New Orleans keeps its past in working buildings, and its best museums tell you about the city as much as their collections do. The range across this list is considerable: at one end is the Old Ursuline Convent, dating from 1734, and at the other is the National World War II Museum, which dates from 2000. In between come a city art museum from 1911, the Cabildo from 1795, and a museum devoted to Southern art from 2003. Three of the ten hold National Historic Landmark status, and the voodoo museum is classed as a religious, art and history museum all at once. This list is for visitors who want more than a rainy-afternoon refuge: people who will read a wall label, check the hours before setting out, and leave knowing something about the place they are standing in. Hours vary a lot from one museum to the next, and several close on Mondays, so plan with the times given in each entry.
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1 New Orleans Museum of Art
1 Collins Diboll Circle, New Orleans, LAThe Wednesday late opening, 12:00 to 19:00
From 12:00 to 19:00 on Wednesdays, the New Orleans Museum of Art at 1 Collins Diboll Circle keeps its late door open, and that is the hour we'd come, when the after-work crowd has thinned and the galleries have room. The rest of the week it opens 10:00 to 17:00 on Tuesday and from Thursday through Sunday, and it stays closed on Mondays. This is the city's art museum in the plainest sense of the phrase, and it dates from 1911, so the institution has had more than a century to build its rooms and its habits. Check noma.org for current exhibitions before you go, then give yourself an unhurried afternoon rather than a sprint between highlights.
Dates from 1911
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2 The Cabildo
701 Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA 70116A National Historic Landmark dating from 1795 that serves as its own main exhibit
Dating from 1795, the Cabildo stands at 701 Chartres Street in the 70116 postal area. It is a historic building first and a National Historic Landmark, which means the walls are as much the reason to come as anything hung on them. Leave the souvenir-shop versions of the city's past alone; an hour inside a building of this age teaches more than any T-shirt slogan. It opens 09:00 to 16:00 from Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays and public holidays. That 16:00 close catches out late risers, so make it a morning stop. Current exhibitions are listed on the Louisiana State Museum website.
Dates from 1795 · National Historic Landmark
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3 National World War II Museum
945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130A full-day military history museum open every day of the week
The National World War II Museum sits at 945 Magazine Street in the 70130 postal area and opens every day from 09:00 to 17:00. It is a military history museum run as a non-profit, and it dates only from 2000, which makes it young by this city's standards and all the more ambitious for that. Don't arrive thinking you can squeeze it in between lunch and cocktails. Get there at 09:00, pace yourself, and give it the day. Being open all seven days also makes it a practical choice when other plans keep colliding with Monday closures. Check nationalww2museum.org before you go for tickets and what is currently showing.
Dates from 2000
Hours: Mo-Su 09:00-17:00
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4 New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
724 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA 70116A museum that treats voodoo as religion, art and history at once
The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum opens at 10:00 at 724 Dumaine Street, 70116, and stays open until 18:00 every day of the week. It is classed as a religious museum, an art museum, and a history museum all at once, and that triple classification is the right frame to bring. Leave the novelty voodoo dolls for the souvenir shops; this is the place to engage with the religion as a living tradition, not as a costume. Those daily hours make it a comfortable fit whether you arrive late morning or show up near the end of an afternoon. Details are on voodoomuseum.com.
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-18:00
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5 Madame John's Legacy
632 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LAA historic house museum with National Historic Landmark status
At 632 Dumaine Street, Madame John's Legacy is a building you come to for the building itself. It holds National Historic Landmark status, and its official record sits in the National Park Service's NPGallery archive, which is worth reading before you arrive. Don't treat it as a photo stop from the pavement. The whole point of a house museum is to step inside and see how the rooms were arranged and lived in. We could not confirm its opening hours, so check before you walk over and spare yourself a wasted trip down Dumaine.
National Historic Landmark
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6 Ogden Museum of Southern Art
925 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130A museum built around the art of the American South
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art at 925 Camp Street, 70130, opens every day from 10:00 to 17:00. The name is straightforward, and the premise is stronger than it sounds: a museum built around one region's art tells you more about where you are standing than any amount of European survey painting would. Founded in 2003, it is among the newer institutions in the city, and its seven-day schedule makes it a reliable option when other places are dark. Check ogdenmuseum.org for the current programme.
Dates from 2003
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
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7 Confederate Memorial Hall
929 Camp Street, LAA war museum dating from 1891 that is itself a record of how the war was remembered
Confederate Memorial Hall at 929 Camp Street is closed on Sundays and Mondays, opening Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00. It is a war museum that dates from 1891 and sits on the National Register of Historic Places. Come with your eyes open: a memorial hall of this age is a document as much as an exhibit, showing how the war was chosen to be remembered rather than the war itself. If you want a neutral battlefield primer, this is not the place; come if you want to look hard at public memory and argue about it afterward. Visiting details are at confederatemuseum.com.
Dates from 1891 · National Register of Historic Places listed place
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8 Old Ursuline Convent
The earliest date on this list, 1734, in a National Historic Landmark
Of all the dates on this list, the Old Ursuline Convent carries the earliest: 1734. For anyone who cares how this city began, that alone earns a detour. It is a National Historic Landmark, and the designation rests on age and survival rather than spectacle. Set aside the ghost-tour versions of colonial New Orleans with their invented drama and stand instead in a building that dates from 1734. We could not verify the visiting hours, so confirm them before you set out. Go slowly, look at the construction, and let the age speak for itself.
Dates from 1734 · National Historic Landmark
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9 Louisiana State Museum
A statewide system of museums and historic sites, not a single building
The Louisiana State Museum is not a single building but a system of museums and historic sites spread across the state, and that distinction matters when you're planning your visit. Dating from 1906, it has been accumulating the state's story for well over a century. There is no grand central entrance with everything under one roof, so don't waste time looking for one. Pick the site that fits your day and your interests, then check its hours before you go, because they vary from site to site. Treat it as a menu, not a monument, and you will get far more out of it.
Dates from 1906
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10 Newcomb Art Gallery
The art museum of Tulane University
The Newcomb Art Gallery is the art museum of Tulane University, which means you reach it by intention, not by accident. That campus setting is the appeal. A university museum shows work because it is worth showing, not because it needs to move before Friday, which sets it apart from the commercial galleries aimed at tourists. Founded in 1986, it is a relative newcomer beside the city's older institutions, and that shows in how it approaches its programme. We could not confirm the opening hours, and university calendars shift with the academic year, so check before you make the trip. Pair it with an unhurried walk and the afternoon is well spent.
Dates from 1986
This is an early version of the New Orleans list. We add picks as we test more places.
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