If you’re searching for the ultimate Deep South USA road trip itinerary, this unforgettable journey through Mississippi and Louisiana combines the legendary Mississippi Blues Trail, world-famous music cities, Southern food, civil rights history and hidden gems into one of the most powerful travel experiences in America. 

Driving through the Deep South USA felt like stepping into the living, breathing soul of America. There are few trips more iconic than a Deep South USA road trip – and after 10 unforgettable days driving the Mississippi Blues Trail from Memphis to New Orleans, dancing in juke joints, tracing civil rights history and falling hard for the culture of Mississippi and Louisiana, I finally understand why travellers become so emotionally attached to this part of America, and why they have been returning for 40+ years.

The Deep South is unlike anywhere else in America – isn’t polished or curated for tourists – it gets under your skin. One minute you’re dancing in a tiny juke joint at 1am while blues musicians improvise on stage like their lives depend on it. The next, you’re standing inside museums confronting the realities of slavery, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement in places where history still feels incredibly raw.

But that contrast is exactly what makes this region so powerful. The Deep South USA tells the story of America in a way few other places can. Music born from pain and resistance. Food shaped by generations of cultural exchange. It’s impossible to travel through Mississippi and Louisiana without understanding how deeply this region has shaped global culture.

Drone shot of car driving the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi

This two-week Mississippi and Louisiana itinerary follows the legendary Mississippi Blues Trail through Clarksdale, Jackson, Natchez, Lafayette and New Orleans – uncovering blues history, Cajun culture, festivals, food and hidden gems along the way. No guidebook could have prepared me for how this trip would feel, because the Deep South isn’t just a destination, it’s a feeling.

From the gritty blues clubs of Clarksdale, to the swamps of Lafayette and the electric chaos of New Orleans, this route captures everything that makes the American South so special.

If you’re wondering:

  • What is special about the Deep South?
  • What are the best cities to visit in the Deep South?
  • What is the most beautiful road trip in the USA?

… this itinerary answers all of them.

Because this might genuinely be one of the greatest road trips in America.

For those who are new here, I'm Lucy, a solo travel expert and adventure seeker who is passionate about giving women the tools (and the confidence) to try solo travel. I'm also a great lover of road trips and have spent months driving across the Australian outback, have lived vanlife in Europe and currently adventures in my own camper van.

I've travelled around the globe to 60+ countries and I pride myself in giving real, raw, honest advice to help you plan your dream trip, try exploring lesser-known destinations and weave in unique and authentic experiences to every itinerary. Check out my road trip itineraries for inspiration for your next road trip adventure. 

This blog post is a press trip partnership with Visit USA, Deep South USA, Visit Mississippi and Explore Louisiana [AD] working alongside Visit Clarksdale, Visit Jackson, Visit Natchez, Lafayette Travel and New Orleans & Co, but I only ever share my honest reviews & travel experiences.

Woman in red dress on balcony in New Orleans on Deep South USA Road trip

Planing the ultimate Deep South USA road trip itinerary? Here's where you'll find:

  1. Is a Deep South USA road trip worth it?
  2. Planning Your Deep South USA Road Trip
  3. Best Time to Visit Mississippi and Louisiana
  4. Hiring a Car in the Deep South USA
  5. Deep South USA Road Trip Itinerary
  6. Clarksdale, Mississippi: The Birthplace of the Blues
  7. Best Things to Do in Clarksdale
  8. Jackson, Mississippi: The City With Soul
  9. Best Things to Do in Jackson, Mississippi
  10. Natchez, Mississippi: The Oldest City on the Mississippi River
  11. Best Things to Do in Natchez, Mississippi
  12. Lafayette, Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun Country
  13. Best Things to Do in Lafayette, Louisiana
  14. New Orleans, Louisiana: A City Like No Other
  15. Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana

Get your Deep South Essentials!

Live blues performance by Edna Nicole & Slim at Reds Blues Club in Clarksdale Mississippi

Is a Deep South USA road trip worth it?

Absolutely, but only if you’re willing to experience a side of America that goes far beyond the stereotypes. A Deep South USA road trip isn’t just about ticking off famous cities or listening to live music in historic bars. It’s about understanding the roots of modern American culture and seeing how deeply music, food, history and storytelling are woven into everyday life across this region.

In case you’re wondering, the Deep South USA generally refers to states including Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina – although culturally, Mississippi and Louisiana often feel like the beating heart of the region. And honestly? Nowhere I’ve travelled in the USA has felt more emotionally rich, culturally layered or deeply connected to its identity.

This is the birthplace of the blues. The home of jazz. The region that helped shape rock & roll, soul, rhythm & blues and eventually hip hop. Without the Deep South, modern music simply wouldn’t exist in the form we know it today. What struck me most was that music here doesn’t feel packaged for tourists – it feels alive.

You hear it drifting out of tiny roadside bars in Mississippi, echoing through neighbourhood festivals in Louisiana and spilling onto street corners in New Orleans long after midnight. Live music isn’t treated as entertainment here; it’s part of the social fabric, passed between generations as naturally as storytelling or cooking.

Wednesdays at the Square in New Orleans

And storytelling is everywhere. The Deep South has one of the richest oral storytelling traditions in America – shaped by African American heritage, Indigenous history, river trade culture, French and Spanish colonial influences, Cajun and Creole communities and generations of musicians, writers and activists whose voices changed the country forever.

For someone like me, who’s always fascinated by the stories behind a destination, this road trip constantly felt like stepping into living history. One minute I was standing at a marker on the legendary Mississippi Blues Trail, learning about musicians who changed global culture forever. The next, I was inside civil rights museums tears filling my eyes at histories that still shape America today. And then somehow by evening, I’d be dancing in a Cajun music hall with locals who’d been coming every week for decades.

And then there’s the food, which honestly deserves its own entire road trip. The Deep South has one of the most influential culinary identities in the world, shaped by African, French, Spanish, Caribbean and Native American influences. Food here tells stories of migration, survival, celebration and community. From Mississippi barbecue and buttery biscuits to Louisiana gumbo, po’boys and crawfish boils, meals aren’t rushed experiences, they’re social rituals.

You’ll eat in tiny family-run diners, roadside food trucks, historic restaurants and community gathering spaces where recipes have been passed down for generations.

But perhaps the thing I loved most about the Deep South was the people. There’s a warmth and openness here that catches you off guard (particularly for British travellers!). Conversations happen easily and strangers become storytellers, music venues feel like family reunions. And despite the region’s difficult history, there’s also incredible resilience, creativity and pride in preserving culture and community.

So, is a Deep South USA road trip worth it? If you want polished luxury and predictable tourist experiences, maybe not. But if you want a journey filled with soul, music, human connection, complicated history, unforgettable food and the kind of moments that stay with you long after you’ve flown home, then absolutely yes.

If a Deep South USA road trip is not for you – why not check out my other USA destinations? Read Best Things To Do in Boston in the Fall, 5 Day Boston Itinerary for First-Timers, The Ultimate West Coast Road Trip, Everything I Ate in Boston and Solo Travel in Boston, MA. 

The pretty streets of Natchez Mississippi

Planning Your Deep South USA Road Trip

This route starts in Memphis and finishes in New Orleans, taking you through the musical and cultural heart of the American South. The road trip starts in Memphis, where you’ll pick up a rental car before driving south into Mississippi and Louisiana. Travelling along the Mississippi Blues Trail through Clarksdale, Jackson and Natchez, before moving on to Cajun country in Lafayette and New Orleans, Louisiana. Then you will fly home from New Orleans.

This itinerary works brilliantly as either:

  • A fast-paced 10-day road trip
  • A slower, more immersive two-week itinerary

Personally? I’d strongly recommend allowing two weeks to allow some space for spontaneity. This isn’t a trip where you should rush from one checklist item to the next, and so much of the magic of the Deep South lives in the in-between moments and the conversations with people you meet along the way. As our wonderful friend Bubba in Clarksdale said, "we're just jukin'". 

Some of my favourite moments of the trip were the ones that weren't in the itinerary – they were dancing with strangers at Cajun music nights in Lafayette, meeting the youngest Freedom Writer to be arrested and hearing his story, taking scenic detours along the Mississippi River and getting a psychic reading at a Voodoo Museum in New Orleans. So, make sure you plan to stay open to the magic of a road trip.

Cycling around lafayette with Rouler `Bike Tours

Best Time to Visit Mississippi & Louisiana

April might just be the perfect time to visit the Deep South, and I genuinely think it’s underrated. It’s the sweet spot between cooler winter weather and the intense humidity of summer, and the beginning of a season of live music events and festivals across the region, which you know is one of my favourite experiences to travel for.

While summer brings intense humidity and hurricane season risks, spring brings warm but manageable temperatures, the beginning of festival season, blooming flowers and lush, thriving swamplands and ideal road trip conditions. Culturally, April is incredible. Everyone wants to experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but if you prefer to experience some of the lesser known gems and authentic local festivals, try timing your trip around:

While these festivals are smaller and lesser known, you'll experience a crowd that travels globally to attend these events every year without fail. I had the pleasure of meeting festival-goers who had  been returning to Clarksdale for 40+ years to attend the Juke Joint Festival. And honestly? The atmosphere was electric.

Alligators in the Atchafalaya Basin

Hiring a Car in the Deep South USA

Hiring a car is an absolute must for this Deep South USA road trip itinerary, it’s what transforms the trip from a standard holiday into a real adventure. Having your own car unlocks access to so many experiences you simply wouldn’t reach otherwise – from scenic backroads and tiny Delta towns, to hidden blues bars, roadside diners and iconic stops along the legendary Mississippi Blues Trail.

I hired my car through Avis after flying into Memphis, and the entire process felt straightforward and stress-free, especially important after a long international flight. I will warn you that you will likely be given quite a large vehicle, so if, like me, you're used to driving a small car at home, it can be an adjustment (but it's nothing you can't handle!)

Now, if the idea of driving in America feels intimidating, especially as a first-timer, let me reassure you: driving through the Deep South is actually far easier than many people expect. Outside of bigger cities like New Orleans, the roads are generally wide, quiet and easy to navigate, with long scenic stretches that make road tripping feel genuinely enjoyable rather than stressful. Traffic felt minimal compared to driving in many UK cities, and most of the driving days on this itinerary are relatively manageable distances of maximum 2.5 hours.

A few things that made it easier:

  • Automatic cars are standard in the USA
  • Roads are well signposted
  • Google Maps worked perfectly throughout the trip
  • Parking was easy and free in most destinations
  • Fuel stations are frequent and affordable compared to the UK

The biggest adjustment for UK travellers is obviously driving on the right-hand side of the road, but honestly? I found my brain adapted surprisingly quickly, especially once outside busy urban areas. And the freedom it gives you is completely worth it, particularly because a lot of American cities are not set up for walking so you will find even in the cities, you are using your car to go for dinner, sightseeing and much more. Trust me, this is one of those road trips where the journey really does become part of the story.

>> Book your car hire now <<

Staying at The fairview Inn, Jackson Mississippi

Deep South USA Road Trip Itinerary

  • Day 1–3: Clarksdale
  • Drive from Memphis: Approx. 1.5 hours
  • Day 4–6: Jackson
  • Drive from Clarksdale: Approx. 3 hours
  • Day 7–8: Natchez
  • Drive from Jackson: Approx. 2.5 hours
  • Day 9–11: Lafayette
  • Drive from Natchez: Approx. 3.5 hours
  • Day 12–14: New Orleans
  • Drive from Lafayette: Approx. 2.5 hours

Woman crouches in front of Clarksdale Mississippi street art

Clarksdale, Mississippi: The Birthplace of the Blues

If there’s one place that completely stole my heart on this trip, it was Clarksdale. At first glance, Clarksdale feels gritty, edgy and rough around the edges. Weathered buildings. Rusting signs. Empty storefronts baking beneath the Delta heat. It’s not polished, curated or trying to impress anyone, and honestly, that’s exactly what makes it unforgettable. Spend more than a few hours here and the city slowly reveals itself in the most extraordinary way.

Everyone has a story to tell in Clarksdale.

Musicians, bartenders, artists, shop owners, festival regulars who’ve been returning for decades, this city has more characters than Sesame Street. Somewhere between late-night blues sessions, smoky barbecue joints and conversations with strangers who quickly feel like lifelong friends, you begin to understand why people fall so hard for this tiny Mississippi Delta town.

Clarksdale doesn’t just celebrate music history, it lives and breathes it every single day. This is the spiritual heart of the legendary Mississippi Blues Trail, the birthplace of a musical movement that shaped modern culture across the world. Without the Delta blues, we wouldn’t have rock & roll, rhythm & blues, soul or even modern pop music as we know it today.

Standing in Clarksdale, you feel that weight of history everywhere. This is the landscape that shaped icons like:

  • Muddy Waters
  • Howlin' Wolf
  • John Lee Hooker
  • Sam Cooke

And of course, Robert Johnson, the legendary bluesman whose story still hangs over Clarksdale thanks to the infamous Crossroads myth, where he supposedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for supernatural musical talent. Whether you believe the legend or not, there’s something undeniably haunting about standing beneath the famous Crossroads marker knowing this tiny town changed global music forever.

But Clarksdale isn’t stuck in the past. What struck me most was how fiercely the community continues to protect and evolve its cultural identity. The city feels alive with creativity, from vibrant murals and street art to tiny independent businesses keeping local culture thriving.

One standout was Meraki Coffee Roasters, a brilliant social enterprise helping local young people build entrepreneurial and creative skills through community projects, coffee and art. Places like this feel incredibly important in Clarksdale because tourism here isn’t just about preserving history, it’s also about investing in the future of the community.

The Crossroads, Mississippi Blues Marker in Clarksdale, Birthplace of the Blues

Nowhere captures the spirit of Clarksdale better than the legendary Juke Joint Festival. If you can, build your entire itinerary around this weekend. For a few days each spring, the whole town transforms into one giant celebration of Delta culture. Blues spills out of every doorway. Streets fill with musicians, bikers, artists and travellers from around the world. Tiny juke joints host world-class performances until sunrise while locals dance in folding chairs outside corner bars.

What makes it so special isn’t polished production or big festival staging, it’s authenticity. Many performances happen inside old blues clubs that feel almost untouched by time. You’re not watching a performance designed for tourists, you’re experiencing a music culture that still genuinely belongs to the community.

Somehow, despite all the grit and edge, Clarksdale leaves you with this strange warm fuzzy feeling you can’t quite explain. Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the people. Maybe it’s the sense that everyone here is unapologetically themselves. Clarksdale feels like one of the last places where stories still matter more than appearances.

Guitarist and singer Christone “Kingfish” Ingram performs at the Juke Joint Festival in clarksdale Mississippi

Best Things to Do in Clarksdale

And if you have extra time? I’d already go back in a heartbeat just to experience one of Quapaw Canoe Company's multi-day wilderness expeditions by canoe along the Mississippi River – because Clarksdale feels like the kind of place that reveals something new every time you return.

Jackson, Mississippi, the city with soul - women stands in front of street art mural

Jackson, Mississippi: The City With Soul

Forget everything you think you know about Jackson. Because honestly? This city completely shattered my expectations. Like many international travellers, I’d heard the headlines and the stereotypes before arriving – but while this is a city that absolutely faces challenges, reducing Jackson to those narratives alone completely misses the point.

Because Jackson is a city with soul. A city of storytellers, musicians, activists, artists, entrepreneurs and communities fighting fiercely for their future. A place where some of the most important stories in modern American history continue to echo through the streets. Jackson isn’t just the capital of Mississippi – it’s where the Mississippi Blues Trail, the Mississippi Freedom Trail, literary history, civil rights history and Southern food culture all intersect in powerful ways.

Nowhere captures that better than the extraordinary stories preserved inside the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History. Together, these museums tell over 200 years of Mississippi history in a way that feels immersive, haunting and raw. You don’t simply read dates on walls here, you feel the weight of the stories being told.

But the most powerful part of my time in Jackson wasn’t just learning history inside a museum. It was meeting living history face-to-face. Meeting Hezekiah Watkins, the youngest Freedom Rider ever arrested at just 13 years old, was one of the most moving moments of this entire Deep South road trip. Arrested and placed on Death Row during the Civil Rights Movement, his story felt almost unimaginable to hear in person.

Hezekiah Watkins, the youngest Freedom Rider ever arrested at just 13 years old - at the wo Mississippi Museum / Civil rights museum

Yet there he was, sharing his experiences with warmth and humour. It’s hard to explain the feeling of sitting across from someone whose courage became part of American history textbooks. Equally powerful was meeting Queen Elizabeth Johnson, who was only 12 years old when she secretly snuck out to join a Freedom March and was tear-gassed by police during the protests. Listening to her speak about that experience was incredibly emotional. Moments like that completely changed the way I understood Mississippi.

But Jackson isn’t only defined by its past. What fascinated me most was seeing how local people are actively shaping the city’s future through creativity, sustainability and community-led projects.

One standout example was meeting Dr. Cindy Ayers from Foot Print Farms. A former sorority girl turned investment banker turned urban farming pioneer, Dr Cindy is helping transform food education and community health in Jackson through sustainable agriculture and youth programmes. Her work felt like such a powerful example of the innovation and resilience I kept encountering throughout the city, people investing back into their communities and creating positive change from the ground up.

That same creative energy spills into Jackson’s food scene, live music venues, bars and green spaces too, Jackson feels soulful in the truest sense of the word.

Hiking in LeFleur's Bluff State Park

Best Things to Do in Jackson, Mississippi

Girl in yellow dress stands in front of colourful retro Ritz sign in natchez Mississippi

Natchez, Mississippi: The Oldest City on the Mississippi River

Driving the legendary Natchez Trace Parkway into Natchez felt like stepping through layers of American history. This isn’t just another scenic road trip route, the Natchez Trace Parkway is one of the most historic drives in the entire United States, stretching roughly 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez and following ancient pathways first created by Native American communities thousands of years ago.

Long before European settlers arrived, Indigenous tribes including the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw peoples used these routes for trade, communication and migration. Later, the trail became a vital corridor for traders, settlers, soldiers and enslaved people moving through the Deep South. Today, driving the parkway feels peaceful with winding forest roads where Spanish moss drapes from trees, historic markers and endless stretches of Southern landscape.

Then suddenly, perched dramatically above the Mississippi River, you arrive in Natchez – the oldest city on the Mississippi River and arguably one of the most historically significant towns in the entire Deep South USA. Founded by French colonists in 1716, Natchez has been shaped by Native American history, European colonisation, the cotton trade, slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights era and the evolution of Southern music culture.

Cute retro streets of Natchez Mississippi

Natchez is undeniably beautiful with grand mansions lining quiet streets. The historic downtown is filled with independent bookstores, vintage shops, old churches and cute retro storefronts that feel almost frozen in time. Sunset over the Mississippi River here is genuinely spectacular, one of the most beautiful of this entire Deep South road trip.

But importantly, Natchez doesn’t shy away from its darker history. Natchez was once one of the largest slave trading centres in Mississippi, and sites like Forks of the Road confront that painful legacy directly. Once one of the busiest domestic slave markets in the Deep South, thousands of enslaved African Americans were sold here during the 19th century.

The city also connects deeply to the Mississippi Blues Trail, like so many towns along the Mississippi River, Natchez became shaped by the movement of people and music travelling through the South. One of the most emotional stops was visiting the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum, which commemorates one of the deadliest fires in American history. In 1940, a fire swept through the predominantly Black nightclub during a packed performance, killing more than 200 people. Today, the memorial stands as both a place of remembrance and a reminder of the racial inequalities that shaped life in the segregated South.

Natchez Brewing Company

Best Things to Do in Natchez, Mississippi

  • Drive the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway – one of the most historic and beautiful road trips in the Deep South USA
  • Watch the excellent short film Natchez: From Past to Present at the Natchez Visitor Center for a brilliant introduction to the city’s layered history
  • Visit Forks of the Road to learn about Natchez’s role in the domestic slave trade and American history
  • Tour Stanton Hall, one of the grandest surviving antebellum mansions in the South and a National Historic Landmark
  • Watch sunset over the Mississippi River from the bluff – easily one of the best sunset spots of this entire Deep South road trip
  • Visit the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum to honour victims of the devastating 1940 fire and learn more about the city’s Black history
  • Visit Natchez Brewing Company for a local ale and pizza
  • Explore Under-the-Hill Saloon, the city’s historic riverfront district once known for gambling, saloons and steamboat culture, now a popular live music venue
  • Browse downtown bookstores, antique shops and vintage stores filled with Southern charm and history
  • Eat at Biscuits & Blues for live music and some of the best biscuits I’ve ever tasted – order them with the apricot jam
  • Grab authentic New Orleans-style po’boys from family-owned Wardo's Poboys
  • Start your day with a full Southern breakfast at Natchez Coffee Company
  • For accommodation, I stayed at The Bridges Hotel, perfectly positioned for soaking up those incredible Mississippi River views: Book your stay

All you can eat Crawfish Boil at The cajun table in New Orleans

Lafayette, Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun Country & the Happiest City in America

Here’s the mistake so many travellers make when planning a Deep South USA road trip: They visit New Orleans… and completely skip Lafayette.

Huge mistake. Because while New Orleans may be Louisiana’s famous headline act, Lafayette feels like the beating heart of the state. Smaller, slower, community-driven and authentic – this is where I felt I truly connected with Cajun culture beyond the tourist version most people see. Music spills out of local dance halls on weeknights, strangers chat to you like old friends and family recipes are treated like sacred heirlooms. The landscapes surrounding the city, swamps, bayous and moss-draped waterways, feel entirely unique to this part of the world.

Driving across the famous Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, an 18-mile stretch suspended above America’s largest swamp, was unforgettable. Endless wetlands stretched in every direction before eventually giving way to Lafayette. Then came the airboat tour through the Atchafalaya Basin itself, one of the absolute highlights of the trip. Gliding through cypress swamps spotting alligators, turtles, birds and hidden waterways felt like entering another world entirely. It was such an important reminder that Louisiana isn’t only about cities and music, it’s also home to some of the most ecologically important wetland ecosystems in the United States.

This region is rooted in the story of the Acadians, French-speaking settlers expelled from Canada in the 1700s who eventually settled in Louisiana and became today’s Cajun communities. Their traditions, language, food and music continue to shape everyday life. That’s what I loved most about Lafayette, the culture doesn’t feel performative.

Swamp airboat tour at Atchafalaya Basin in lafayette louisiana USA road trip

One night, I found myself at Rock'n'Bowl watching locals two-step across the dance floor to live Cajun music by Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie. Families, grandparents, students, couples were all dancing together for hours like it was the most normal thing in the world. Here, Cajun music isn’t a tourist attraction, it’s community. Hideaway on Lee brought more live music, dancing and some of the friendliest people I met anywhere on this trip. There’s a warmth to Lafayette that feels impossible to fake, people genuinely want you to experience their culture properly.

Then there’s the food... Lafayette was one of my favourite food destinations of the entire Deep South road trip. One of the most memorable meals came from Laura's II, a tiny local food spot where I ate some of the best shrimp & grits of my life alongside rich mac & cheese, corn and smoky turkey leg. Eating incredible Creole food from the back of a roadside food truck somehow summed up Louisiana perfectly.

There was the legendary crawfish boil at The Cajun Table, where the waitress patiently taught us how to peel crawfish properly while giant trays of spicy seafood took over the table. It was messy and absolutely delicious. If you visit only one breakfast spot? Make it Edie's Biscuits and order the blueberry biscuit, trust me on this one.

One of my favourite experiences in Lafayette was actually exploring the city by bike with Rouler Louisiana Bike Tours. Cycling through neighbourhoods, local parks and hidden corners of the city gave such a different perspective on Lafayette beyond the main tourist spots. We even cycled through the swampy landscapes around the university, a surreal hidden gem I never would’ve discovered alone. It felt like a brilliant example of low-impact, sustainable tourism; slowing down and experiencing the city more intentionally.

Eating out the back of a truck at Laura's II - best shrimp and grits, turkey leg

Best Things to Do in Lafayette, Louisiana

The French Quarter Festival Parade in New Orleans - musicians, brass band and dancers line the streets of NOLA, deep south usa

New Orleans, Louisiana: A City Like No Other

If you can only visit one city in the USA – make it New Orleans. New Orleans feels less like a city and more like a living, breathing performance. Music pours from every doorway, history clings to every balcony and courtyard. Brass bands appear out of nowhere, strangers dance together in the streets and every corner feels cinematic.

It’s completely intoxicating and during festival season? Its pure magic. I arrived just as the city was launching into the start of festival season with the kickoff of the French Quarter Festival and Wednesdays at the Square – the atmosphere was electric. Live music everywhere, food stalls packed with locals and dancing in the streets until late into the night. It felt like the entire city collectively decided joy was a priority.

What makes New Orleans so special is that music here isn’t confined to concert halls or museums, it’s woven into everyday life. One minute you’re listening to jazz drifting from a balcony in the French Quarter, the next you’re squeezed inside a tiny bar on Frenchmen Street watching musicians absolutely blow the roof off the place at midnight. Frenchmen Street was one of my favourite spots in the city – far less chaotic than the infamous Bourbon Street, this area feels far more rooted in New Orleans’ actual live music culture. One of my favourite nights was spent inside Maison listening to Superjam and the Paradise Jazz & Rhythm Band while dancers packed the floor until the early hours.

Absolutely Lucy and Vanessa of Wandersmiles exploring NOLA, New Orleans in the Deep South on a USA road trip

But beyond the music and partying, New Orleans also has this fascinating blend of cultures and spiritual traditions that make it unlike anywhere else in America. A standout experience was visiting the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, where I learned more about the history of Louisiana Voodoo, the legacy of Marie Laveau and the deeply misunderstood spiritual traditions connected to the city. Later, I even returned for a psychic reading – because why on earth not while you're in a city interwoven with mysticism?

Food-wise, New Orleans is obviously iconic, but one of the best ways to truly understand the city is through a food tour. The Doctor Gumbo Tours food and cocktail tour ended up being one of the best food tours I’ve ever done anywhere in the world. Across six different restaurants, we sampled everything from gumbo and seafood to pralines and cocktails while learning how African, French, Spanish and Creole influences shaped Louisiana cuisine. One detail I loved was learning how restaurants like Bourbon House are helping restore Louisiana’s disappearing coastline by recycling oyster shells back into wetland restoration projects – a brilliant example of sustainability woven into local food culture.

And then there’s the art scene. JamNOLA offered such a fun, immersive celebration of New Orleans culture through interactive art installations, while the Frenchmen Art Bazaar showcased local artists, makers and creatives keeping the city’s artistic spirit alive. Everywhere you look in New Orleans, creativity spills into the streets.

Voodoo Museum Tour Guide

Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana