The city's culture springs from a mix of disparate influences and shows up as complimentary doses of Southern charm, Caribbean flair, Old World elegance, and the excitement of the world-class events and celebrations that pack the New Orleans calendar. Redolent with the aromas of its singular cuisine, ringing with indigenous jazz and blues music and pulsing with secrets, New Orleans is a decadent, proud, debonair city that moves at its own pace and to its own rhythm. It will get into your blood and infect you with its joie de vivre.

New Orleans showcases a complete culture, with its own music, language and cuisine. Though most famous as the birthplace of jazz and a hotbed for blues music, New Orleans also has some of America's oldest opera history, with performances dating back to 1796. Architecture is another unique cultural treasure, with more than 40,000 structures listed as National Register buildings.

The often-heard term lagniappe, meaning a little gift, is common parlance in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. Its etymology symbolizes the city's culture and history, as the term derives from Peruvian Quechua, arrives at this bustling port city through New World Spanish, and is converted into a French term, one that you'll not find in any French dictionary. That's New Orleans: continually inventing, absorbing and claiming as its own the many cultures and influences that have arrived in the region since the 17th century.

French Quarter

Founded as a commanding location along the Mississippi River, New Orleans remains a busy port city today. Its docks transmit into the American heartland along the Mississippi River many of the goods that Americans have come to rely on in their daily lives. These include everything from Latin American coffee to steel, which accounts for as much as 70 percent of the city's cargo. But enough about business, this trip is for having fun. So let's get started! Peel away a few of the magical layers and discover a city busily recovering from its brush with a deadly hurricane, eager to showcase its indomitable spirit and determined to make its way into the future with grace and purpose.

First, you need a place to stay, and the choice is difficult since top-notch options are endless. The beau monde loves The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans with its elegant French Quarter–style courtyard, rooftop penthouse and panoramic views of the Crescent City. Few hotels can compete with such specialized guest services as the Ritz-Carlton's "oyster butler" or "crawfish concierge," who help guests access these distinctive New Orleans delights.

Then there's the W New Orleans French Quarter, with cozy and boutique-like rooms and an overall hip, ultra-luxe vibe. The pomp and splendor of the old French Quarter is dramatically showcased at the Hotel Monteleone, also well positioned for exploring the Quarter. For more understated elegance, consider the Soniat House. Located on a quiet, residential street in the French Quarter, this gorgeous, small hotel was originally built in 1829 by prosperous plantation owner Joseph Soniat Dufossat as a town house for his family and a hint of romance and Creole history endures today. Enjoy fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade biscuits in its lush tropical courtyard.

Meanwhile, Lafitte Guest House will leave a smaller dent in your wallet but presents the temptation to spend your extra dollars on nearby Stella!'s exquisite cuisine. For the full Lafitte Guest House experience, be sure to get a room with a Victorian, draped, half-tester bed (which has its canopy over just the head half of the bed) and a fireplace, or one with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street and French Quarter rooftops.