New Orleans keeps its must-sees close to faith, to the dead, and to the stage. The list runs from a cathedral dating from 1794 and a cemetery dating from 1789 to a performing arts hall in Metairie dating from 2015, and it leans on old buildings because those are what a visitor cannot find anywhere else. Three entries carry heavy heritage labels: the Old Ursuline Convent and St. Patrick's Church are both National Historic Landmarks, and The Presbytere is on the National Register of Historic Places. Alongside them are working stages for an evening, a modern synagogue, a public plaza, and one museum that asks for a clear head. Check the hours before you set out. The cemetery gates shut at 15:30 on weekdays, The Presbytere opens Tuesday to Sunday only, and Confederate Memorial Hall is closed on Sundays and Mondays. This list is for walkers who want the building and its story, not a run of photo stops.
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1 St. Louis Cathedral
615 Pere Antoine Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116-3291A cathedral in New Orleans dating from 1794
Every first-time visitor ends up at St. Louis Cathedral, 615 Pere Antoine Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116-3291, and for once the crowd has it right. The cathedral dates from 1794, which gives it the second-earliest date on this list. Skip the quick selfie from the pavement and go inside: the front of a cathedral is for postcards, but the interior is where you see what the building was made for, and it runs quieter than the queue outside suggests. Go early or late in the day if you can, sit for a while, and let the city's noise drop away. Mass times and visiting rules can change, so check the official website before you go. Don't arrive in beachwear and expect a welcome.
Dates from 1794
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2 Saint Louis Cemetery
425 Basin StreetA cemetery dating from 1789, made up of three separate parcels
Saint Louis Cemetery at 425 Basin Street opens at 09:00 Monday to Saturday and closes at 15:30, or at 12:30 on Sundays and public holidays, so don't count on arriving after a long lunch, because the afternoon goes fast here. The cemetery dates from 1789, and the name covers three separate parcels rather than a single plot, which means checking that you are heading to the right one before you set out. The official page is for St. Louis Cemetery 1. It also closes on 25 December, on the day 47 days before Easter, and on the fourth Thursday of November. Plan around those dates, walk slowly, and remember that people are still buried here.
Dates from 1789
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3 The Presbytere
751 Chartres StreetA historic French Quarter building on the National Register of Historic Places
The Presbytere at 751 Chartres Street opens Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 to 16:30, and closes on Mondays. It is a historic building in the French Quarter and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its official page sits on the Louisiana State Museum website, so check there for what is on before you go. Skip the trinket stalls and spend the hour on this building instead. In a neighbourhood where it is easy to spend a whole afternoon looking at shop windows, a listed building you can walk into and learn from is the better use of your time. Arrive well before 16:30 so you are not rushed out of the last rooms.
National Register of Historic Places listed place
Hours: Tu-Su 10:00-16:30
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4 Basilica of St. Stephen
1025 Napoleon Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115A Roman Catholic basilica on Napoleon Avenue
A Roman Catholic basilica at 1025 Napoleon Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115, the Basilica of St. Stephen rewards anyone willing to leave the obvious tourist circuit. A hurried drive-by misses the point. A basilica is meant to be taken in from inside, at the pace of someone with nowhere else to be, and this one feels different from the cathedral that tops this list: you are more likely to share it with parishioners than with tour groups, and that changes how the place feels. Check service times on the official website, goodshepherdparishnola.com, before you come, so you neither interrupt a Mass nor find the doors locked.
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5 Congregation Beth Israel
4004 West Esplanade Avenue South, Metairie, 70002A synagogue in Metairie dating from 2012
Congregation Beth Israel at 4004 West Esplanade Avenue South, Metairie, 70002 dates from 2012, making it one of the two youngest buildings on this list. It is a synagogue, and it earns its place here as a counterweight to a list heavy with Catholic stone. If old architecture is the draw, this won't satisfy you. If you want to understand that this city's religious life did not stop at the river parishes, it does. A synagogue is not a ticketed attraction, so contact the congregation through its official website before you turn up, dress as you would for any house of worship, and leave the camera in your bag unless you are told otherwise.
Dates from 2012
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6 Civic Theatre
510 Okeefe Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113A theater dating from 1906 that still puts on shows
The Civic Theatre at 510 Okeefe Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113 dates from 1906 and is a theater that rewards a ticket-buyer far more than a passerby. The way locals approach it makes sense: check the calendar first, then decide. In a hall this old, the room carries as much weight as whatever is on stage, so the choice of show matters less than you might expect. Listings are at civicnola.com. Pick something you would not normally see, arrive early enough to look up at the room before the lights go down, and let the show be the occasion. Few stages in this city give you that much history for the price of an evening ticket.
Dates from 1906
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7 Confederate Memorial Hall
929 Camp Street, LAA war museum dating from 1891, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Of every stop on this list, Confederate Memorial Hall at 929 Camp Street makes the most demands on your judgement. It is a war museum dating from 1891, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Skip it if you want history with the edges sanded off, but go if you want to see how one side chose to remember a war, and bring your own questions, because the building's age is part of what it has to say. Hours are short: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 16:00, closed Sunday and Monday. Check the official website before you go, and give yourself time afterwards to think about what you saw.
Dates from 1891 · National Register of Historic Places listed place
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8 Joy Theater
1200 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112A former movie theater dating from 1947, now a theater and music venue
On show nights, music carries well beyond the doors of the Joy Theater at 1200 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, a former movie theater now running as a theater and music venue. The building dates from 1947, so the room has had decades to settle into itself. We'd skip the cover-charge bars working the tourist trade and spend that evening here instead. You get a proper stage, a crowd that came for the act, and a building with a past worth knowing. Check what is on before you plan your night, find a seat with a clear sightline, and stay through the encore.
Dates from 1947
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9 Jefferson Performing Arts Center
6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA 70003A theater in LaSalle Park in Metairie, dating from 2015
Out in LaSalle Park in Metairie, at 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA 70003, Jefferson Performing Arts Center carries the most recent date on this list: 2015. The building is not the draw. Come for the programme, and come because an evening here puts you inside the metro area's cultural life rather than its postcard districts. The theater publishes its season at jeffersonpac.com, so check before you plan the drive, pair the show with a meal nearby, and you have an evening most visitors never think to put together.
Dates from 2015
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10 Old Ursuline Convent
A National Historic Landmark dating from 1734
Of the two National Historic Landmarks on this list, the Old Ursuline Convent is the one to put first in your day. It dates from 1734, the earliest date carried by any entry here, and older than both the cathedral and the cemetery that rank above it on this list. Skip any retelling of the city's past that cannot point to a date; this building has one on record. Our sources give no street address, just a mapped position, so use a map pin rather than a house number to find it, and confirm opening times locally before you set off. That age deserves unhurried attention.
Dates from 1734 · National Historic Landmark
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11 St. Patrick's Church
A church building in Louisiana designated a National Historic Landmark
Step inside St. Patrick's Church and the street noise drops away, which is reason enough on its own. It is a church building in Louisiana with National Historic Landmark status, placing it in the same heritage company as the oldest building on this list. We'd skip the guided church crawls that push you through four naves in an hour; one landmark interior, taken slowly, teaches you more. Our sources give no street address, only a mapped position, so find it by map pin and check locally for service times before you go. Sit near the back, keep your voice down, and let the building do the talking.
National Historic Landmark
This is an early version of the New Orleans list. We add picks as we test more places.
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