New Orleans Suggested Itineraries from Viator.com

Day 1: The City

The French Quarter is the heart of the Crescent City, where you can start the day with a cafe au lait and a bignet - or maybe a jazz brunch if you've slept in late. Keep the food theme going with a cooking class or join a walking tour for the local perspective on the Vieux Carre's museums, squares, back streets and storied denizens.

There's a lot more to New Orleans than the French Quarter. Follow the river's crescent in a streetcar down St Charles Avenue. In the neighborhoods along this route - the Garden, Uptown, and Riverbend Districts - you can find plenty of specialty shops, whether you're looking for antique prints, vintage clothes, or rare vinyl. And there's any number of bars, cafes and restaurants to duck into out of the heat.

There are several excellent ways of getting around the city, including a walking tour of the Garden District that features some of the city's grandest old homes, and a scooter tour. You can also get an overall view of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans - and of the stellar efforts the city's made to rebuild. A good way to see a lot of the city for a bargain price is to snag a VISITicket Power Pass, which will get you onto over two dozen tours for no extra cost, and onto many others at a hefty discount.

Day 2: The Netherworld

If you have a penchant for the macabre and the occult you're in the right place. The city is rife with mysteries, ghosts, and voodoo. Wander among the crypts and tombs of the eerie St. Louis Cemetery, or haunt the haunters on a ghost tour of the French Quarter or the otherwise staid and stately Garden District. If you prefer your ghoulies from the ranks of the blood-deprived you can hunt some infamous local vampires.

Day 3: Greater New Orleans

Despite its charms, there are several reasons to get out of New Orleans - and into the surrounding country. There are pre-Civil War plantations dotted all around the Mississippi River Delta, and we can take you to some of the best, including the Oak Alley and Westbank plantations. Or you could spend the entire day seeing these and yet a third.

If you'd prefer to get back to nature there's no shortage of swampy bayous to tool around in. Dodge gators, snakes and raccoons in a swampboat, or combine the bayou with a plantation.

And finally, you can get out on a historic steamboat and whistle along with the steam calliope as you wend your way along the river, taking in the Crescent City skyline.

The Big Easy

The suggestions above should give you an idea of the possibilities. For more ideas check out our complete list of New Orleans tours & activities.

You could also go further out and do a blues and barbecue tour through Memphis and Atlanta, or go country in Nashville.