Take a Trip Down to New Orleans and Experience One of These Historic Hidden Gems

The city of New Orleans is humming with freshly minted museums, eclectic restaurants, and bayou-tiful boulevards. Go in the spring—early if you want to hit Mardi Gras, later if you prefer Jazz Fest—when the weather is at its most pleasant. For access to it all, plunk yourself in the Marigny district. Consider staying at Hotel Peter & Paul—a 19th-century schoolhouse, church, and convent now filled with guest rooms done up in handmade textiles and painterly palettes. Then? Hit these colorful spots.

Related: Go Inside Justine, a New Orleans Restaurant That's Bringing French Style Back to the French Quarter

Come hungry to the Franklin, a grocery-store-turned-gastropub where the dinner menu (breadcrumb-topped blue-crab pasta, hanger-steak frites) is as authentically NOLA as the expertly crafted cocktails. And for dessert? Think beyond the king cake, and peruse their daily selection of windowsill pies and cheese with assorted accoutrement.

Mosey down Frenchmen Street, a few blocks east of the French Quarter. Tour guides will tell you that Frenchmen Street is a gem off the beaten path of Bourbon Street—a row of clubs, bars, and bistros where the local New Orleanians go. Peruse the nightly open-air Palace Market Frenchmen, where artists and jewelers sell top-notch work; follow your ear to the Spotted Cat Music Club for some hopping live jazz.

Snag a seat at the Marigny Opera House—a church built in 1848 that's been converted into an ethereal performance venue—and behold its resident ballet company leaping through an original number. For an upcoming performance, purchase tickets to Follies of 1915, which opens on March 27 at 8pm. Kellis McSparrin Oldenburg's full-length comedy—which, worth noting, was a sold-out smash hit of the ballet's 2018 season—will be accompanied by the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra.