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Algiers, New Orleans — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Algiers is a historic neighborhood of New Orleans, and the only part of the city that sits on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It faces the French Quarter across the water. The oldest core, Algiers Point, ranks as the second-oldest neighborhood in the city after the Quarter itself, and its streets are lined with restored Victorian houses.
About Algiers
Where to stay in Algiers
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Staying in Algiers means trading the crowds of the French Quarter for quiet residential streets. Most visitors base themselves in Algiers Point, where guesthouses and short-term rentals fill the restored Victorian cottages near Holy Name of Mary Church. The Algiers Ferry puts the foot of Canal Street minutes away, so nightlife and sightseeing across the river stay within reach.
Few inns operate here. Anyone wanting a large hotel or a walk-everywhere base will find far more of both in the core of New Orleans.
About Algiers
What are the main landmarks in Algiers?
Algiers counts only a short list of formal sights, and both are churches. Holy Name of Mary Church anchors Algiers Point, a Catholic parish standing among the Victorian rows that were rebuilt after the neighborhood's great fire. Mount Olivet Church marks the older streets a little further inland.
Beyond the two, the real attraction is the streetscape, block after block of nineteenth-century cottages that face the Mississippi River across the levee. Grand museums lie across the river.
What is the history of Algiers?
Algiers dates to 1719. That makes it one of the oldest parts of New Orleans, second only to the French Quarter across the river. For much of its early life the west bank tract served the city as a landing for ships, with dry docks and repair yards lining the water.
It was annexed to New Orleans in 1870 and became the fifteenth ward. Fire swept Algiers Point in 1895 and leveled much of the old core, rebuilt afterward in the Victorian style that defines its streets. The neighborhood also earned a place in the early history of jazz.
Where is Algiers?
The neighborhood occupies a bend on the west bank of the Mississippi River, with the water curving along its northern and eastern edge. Downtown New Orleans lies directly across the river. Algiers Point, the historic tip, reaches the water at the Algiers Ferry landing, which crosses to the foot of Canal Street.
Inland, its streets run south into newer sections of Orleans Parish.
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Updated July 2026