Everything You Need to Know
About New Orleans (And More!)
Visitors Information
Looking for things to do while in New Orleans? Here are some web sites to help in planning:
New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau offers a wide range of information for visitors to New Orleans.
24NOLA, the official 24-hour guide for a 24-hour city brought to you by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Major Attractions
Take time to see the New Orleans Museum of Art and Besthoff Sculpture Garden, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the National World War II Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center, or the Louisiana Children's Museum. The New Orleans Ballet, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and community theaters throughout the metropolitan New Orleans area are open.
All the major attractions in the city, including the Harrah's Casino, the Audubon Zoo, Aquarium and IMAX theater, Mardi Gras World, Café Du Monde, paddlewheel cruises on the Mississippi River, carriage rides through the French Quarter and CBD, ferry rides across the Mississippi River, the Steamboat Natchez and the Creole Queen, plantation, swamp and specialty tours, nightclubs and music venues are open.
Transportation
Taxis: Approximately 1,200 cabs are on the streets. Taxi rates are $2.50 plus $1.60 per mile (.20 per one-eighth mile) thereafter. There is also an additional charge of $1.00 per passenger after the first passenger. A fixed rate of $28 (one to two people) is charged from the airport to most areas of New Orleans. For parties of more than two, the fare is $12 per person.
Bus: Twenty-nine bus lines are running, providing 25,000 rides daily. Bus service allows transportation throughout the city's major corridor, extending from the Faubourg Marigny to Riverbend.
Amtrak: The City of New Orleans is running again to Memphis and Chicago, while the Crescent has resumed its regular route to Atlanta and New York.
Regional Transit: RTA services are $1.25,
including bus transportation and the streetcar. The New Orleans Streetcar
line is partially back in service, including the leg traveling on Canal
Street from the Mississippi River to Mid-City, and from Canal Street north
on Carrolton Avenue to City Park at Wisner Boulevard. The Riverfront line
is also running. While a small leg from Canal Street to Lee Circle in
the city's Central Business District has reopened, the time line for the
full return of the historic St. Charles Avenue line is well into 2007.
Air Transportation: Louis Armstrong International Airport, as of April 2007, reports 107 flights serving 38 cities (68 percent the number of daily departures and 77 percent the number of destinations; 13,214 seats or 65 percent of pre-Katrina level of seats per day). Airlines operating out of the Louis Armstrong International Airport include: Air Tran, American Airlines, Continental, Delta Airlines, Jet Blue, Northwest, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, U.S. Airways, and ExpressJet. Delta Airlines recently added non-stop flights to Los Angeles to the delight of tourists and business travelers alike.
Security
Tourists and visitors in New Orleans are as safe as those as in any big American city, says the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. Visitors may notice increased patrols from the New Orleans Police Department and Quality of Life officers. The ratio of police to citizens is higher today than it was before hurricane Katrina. Pre-Katrina, 1,680 offices, with 1 to every 238 citizens; post-Katrina, 1,458 officers, with 1 to each 152 residents.
Hospitals
Twelve hospitals are open in the metropolitan New Orleans area, including Tulane Hospital and Clinic, Touro Infirmary and Children's Hospital in Orleans Parish, East Jefferson Medical Center and Clinic, Tulane-Lakeside Hospital, Ochsner Clinic Foundation and Hospital, Kenner Regional Medical Center and Omega Hospital in East Jefferson Parish, and West Jefferson Medical Center on the westbank of the Mississippi River. Memorial Baptist Hospital has opened a small portion of its uptown campus, with more improvements being made. University Hospital, located in downtown New Orleans, has recently opened a trauma center and it is being operated by Louisiana State University. It is the first trauma center to open in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.