An exotic locale, great dining & nightlife, fun excursions and a variety of places to stay make New Orleans a perfect destination for honeymooners.   Add in the warm, tropical breezes and a sunset dinner cruise on a riverboat and New Orleans can rival tropical resort honeymoons especially if lying on the beach is not your thing or leaves you with a 3rd degree burn.  New Orleans bristles with romance and with its French and Creole influences, at times, you may even feel as if you're visiting another country.  For all these reasons, New Orleans is a wonderful choice for a honeymoon in the states.

Mardi Gras, while a fun and wild time, evokes scenes from the "Girls Gone Wild" video tapes.  Mardi Gras attracts a lot of single, party-goers who like to drink, and sometimes pee,  in the streets.  Not exactly romantic. 

Late spring would be my personal pick for a New Orleans honeymoon.  Not only is it not too humid to walk around enjoying the sights but you have the added bonus of Jazz Fest, held sometime in late April, early May. If you coincide your honeymoon with Jazz Fest you can balance romantic time alone with fun time at the Jazz Fest.   Fall can also be nice although do keep in mind that hurricanes often affect Louisiana and New Orleans.  If you head to New Orleans during the winter temperatures range in the 50s and 60s.

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival features a varied group of musicians playing everything from jazz and zydeco to rock  The 2004 lineup includes Santana, Macy Gray, Lenny Kravitz, Steve Winwood and Harry Conick, Jr. plus Dixieland jazz, bluegrass and local New Orleans musicians.  The fairgrounds where the event is held feature numerous stages and plenty of room to spread out on blankets on the lawn.  Bring a knapsack to carry your gear from stage to stage.  Concession stands are numerous and you'll find a huge choice of food and beverages including beer.   

In May, The New Orleans Wine & Food Experience is a big draw and around Halloween The Voodoo Music Experience features a variety of rock bands. Then, of course, there's Mardi Gras culminating on Fat Tuesday with floats, beads and a lot of wild partying.   For other festivals in and around New Orleans visit neworleanswebsites.com or the festivals section of neworleansonline.com. 

Avery Island, an hour or so outside New Orleans, offers hiking throughout their 200-acre "jungle gardens."  Plus you can take a tour of the Tabasco factory located right on Avery Island.  The drive is fun and scenic and combined with lunch and maybe a stop for a plantation tour (oakalleyplantation.com) its a great day trip. 

The Audobon Zoo and Aquarium can be a fun trip.  If you go be sure not to miss out on whatever is showing on their IMAX theatre.  

Six Flags New Orleans is another fun way to spend a day.  Granted, you can catch the rides here in Wildwood and Ocean City or at the Six Flags in New Jersey.   

If you're interested in a week long honeymoon cruise along the Mississippi, The Delta Queen leaves from New Orleans and would give couples a chance to combine time in New Orleans with a longer cruise. (My college roommate loved working aboard the ship during the summer.) 

How about a voodoo ghost tour?  Anne Rice calls New Orleans home and there's no doubt that the city provides the perfect backdrop to the vampire novels.  A literary walking tour will take you past her house, the setting of her book The Witching Hour and past the homes of other famous authors including William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams Faulkner. Other excursions you might look into include a nighttime tour of a voodoo cemetary, a walking ghost tour (neworleansghosttour.com) or check out bloodymarystours.com - a mini-empire devoted to eerie tours of New Orleans and the surrounding area.   

For even more ideas check out the list of 101 Cool Things to Do in New Orleans on the neworleans.com website.

Dining:
Some of the best dining in the world can be found in New Orleans.  From jambalaya and beignets to crawfish gumbo and fried alligator, the food is really spectacular.    For a romantic jazz brunch try The Court of Two Sisters where you can dine outdoors in a pictueresque courtyard.  Cafe Du  Monde is another popular place for dining with outstanding coffee and beignets, a New Orleans specialty.  Check out their website to order their beignet mix or chickory coffee. Perhaps not as romantic and a bit more trendy, there's Emeril's restaurant but you made need to make reservations well  in advance.  Throughout the French Quarter and along Bourbon street there are many fabulous places to dine.  On Bourbon Street (live webcam) you can enjoy a cocktail and lunch from one of the balconied restaurants for a lazy romantic afternoon.  Just beware the hurricanes.  

For more ideas on 
dining check out neworleansonline.com.  They even have coupons for selected restaurants that you can print out before you go.  Another good dining site website is  neworleansrestaurants.com

Nightlife & Music
If you only make it to one bar or nightclub in the French Quarter then make it Preservation Hall.  This landmark jazz club is standing room only.  In fact you may need to stand outside on the street to hear the music.  Most of the clubs are open-air or prop open the doors so the music does pour out onto the street.  However, if you do go into a club or restaurant for lunch or dinner be sure to use the restrooms before you walk around.  You can't just walk in to use a restaurant's bathroom without buying something.  

Another famous hot spot in New Orleans for music is Tipitina's.  You'll find plenty of other great clubs throughout New Orleans offering all types of music and many clubs are open all night.  For a list of some of the popular nightspots check neworleansbarguide.com.

To listen to Radio Free New Orleans click on the link below and then choose the Radio Free New Orleans link. (Note you'll need Real Audio).
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/music/rfno.html

Also visit neworleansradio.com for additional stations. 

Shopping:
Within walking distance of the French Quarter The Riverwalk Marketplace offers a bit of everything from outlet stores such as Ann Taylor to specialty shops such as Creole Delicacies.

Another great place for shopping is the French Market, America's oldest city marketplace.  There you'll find shops, a variety of food including a seafood market and a community flea market and local entertainment.  Shop or just browse and take in the sights and smells.  

Bourbon Street, and the streets surrounding it, also offer a variety of shopping including T-Shirts, posters, voodoo gear and mardi gras beads.   

Recipes:
New Orleans once won the award as fattest city in America.  No doubt, the food is spectacular.  From jambalaya and gumbo to etouffe and beignets there is always something cookin' in N'awlins.  Below are a few links to websites with authentic cajun and creole recipes for you to try before or after your trip to New Orleans.  

www.gumbopages.com/food/

For some recipes from New Orleans Restaurants visit:
http://www.neworleansonline.com/cuisine/recipes/conorecipes.html

Recipes from the Culinary Institute of Louisiana:
www.ci-no.com/recipes.html

My Dead Daddy's Cajun Recipes
www.spellmaker.com/daddy.htm

Listed below are just a few ideas for accommodations.  You may also want to consult a professional travel agent who would probably be knowledgeable about the better accommodations for honeymooners and air/land packages for New Orleans.  

There are a lot of wonderful old homes which have been made into bed and breakfasts in and around New Orleans.  In the heart of the French Quarter on Bourbon Street, La Maison Marigny is rated one of the top 10 bed and breakfast's in the U.S. by Travel & Leisure Magazine.   The Ludlow House, in the garden district, offers an interesting looking courtyard pool.  View pictures of this b and b, and others, at neworleansbandb.com.

An extensive listing of accommodations can be found on experienceneworleans. The website says they recommend only quality hotels however, because websites, including this site, often rely upon advertising dollars you are always advised to get references and do your homework.   Some other interesting accommodations included the a hotel in the French quarter called the St. Peter House Hotel and the Degas House which was once the home of impressionist painter Edgar Degas.

For hotels an extensive site to check is neworleansfinehotels.com.  You'll find lots to choose from including Romantic Rendezvous packages from $199 for 3 nights (subject to change, of course).  You'll find accommodations such The Holiday Inn Express and The Parc St. Charles with an outdoor heated pool, fitness center and Nintendo. 

Other links of interest:
frenchquartercondos.com
neworleansreservations.com
neworleanshotels.com

*AtlanticCityWeddings.com is not a travel agent and does not recommend any places to stay.  We mention the above accommodations only as sites of interest.