshift bands on street corners throughout the Quarter, playing superb roots music "" blues, bluegrass, jazz "" all day long.

(This information has been adapted from New Orleans DIRECTIONS (1st edition), written by Samantha Cook, published by Rough Guides, http://www.roughguides.com. )