New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans Central Business District
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CBDFromBaptistGarage3June2008A.jpg
Author: Infrogmation of New Orleans


New Orleans is the biggest and most famous city in Louisiana. It is located on the southeastern part of the state, straddling the Mississippi River. The city, which is within the same boundary as the New Orleans Parish, covers 350.2 sq mi (907 sq km) and has a population of 350,000 (2011 estimate), within a metropolitan area of 1.2 million people.

Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_Quarter_-_New_Orleans,_Louisiana.jpg
Author: Mark Heard


New Orleans is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors come to the city to enjoy its distinctive culture, its French Creole architecture, its cuisine and its music. New Orleans is regarded as the birthplace of jazz music. It also has the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States.

New Orleans is 105 miles (169 km) upriver from the Gulf of Mexico. However its location, and the fact that the Mississippi River delta spreads out around it, makes the city prone to flooding. This is further compounded by hurricanes and coastal erosion. As a result, the city was badly devastated in 2005 when it was hit by Hurricane Katrina, causing flooding to 80% of the city, making it the deadliest hurricane in the United States in the 21st century.

New Orleans experiences a humid subtropical climate. The warmest month here is July, when the average high temperature reaches 74.2°F (23.44°C). January is the coldest month, when average temperature drops to 43.4°F (6.33°C). July and August are the wettest months with over 13 in (250 mm) of rain each.

St Louis Cathedral, New Orleans
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_new_orleans.jpg
Author: Rafal Konieczny


New Orleans was originally named La Nouvelle-Orléans, in honor of Philippe d'Orléans, the Duke of Orléans. It was founded by the French Mississippi Company on 7 May, 1718. In 1763 it was ceded to the Spanish Empire under the Treaty of Paris. New Orleans remained under Spanish ru8le until 1801, when it reverted to the French.

In 1803, New Orleans was part of the territory sold by Napoleon to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. The follow year, New Orleans received an influx of refugees from Haiti following the Haitian Revolution. The city has been an important port on the Mississippi since the 19th century, and by 1860, it was the largest city in the American South. By the mid 20th century, however, the city was gradually being surpassed by cities in the region including Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Miami.

New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and subsequently Hurricane Rita. Following the disaster, neighborhoods in New Orleans are slowly recovering, many of which are at or near pre-Katrina population levels.

St Louis Cemetery, New Orleans
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StLouis1CemFrontOvenRow.jpg
Author: Infrogmation

Visiting New Orleans

Interstate 10, 55 and 59 are the three main highways connecting New Orleans with the rest of the country. The I-10 links New Orleans with Baton Rouge to the west and Mobile to the east. I-55 connects it to Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, while I-59 connects it with Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama.

The Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) is the gateway to New Orleans. The airport is connected by flight with destinations in North America. From the airport, you can grab a cab to the French Quarter or the Central Business District, for $33 (for one or two persons), and $14 per person for groups of three and more.

Districts of New Orleans

Places of Interest in New Orleans, Louisiana

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.