United States · Louisiana · New Orleans
French Quarter, New Orleans — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood of New Orleans, laid out on the river's edge by French colonists and still called by its older name, the Vieux Carré. Its grid runs from Canal Street down to Esplanade Avenue, with Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral at the centre. Bourbon Street and Royal Street cross it end to end, one loud with music, the other quiet with antique shops and galleries. People come for the Creole courtyards, the balconies, and the sound of the street.
About French Quarter
Where to stay in French Quarter
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Staying in the French Quarter puts you within walking distance of nearly everything a first visit wants to see. Hotels here range from converted Creole townhouses with courtyard pools to larger inns along Chartres Street and Royal Street, many within a block or two of Jackson Square. The trade-off is noise.
Rooms near Bourbon Street stay lively well past midnight, while the lower blocks toward Esplanade Avenue keep quieter evenings. Anyone who wants sightseeing on foot, from St. Louis Cathedral to the Old Ursuline Convent, is well placed here. Those after calmer nights or cheaper rooms often look just across Canal Street or out to Faubourg Marigny.
About French Quarter
What are the main landmarks in French Quarter?
Everything centres on Jackson Square. St. Louis Cathedral rises over it beside the former Spanish town hall now called the Cabildo, and the 1850 House museum fills part of the Lower Pontalba building alongside. Chartres Street carries much of the rest: the Old Ursuline Convent, the Beauregard-Keyes House, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, and the old Napoleon House bar.
Dumaine Street holds Madame John's Legacy, a French Creole house that came through the fire of 1794. The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum sits a few doors along the same street.
What is the history of French Quarter?
French colonists founded the Quarter in 1718 as the original town of New Orleans. Its engineer, Adrien de Pauger, drew the street grid the district still keeps. Fire changed everything.
The blazes of 1788 and 1794 destroyed most of the early French houses under Spanish rule, which is why the survivors read as Spanish colonial rather than French. At the Cabildo on Jackson Square, French officials handed Louisiana to the United States in 1803, and the old Creole blocks later took in immigrant families, many of them Sicilian.
Where is French Quarter?
The Quarter sits on the East Bank of the Mississippi River, wrapped by the crescent bend that gives New Orleans its nickname. Canal Street forms its upriver boundary, dividing it from the Central Business District, while Esplanade Avenue marks the downriver edge against Faubourg Marigny. Rampart Street closes the inland side toward Tremé.
Along the water, Decatur Street and the levee separate the old blocks from the wharves.
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Updated July 2026