There's a dish for every budget in New Orleans. Start your stay with a visit to the famous Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter where a small cup of their chicory coffee plus a bag of three beignets cost a little over $AU6.40 (see cafedumonde.com). Dust the icing sugar off your clothes and head just outside the French Quarter to St Louis Cemetery No 1 (1300 St. Louis Street) for a free self-guided tour. It's the most famous of New Orleans' "cities of the dead" full of elaborate above ground tombs including those of war heroes, jazz greats and the voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau. For lunch, head toward chef Donald Link's Cochon Butcher (930 Tchoupitoulas Street; cochonbutcher.com) for a po' boy. Try the Buckboard Bacon Melt with Collards ( $14]. Venture back into the French Quarter and admire the Spanish colonial wrought-iron balconies. Walk past the historic jazz centre of Preservation Hall (726 St. Peter Street) before wandering over to the foot of Canal Street to take the ($2.56) Algiers Ferry across the Mississippi for a sunset view of the Crescent city. (See neworleansonline.com). Once back, head to Frenchman Street and take in the array of music, many without a cover charge. Stop in for Jambalaya with a side of greens at Praline Connection (see pralineconnection.com $15.30). Within easy stumbling distance is the Royal Street Inn (1431 Royal Street; 504-948-7499; see royalstreetinn.com ($122.70). The bonus is, they will leave drink chips for the bar downstairs on your pillow.

Total – $161

EASY DOES IT

Hire a car (Hertz.com $84.35) and drive north for 50 minutes to the new Whitney Plantation, the first US  museum dedicated to telling the story of slavery (book tour online, see whitneyplantation.com; $28.12). You'll be led through a church built by former enslaved laborers, and see slave quarters before visiting three memorials for those who were held in bondage in Louisiana.

On return to the city, stop by the hip Bywater area and order a mess of praline bacon, boiled shrimp with remoulade and boudin balls in Creole mustard sauce ($26.20) at Elizabeth's Restaurant (see elizabethsrestaurantnola.com). Stop by the art galleries in the area to pick up a one-off (see drbobart.net) and then drop in for a beer and put some coins in the jukebox at Vaughan's Lounge. ($6.39) Afterwards head to nearby Euclid Records and pick up some New Orleans music you heard at Vaughan's, even better if on vinyl.

Check in to the newly-renovated Intercontinental Hotel New Orleans (see icneworleans.com, from   $242.87;  two blocks from the French Quarter. Freshen up and walk across the road to chef John Besh's Luke brasserie (see lukeneworleans.com). Order Le petit plateau de fruits de mer (oysters, prawns, clams, crab, mussels, ceviche -  ($37.08) then go off to see a band (and try your hand at bowling) at Mid City Lanes (see rocknbowl.com $$15.35).

Total – $440.36

SPLASH OUT

Settle back for a long and lazy breakfast at Brennan's (see brennansneworleans.com  $61.33) starting with gumbo and ending with a rich praline bread pudding then hop on the St Charles trolley to the Garden District ($3.83 for a day) and take the Behind the Lines National World War II Museum tour ($511). You'll get a one-hour curator-led tour of an extensive collection of rare war artifacts, as well as a private lunch (See nationalww2museum.org). Hop back on the trolley and get off at Jackson Avenue and walk to Magazine Street where you can browse the antiques and fashion boutiques such as Weinstein's (see weinsteinsinc.com) selling high-end fashion. A short taxi drive away ($AU19.17) is chef Tory McPhail turreted Commander's Palace (see commanderspalace.com) featuring some of New Orleans finest cuisine since 1880. To get a good sampling, order the Chef's Playground ($204.45 with wine pairing) Book the grand Astoria Suite at the Roosevelt New Orleans (see therooseveltneworleans.com  ($727.40) and have one of New Orleans' official state cocktails in their Sazerac bar ($23) downstairs before retiring for the night.

Total – $1550.30

The writer travelled as a guest of Discover America