Austin

Texas stretches from the Gulf Coast to New Mexico and the Rio Grande border with Mexico, with Austin as its capital. Come for brisket and live music in Austin, the swimming holes and rolling hills of the Hill Country, and the desert mountains of Big Bend in the far west.The scale is hard to overstate: about 268,600 square miles and more than 31 million people. Houston is the largest city, and San Antonio and Dallas also top a million residents. Budget plenty of time for driving, since distances between cities are long and you'll need a car once you leave the urban cores.The state's two national parks are both out west: Big Bend (established 1944) on the Rio Grande and Guadalupe Mountains (1972) on the New Mexico line. The Gulf Coast is humid with mild winters, while the Panhandle up north gets noticeably colder in winter.

Louisiana sits on the Gulf of Mexico between Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, and much of it was built up over millennia by the Mississippi River and its delta. People come for the bayous and swamps, and for a Cajun and Creole culture that runs far deeper than New Orleans.Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes instead of counties, 64 in all. West of Baton Rouge lies the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in the country. I-10 crosses it between Grosse Tete and Henderson on the 18-mile Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, and the swamp is home to alligators and the Louisiana black bear.Beyond the basin is Acadiana, the heartland of the descendants of Acadians expelled from Canada, centered on Lafayette. Baton Rouge has the tallest state capitol in the U.S. at 450 feet, with an observation deck on the 27th floor. On the Mississippi's west bank in Vacherie is Oak Alley Plantation, whose main house was built by enslaved people between 1837 and 1839.

The Garden District and Uptown are the residential neighborhoods upriver from downtown, strung along the St. Charles streetcar line. Come for the mansions under live oaks, the shops and restaurants of Magazine Street, and music clubs where the crowd is mostly local.The Garden District, between St. Charles Avenue and Magazine Street, was built up from the 1830s on former Livaudais Plantation land. It belonged to the City of Lafayette until New Orleans annexed it in 1852 and has been a National Historic Landmark since 1974. Take the streetcar to Washington Avenue for Commander's Palace and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 (1833), which reopened in October 2026 after seven years, though only for guided tours of up to 16 people (book at prcno.org). For a route through the streets, see the New Orleans city walks.Uptown has no hard borders. Most people mean the stretch between the river and Claiborne Avenue, from the Garden District out to Audubon Park and the Tulane and Loyola campuses. In the 1800s St. Charles Avenue was the city's millionaires' row, and many of those houses still stand. Closer to the river, Magazine Street runs parallel, lined with independent boutiques, galleries and places to eat.

Tremé and Mid-City lie inland from the French Quarter, between Rampart Street and City Park. Come for the city's Black history, brass bands in neighborhood bars, and Creole soul food that locals happily line up for.Tremé starts right across Rampart and is often called the oldest Black neighborhood in the country: free people of color were buying property here as early as the 1700s. It's home to Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square, and to St. Augustine Church, founded in 1841. Beyond it, Mid-City is a residential area stretching along Canal Street and Bayou St. John out to City Park.City Park and NOMA, Parkway Bakery and The Broadside are covered on the main New Orleans page. Conditions can change from one block to the next; for current safety guidance, see the UK FCDO Travel Advice.

New Orleans sits on the Mississippi in south Louisiana. You come for live music every night of the week, for Creole cooking, and for streets that still show their French and Spanish colonial past.The city was founded in 1718 under Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Its historic core is the French Quarter, anchored by Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytère. For live music, head to Frenchmen Street in neighboring Faubourg Marigny, where more locals go out than on Bourbon Street.The St. Charles streetcar has been running since 1835 and is considered the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world. It rolls from Canal Street through the Garden District to Carrollton, and at $1.25 it's the cheapest city tour you'll find. You don't need a car for the French Quarter, Marigny or Tremé; parking there is scarce and expensive.The neighborhoodsFrench Quarter: the old city, with museums, old-line Creole restaurants and the oldest bars in town, best explored on foot by day.Marigny and Bywater: just downriver, with the Frenchmen Street music strip, colorful cottages, street art and Crescent Park on the river.Garden District and Uptown: mansions along St. Charles Avenue, shopping on Magazine Street, Audubon Park and clubs like Tipitina's.Tremé and Mid-City: Black history around Congo Square, brass bands in neighborhood bars, Bayou St. John and City Park.PlanningWhen to go: February through May and October through November are the most comfortable. June through September is hot and humid, and Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30.Big dates: During Carnival season (January through Fat Tuesday) and Jazz Fest (late April into early May), hotels sell out or spike months ahead. Book as early as you can.Where to stay: The French Quarter and Marigny put you closest to music and food; the Garden District and Uptown along the St. Charles line are quieter.