Visiting New Orleans in October

While Paris may well be beautiful in the springtime and New Year’s Eve in New York is hard to beat, New Orleans in October has to be right up there. Mardi Gras, of course, gets all the headlines, but with the dropping off of the humidity and the same access to the Gulf coast, the fall in Louisiana can surely rival the beauty of New England’s foliage.

It will still be quite warm, but shouldn’t be too uncomfortable with temperatures in the mid teens to high 20s at most. If you are so inclined, you can cool off with a cold beer at the Ponderosa Stomp from the first to the third of the month. Music aficionados and tourists alike flock and mingle, but you don’t have to worry if you don’t know the words of every song.

If spoken word is more of your thing — stand-up comedy in particular — the “Hell Yes Fest” running the first week and a half of October will surely put a smile on your face.

Oktoberfest is not just in Germany anymore and the second, third and last week of the month sees a homage to Bavarian-style beer and good, old-fashioned German sausages.

New Orleans has a well-deserved reputation for Cajun and Creole cooking and two of the best places to indulge in a classic gumbo are Galatoire’s and the Royal House Oyster Bar. While the former has been serving up the locals with fresh seafood for more than 100 years, the latter is just as passionate when it comes to the local cuisine and it shows on every plate.

There are many, many more things to do, eat and drink in this city and October is one of the best times of year to enjoy all it has to offer.