Bourbon Street
A French name on a Spanish street — three empires compressed into twelve blocks.
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Named in 1721 by French engineer Adrien de Pauger after France's ruling Bourbon dynasty, the street runs from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue. The Great Fire of 1788 burned 80% of New Orleans; Spain rebuilt it. Most of what you walk through today is Spanish colonial construction — the French name is all that survived from the original.
What to look for
- Spanish colonial buildings from the post-1788 reconstruction — they outnumber French-era structures and define the streetscape
- Street signs around the grid: Pauger assigned every name to either a French royal house or a Catholic saint
- The full 12-block run from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue — the scale of Pauger's original 1721 plan
The Canal Street end draws the heaviest crowds; the Esplanade Avenue end is noticeably calmer.
Bourbon Street is one of 5 sights worth the detour in New Orleans, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the New Orleans pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in New Orleans
- Tulane UniversityFounded in 1834 to train doctors during yellow fever and cholera outbreaks — the South's second medical school, still standing.
- Caesars SuperdomeEight Super Bowls, one hurricane shelter, and the largest fixed dome on Earth — all in one building.
- Smoothie King CenterLocals call it The Blender — a $114 million NBA arena that became a field hospital when the Superdome next door couldn't cope after Katrina.
- St. Louis CathedralThree churches have stood on this spot since 1718 — the second burned to the ground on Good Friday 1788, and the one standing today has been in use for over 230 years.