New Orleans shops the way it cooks — locally, stubbornly, with French, Spanish and Caribbean accents layered on top. Three days run from a 1791 open-air market to Magazine Street's storefronts and the Bywater's corrugated-tin art studios.
Six blocks of open-air stalls running from Café du Monde to Esplanade Avenue, trading since 1791. The flea end sells hot sauce, alligator jerky, Mardi Gras masks and cast-iron; the produce sheds hold spice blends and pralines. Daily 09:00–18:00.
Louisiana's original farmers market, Wednesdays 09:00–13:00 at 750 Carondelet Street in the CBD and Saturdays 08:00–12:00 uptown. Gulf shrimp straight off the boat, Creole tomatoes, satsumas and Bellegarde bread from a dozen-odd farm stands.
A 20-member artist-run gallery tucked into the French Market's Dutch Alley, where the maker is usually the one behind the counter. Levee photography, hand-thrown pottery, cypress carvings and silver jewellery. Open daily 10:00–17:00.
The South's oldest LGBTQ+ bookstore, at 600 Frenchmen Street since 1977, packs local poetry, Tennessee Williams editions and New Orleans history into one narrow room hung with neighbourhood art. Open daily until roughly 20:00.
A 1900s storefront at 2844 Magazine crammed with French antiques, hand-painted lampshades, chinoiserie and Louisiana-made ceramics. Staff arrange international shipping, which matters for anything larger than carry-on. Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00.
Part barbershop, part gentleman's outfitter at 2026 Magazine since 1993: badger brushes, straight razors, cufflinks and shave soap milled in Louisiana. A hot-towel shave runs about $60 and finishes with a whiskey in the back bar.
The Warehouse District's anchor gallery, at 432 Julia since 1978, shows Louisiana artists including Dawn DeDeaux and Willie Birch across two spaces. Free entry Tuesday–Saturday 10:00–17:00, with a dozen more galleries within two blocks.
A 75-store outlet mall built on the levee at 500 Port of New Orleans Place — Neiman Marcus Last Call, Coach, Levi's — with Mississippi views from the food hall. Open until 20:00 on weekdays, 19:00 Sundays.
A family perfumery since 1931, now at 434 Chartres Street, blending vetiver, sweet olive and magnolia in a courtyard workshop behind the shop. Bottles are still labelled by hand. Tuesday–Saturday 10:00–17:00.
William Faulkner wrote his first novel in this Pirate's Alley townhouse in 1925; the ground floor is now a jewel-box shop of Southern first editions and fine bindings. Open daily 10:00–17:30 — the room holds about eight people at once.
Trading since 1894 at 120 St Charles Avenue, the South's largest hat shop stacks Stetsons, Borsalinos and Panamas to the ceiling in boxes. Sizing, steaming and reshaping are done while you wait. Monday–Saturday 10:00–17:45.
The folk artist behind the city's 'Be Nice or Leave' signs works from a corrugated-tin compound at 3027 Chartres Street, selling bottle-cap-framed paintings and hand-lettered boards from roughly $40 upward.