Weekend Getaways
New Orleans Area
Plantations, Cajun bayou communities, sporting activities
New Orleans serves up an abundance of festivals, restaurants, all night bars, architecture, and incredible music, making it a blast for a weekend getaway. Those interested in delving deeper into Louisiana's history and culture will be rewarded for finding the time for further exploration outside the city.
Louisiana is known as the "Sportsman's Paradise" with an abundance of parks, forests, and lots of water where popular activities like fishing and canoeing are pursued. The
Annual Bassmasters' Classic
fishing competition takes place in the bayous and marshes south of the city every few years and the city has two key natural exhibits - the Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Zoo. On the shores ofLake Pontchartrain
, the second largest salt lake in the U.S., you'll find trails for biking and hiking such as the 31-mile St. Tammany Trace trail.To get a feel for pre-Civil War Louisiana, head out the Highway 10 from New Orleans and visit the
plantations
on the River Road. Lining the banks of the Mississippi River, these mansions were built during the time of slavery when huge profits were reaped from sugar. You can book an overnight stay in a mansion inSt. Francisville
, located about thirty miles north of Baton Rouge, to get first hand experience in how wealthy Southerners once lived.For some great Creole and Zydeco, visit Lafayette, the heart of Cajun country. About an hour and a half from New Orleans, this is a fantastic place to try a variety of authentic
Cajun restaurants
. Take swamp boat tours and check out the distinctive wildlife and get up close to the Louisiana alligators. AtAcadian Village
, you can experience a 19th Century Cajun bayou community.The state capitol of