Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street runs thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue through the French Quarter and is home to numerous bars, music venues, and restaurants. Buildings on both sides of the street display cast-iron balconies in Spanish Colonial style with entrances to jazz bars, nightclubs, and souvenir shops below.

French colonists laid out this street in 1721 and named it after the House of Bourbon. After the 1788 fire, Spanish builders reconstructed the present buildings with their distinctive balconies and courtyards.

Street musicians play blues and jazz on the sidewalks and outside clubs every evening as visitors move between different live performances. Many venues leave their doors open so the music spills out onto the street and mingles with sounds from other bands.

Visitors may carry alcoholic drinks in open plastic cups while walking along the street, which becomes a pedestrian zone after dark. Most venues stay open late into the night, with the atmosphere becoming most active after 10 p.m.

The section between St. Ann Street and Dumaine Street remains noticeably quieter even during the day and attracts more locals who sit in small cafés. This stretch is also home to the oldest continuously operating restaurant on the street, which has served diners for over a century.