Louisiana Vacations

Louisiana experiences warm, humid weather for most of the year. If you're planning to visit the southern part of the state, around New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico, the best time to go is during the late spring or early fall. During the summer, temperatures often reach above 90F and the humidity is high, making days uncomfortable and sticky. Winters are cooler, but temperatures rarely sink below 60F. In the northern part of Louisiana, winters are significantly colder, with temperatures dropping to 30F. If you plan to go to destinations like Shreveport, the best time to visit is in the late summer or early fall. Book your hotels well in advance on Orbitz.com, especially if you are visiting during Mardi Gras.

Swamp Tours

For a local's look at Louisiana, take one of the many swamp tours along the southern coast to spot crocodiles and other wildlife.

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Escape the crowds in New Orleans and head indoors to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, where you can see thousands of species and interactive displays.

Haunted Cemetery Tours

If you're looking for a thrill, skip the daytime cemetery tours and head out at night for one of New Orleans' ghost tours.

LSU Rural Life Museum

Learn about Louisiana's preindustrial past at this outdoor museum in Baton Rouge, which has 28 buildings and countless artifacts from 1800 and earlier.

Louisiana's Old State Capitol

Step into the past at the old State Capitol building in Baton Rouge, which Mark Twain once called "the ugliest thing on the Mississippi."

You may call it a washboard, but in Louisiana we can pick up just about anything and make music with it. The official language of Louisiana is music. A soulful mix of jazz, blues, Cajun, Zydeco and country, Louisiana is a song you can't get out of your mind. As rare as an oyster's perfect pearl, as raw as a gator's hide, as mysterious as the fog that blankets the bayous, as elusive as the aroma of jasmine on a hot summer night--in Louisiana, a world of musical experiences awaits you.

The Louisiana songbook gave birth to musical artists as varied as Louis Armstrong, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tim McGraw, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Mahalia Jackson, Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint and countless others. Even Elvis and Hank Williams, Sr. got early starts here in Shreveport on the "Louisiana Hayride" radio show. And we also count the likes of Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, Frankie Ford, the Dixie Cups and others as part of our music royalty.

Head west to Eunice in Cajun Country and you'll discover the Liberty Theater, home of the "Rendez-vous des Cajuns" radio and TV program, a kind of Cajun "Prairie Home Companion."

Stop your car anywhere in Louisiana, roll down your window, and odds are you'll hear great music.

When the state's nickname happens to be "Sportsman's Paradise," there's a lot to live up to. Louisiana is home to some of America's best fishing, both fresh and salt water. When it comes to hunting, we're home to backwoods and bayous full of fowl and four-legged critters. And with one of the largest game preserves in the U.S. our state is also a natural habitat for many rare and endangered species, making Louisiana a "Bird Watcher's Paradise" as well.

Louisiana has nearly 20 state parks located throughout the state, each carefully chosen for outstanding hiking, fishing, biking, birding and nature trails. Most feature bodies of water, campsites and picnic areas. Several have air-conditioned cabins or group camps available for rent.

And if you'd rather hunt your birdies on a world-class golf course, welcome to the Audubon Golf Trail--twelve top courses that play, you guessed it, twelve months a year. Come experience the courses of Hal Sutton, Pete Dye, David Toms and the most magnificent designer of them all–Mother Nature.

When the main characters in your history book include a patriot pirate, a former slave who owned a plantation, and two star-crossed lovers, your history can't possibly be boring. Louisiana has the most colorful history of any state and of many countries. Discover the fascinating stories of Jean Lafitte, Marie Therese Coincoin and Longfellow's Evangeline, the Cajun Romeo and Juliet.

Follow the epic journey of the original Acadians to the heart of Cajun Country. Experience the rich cultural legacy of the Mardi Gras Indians. And learn firsthand of the Canary Islanders, Spanish colonists who arrived here in the 1720s and whose unique culture and language has been preserved until today.

Tour Civil War battlefields. Learn about Storyville, the French Quarter's notorious red-light district where jazz was born. Splash ashore with the soldiers of World War II at the National D-Day Museum. And stroll the streets of Natchitoches, the oldest French settlement in the Louisiana Purchase Territory.

We don't have to reenact our history. It's still alive and well and waiting for you to discover it.

In Louisiana, our stars have names like Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme, Leah Chase, John Besh and John Folse. An epiphany is guaranteed with every spoonful, whether you're sampling Cajun, Creole, Soul Food, or something equally wonderful.

We take food seriously here. At breakfast, we talk about where we're going for lunch. And at lunch, we talk about what we're having for dinner. At dinner, we talk about how good breakfast and lunch were. All this explains why it's so easy to find a great meal here.

A great place to sample all Louisiana has to offer is at one of our many festivals. Or hop on the Louisiana Culinary Trail and take your palate to places it's never gone before.

Mardi Gras

Held in February each year in New Orleans, Mardi Gras is one of the biggest parties in the United States. Parades, music, dancing and food are the highlights.

Café du Monde

A New Orleans mainstay, Café du Monde offers traditional French-American cuisine and world-class coffee.

Zydeco Festival

Listen to Zydeco music in its birthplace, Plaisance. Over two days, you'll find dancing, rowdy crowds and numerous Zydeco groups.

Acadian Village

The Acadian Village is a tiny Cajun community near Lafayette where you can see replicas of historic houses, period buildings and museums.

Acadian Cultural Center

Learn about the Cajun history in Louisiana at this museum in Lafayette, which includes interactive displays and historic artifacts.

Bord Du Lac Park

Located in beautiful Lake Charles, the Bord Du Lac Park is ideal for picnicking, biking and swimming.

L'Auberge du Lac Casino

If gambling is your thing, the L'Auberge du Lac Casino in Lake Charles is the ideal place to spend a day or two.

8th Air Force Museum

If military history is your thing, don't miss this museum, which is located in Shreveport and displays equipment and uniforms.

Gretna Green Blacksmith Shop

For a look at old-fashioned metal forging, check out the Gretna Green Blacksmith Shop in Gretna.

Pearl River Eco-Tours

Explore Sidell in an environmentally friendly way with an ecotour, which features experienced local guides.