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New Orleans
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Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Best time to visit New Orleans

United States · North America

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in New Orleans

Tap a month for its page

  1. New Orleans in January: ok, busy
  2. New Orleans in February: ok, busy
  3. New Orleans in March: good
  4. New Orleans in April: sweet spot
  5. New Orleans in May: sweet spot
  6. New Orleans in June: sweet spot
  7. New Orleans in July: good
  8. New Orleans in August: ok
  9. New Orleans in September: sweet spot
  10. New Orleans in October: ok
  11. New Orleans in November: ok
  12. New Orleans in December: ok, busy
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Go in Apr, May, Jun or Sep — these months score within a whisker of each other; 25C max, 7 rainy days. Mar is the next best.
Compare New Orleans with…

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 16° 8d 76% 7.6h okbusy busier than usual
Feb 20° 9d 79% 8.0h okbusy busier than usual
Mar 22° 9d 75% 9.5h good 22C max, 9 rainy days
Apr 25° 7d 73% 10.1h sweet spot 25C max, 7 rainy days
May 28° 9d 77% 10.9h sweet spot 28C max, 9 rainy days
Jun 31° 10d 79% 11.3h sweet spot 31C max, 10 rainy days
Jul 31° 12d 81% 10.6h good 31C max, 12 rainy days
Aug 32° 12d 79% 10.2h ok 32C max, 12 rainy days
Sep 30° 8d 77% 10.3h sweet spot 30C max, 8 rainy days
Oct 26° 7d 75% 9.5h ok 26C max, 7 rainy days
Nov 21° 7d 76% 8.3h ok 21C max, 7 rainy days
Dec 18° 9d 80% 7.3h okbusy busier than usual

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in January and February; quietest in July.

Then and now

New Orleans's February days now average 19.8°C, 2.8°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 6 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–9015.1°17.0°20.1°23.7°27.5°30.0°30.8°30.6°28.7°24.8°21.2°16.9°
2017–2616.3°19.8°22.5°25.1°28.5°30.6°31.1°31.6°29.8°26.1°20.9°18.0°
Change+1.2°+2.8°+2.4°+1.4°+1.0°+0.7°+0.4°+1.0°+1.1°+1.3°-0.3°+1.1°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far New Orleans is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere, though a few small places take cash only. Keep some $1 and $5 notes for tips; Venmo and PayPal are for locals.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — Expected: 15–20% in sit-down restaurants (18–20% is standard in New York) and 10–20% for taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers. Large groups may find it already on the bill.

Getting around New Orleans

Buy a ticket or a 1-, 3-, 7- or 31-day Jazzy Pass in the Le Pass app and show it as you board the bus, streetcar or ferry. Ticket machines sell Jazzy Passes for cash only, and the exact fare in cash is taken on board.

  • Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and some other cities you can also book a driverless Waymo in its own app.

If you are visiting the French Quarter, casinos, or just the Central Business District, a car may be more of a burden than an asset. Most hotel parking is valet/remote/expensive/difficult at best. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on New Orleans, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 5 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (34)

New Orleans in pictures

Andrew Jackson monument, New Orleans, USA
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jackson Square
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Clark Mills, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Jackson Square, New Orleans, USA1
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tombs at Lafayette Cemetery No 1 Garden District New Orleans 16
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MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Old Point Bar Algiers Point, New Orleans, Louisiana
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WClarke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The year in New Orleans

New Orleans can be very humid during the summer months, leading to discomfort. It's recommended to stay hydrated and plan outdoor activities during the cooler parts of the day.

Busiest
mid Feb to late Mar — This period includes Mardi Gras, attracting a large number of tourists.
Quieter, still good
early Apr to late May — This is a pleasant time to visit with fewer crowds and moderate prices.
early Oct to late Dec — The weather is cooler and more enjoyable, plus holiday events begin.
Wet or stormy
early Jun to late Nov — hurricane, moderate
Worth timing for
Mardi Gras, February or March (movable) — Significantly increases prices and demand for accommodations.
Watch out for hurricane season; extreme heat

Written by a language model from the climate figures above. The month-by-month table is measured — ten years of ERA5 readings and published holiday calendars — and where the two disagree, the table is the one to believe.

What New Orleans is like

Way down yonder in New Orleans (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans), you'll find the roots of jazz and a blossoming culture that is unlike anything else on Earth. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing
Highlights include: Historic architecture in neighborhoods Ornate colonial French and Spanish in the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny… More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing
Carousel Gardens Amusement Park. - located in New Orleans Stroll historic neighborhoods - look at the architecture and businesses, and people watch in the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Faubourg Tremé, Bywater… More on Wikivoyage
Getting in
Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY IATA) (Loyola Dr, Exit 221 of I-10 in Kenner). The city's primary airport, in the suburb of Kenner. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe
Katrina alerted the world to the danger of hurricanes in this part of the world. However if one visits a place vulnerable to natural disaster, at least hurricanes give warning. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on New Orleans, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around New Orleans

Also in United States

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Kind of place

New Orleans is in United States, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book through one, at no extra cost to you. That does not affect the scores on this page, which are computed from climate and fare data before any link is built.