It's not hard to find offbeat attractions in the Big Easy... New Orleans is the home of weird- literally! Fuel up on gumbo and cafe au laits (and maybe a sazerac or two) and let the good times roll with the very best of New Orleans truly offbeat attractions.
You can't come to New Orleans without at least taking a walk down Bourbon Street once or twice. Infamously known as the drunkest neighborhood in the world, you're bound to see something weird while you explore.
The New Orleans Congo Square preserves a historic meeting place that has been around since the 1800s. During the 18th Century in New Orleans, slaves were given Sundays off, and many would gather in places called "Place de Negres", "Place Publique", and "Circus Square" at the edge of town. Today the New Orleans Congo Square has become an important piece of NOLA history, which celebrates the city's rich jazz history, historical markets, and vibrant sense of community.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel St Jude Shrine is the oldest standing church building in New Orleans, and was originally known as the Mortuary Chapel, as it was built as a funeral church. Starting in 1796, just about every summer was a plague summer, and the city was stricken by epidemic diseases annually. Between 1817 and 1860 there were twenty- three yellow fever epidemics, and doctors had no idea how the disease was spreading. The funeral church saw hundreds of thousands of deaths pass through its tunnel and into the famed St. Louis Cemetery #1, where the bodies were buried daily in massive open graves.
Note: There are plenty of guided tours to choose from that take guests through the tunnel and into Cemetery #1.
The Great American Alligator Museum opened its doors in 2005, and has since become one of the world's largest collection of alligator-related artifacts around. Expect to see 12-million-year-old gators from Florida, deformed alligator heads, antique postcards, vintage alligator fashion, movie posters, and even video games.
It's true that the Museum of Death is kind of a bummer, but it still remains to be one of the most-visited museums in NOLA. Dedicated to all things death, the museum isn't for the faint of heart, so if the macabre isn't your thing, you might want to sit this one out.
Mardi Gras is the most popular event in the city, if not the state, so any trip to NOLA would not be complete without a trip to the Germaine Wells Mardi Gras Museum. Not only does the museum house over two dozen amazingly detailed costumes, each of them having had a significant historical importance to Mardi Gras, but the museum is free to visit during the neighboring restaurant hours, so you don't have an excuse not to go!
The Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge in the city's French Quarter is proof-- it's been a favorite of writers pretty much since it opened in 1949. Hemingway, Faulkner, Capote, Tennessee Williams, even the guy who wrote Forrest Gump have frequented the establishment.
The Carousel Bar is located in the famed Hotel Monteleone, which is a literary landmark in its own right. It appears in works from Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, and more, and it has hosted authors like William Faulkner, John Grisham, Anne Rice, and more. Truman Capote once even claimed he was born there (which, in true Capote fashion, is an embellishment-- his mother did stay there while pregnant with him, though).
Add one of these places to your itinerary and there's no doubt your offbeat trip to New Orleans will be successfully weird!