Arrive in New Orleans, LA and check into your French Quarter hotel for a four night stay.  Dinner is on your own this evening.

After breakfast this morning, you meet a local guide for a tour of New Orleans.  This tour will take you past some of the most iconic sights in the Big Easy.  The Vieux Carre seems timeless, with classic architecture and iron balconies overlooking the city, yet it buzzes with life as street performers, artists, and merchants engage everyone who walks past.  As you listen to the streetcars rolling by and the clatter of horses’ hooves on the cobblestones, it’s not hard to imagine that you’ve entered a different time period.

Next, you visit the French Market District for shopping and lunch on own.  Similar to some European markets, this historically charming open air market features shopping, dining, music and local tradition that is uniquely New Orleans.  From Café du Monde near Jackson Square to the flea market at the end of Esplanade Avenue, the French Market includes five blocks of local produce, specialty art, handmade crafts, retail shopping and more.

The afternoon features a visit to the National World War II Museum.  From the beaches of Normandy to the sands of Iwo Jima, The National WWII Museum’s exhibits are a blend of personal accounts, artifacts, documents, photographs and original film footage.  The stories of the dozens of amphibious landings and the thousands of men and women who made Allied victory in World War II possible are told through three floors of exhibit space.  In addition, special exhibits draw on the Museum’s own collections, as well as relevant traveling exhibits to further illustrate and explore the war that changed the world.

Enjoy a Cooking Demonstration & Dinner at the New Orleans School of Cooking.  It’s entertaining classes and the Louisiana General Store are located in a renovated molasses warehouse built in the early 1800s in the Heart of the French Quarter.  Fun is a primary ingredient in our kitchen!  Our Creole/Cajun experts teach New Orleans specialties such as Gumbo, Jambalaya and Pralines, and season them with history, trivia and tall tales. It’s a “ga-ron-teed” good time for all. (B,D)

This morning, you will enjoy a guided tour of one of the area’s Plantations.  We suggest the Oak Alley Plantation, Destrehan Plantation or the Houmas House Plantation.

Returning to New Orleans, you enjoy free time this afternoon in the French Quarter.  Every street in the French Quarter has something to offer from classic restaurants, music venues, and boutique shopping to voodoo temples.  Some of the most popular areas include: Royal Street, Chartres Street and Bourbon Street.

Dinner tonight is at Mulates, the King of Cajun Dine & Dance Halls.  Featuring live Cajun Music and Dancing, Mulates is where Cajuns come to celebrate their heritage and the world comes to help them celebrate. (B,D)

Start with a visit to Mardi Gras World where you see the floats and learn the history of this famous event.  Created for you by the people who bring Mardi Gras to life every year.  The colors, the lights, the music, the joie de vivre; it’s all here in one magical place where you can peek behind the curtain and see Mardi Gras in the making.

Then you have free time for the Outlet Collection at Riverwalk.  The Outlet features over 75 retailers and restaurants on the majestic Mississippi River in New Orleans and offering shoppers & diners an experience like no other.

Dinner this evening includes Dixieland Jazz as you cruise the Mississippi on the Steamboat Natchez.  Boarding in the French Quarter, you head downriver past the historic Riverfront while The Dukes of Dixieland performing for those happy, brassy tunes for which this city is so well known. (B,D)

After breakfast, depart for home. (B)