It’s no secret that New Orleans, the 300-plus-year Louisiana port town situated along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River is known for it’s spirited revelry, jazz music, butter-rich food, buzzy cocktails (the Sazerac was born here) and annual Mardi Gras celebration — commencing this February. For leisure and business travelers looking for a quiet respite, you’re in luck. Below, the best of Crescent City’s outdoor spaces, leafy parks, natural beauty boutiques, healthy eats, spas and hotel offerings.
Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
Enjoy a stroll inside this 11-acre sculpture garden in City Park. Amid a spread of mature pines, magnolias and live oaks, you’ll also find an array of 90 sculptures — including French-born artist Arman’s 20-ft tall Pablo Casals’s Obelisk (1983) made of welded bronze cellos; Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ sculpture of the goddess Diana; Robert Indiana’s larger than life, three-dimensional “Love” sculpture, and Mexican artist Pedro Reyes’s Epicurus made of volcanic stone, once used to create sculpture and for cooking.
Audubon Park
Uptown, this 340-acre park is dotted with an oak trees — including an unmissable The Tree of Life (the Étienne de Boray Oak) and tranquil lagoons. It’s no wonder the park, which opened in 1898, was named after the naturalist John James Audubon. Throw a picnic on one of the green spaces or enjoy Bird Island, housing a prominent rookery with herons, egrets, double-crested cormorant and anhinga. In the meanwhile, a pleasant 1.8 mile loop services joggers and cyclists, while an 18-hole, par 62 course appeals to golfers. Also on-site: the Audubon Zoo, designed by the legendary Olmsted Brothers, is ideal for children.
SWEAT, STRETCH, FLOAT
In the Lower Garden District, the Spyre Center is a one-stop venue with an infrared sauna, hot and cold hydrotherapy, dry float tank, salt water lap pool, and meditation room for contemplation. A chic cafe also offers healthy eats. Set in a cozy studio, Nola Yoga Loft offers Vinyasa practices (and $10 community classes) while the nearby Romney serves up cycling and pilates classes; and afterwards, a raw food and juice counter. Too many beignets the night before? Torch your calories at Swoot, where on-staff trainers offer group classes and private sessions including HIIT, weight training, boxing and step aerobics. Quiet moment? Like it’s name suggests, Float NOLA specializes in flotation therapy and warm saline baths in darkened, silent rooms.
HEALTHY SIPS + EATS
For juices and smoothies, The Antidote has you covered, while lunch lets you order leafy salads, grain bowls and wraps. Uptown, the venerable raw REPUBLIC pours organic juices alongside superfood porridge, nourishing bone broth and grass-fed butter coffee. With a trio of locations, Satsuma doles out tofu scrambles and quinoa salads while Lamara Coffee + Kitchen serves hearty burritos with pasture eggs and smashed avocado multi-grain toast with pickled onion, seeds and cashew crema.
NATURAL BEAUTY
Known for it’s cult beauty and skincare brands —One Love Organics, Activist Raw Mānuka Honey, Augustinus Bader Skincare— Vibrant Market also doubles as a spa; try the buzzy Buccal Facial, opt for a massage (with add-on cupping) or sweat it out inside the infrared sauna. In the back of The Good Shop, Kathleen Currie’s cheery Smoke Perfume (est. 2013) stocks all-natural, ethically sourced fragrances and herbal tinctures. Inside the Hotel Saint Vincent and the Chloe (who also stocks Earth Tu Face and Oxalis) boutiques, you’ll find Jane Bleeker’s chic hand-crafted Hazeltine candles — made of coconut wax, essential oils and fragrance. Night of Joy, a “love letter to old New Orleans” pops with osmanthus and apricot top notes, night-blooming jasmine and base notes like oakmoss (you can also order online).
WHERE TO STAY
Just a few years ago, the 341-room Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans opened to great fanfare. Housed in a landmarked building overlooking the Mississippi River, the brand’s famed hospitality (a standard set even higher in the South) finds the usual luxe trimmings — serene rooms dressed in white oak, Carrara marble bathrooms (a soaking tub is paired with L’Occitane toiletries) and floor-to-ceiling windows with stellar views of the Mississippi River.
A splashy duo of restaurants from two legendary chefs extends to healthy menu options (yes, you read that correctly). Chef Alon Shaya’s Miss River offers a vegetable green curry slow-cooked in coconut milk with lemongrass, coriander, and Louisiana pecans; and a delightful charred avocado with sunflower seeds and lemon vinaigrette. Cheat day? The blue crab au gratin with gruyère cheese is requisite. Chef Donald Link’s Mississippi River facing, Chemin à la Mer serves a bountiful selection of fresh, Omega-rich seafood including Ora King salmon, pan seared Gulf Shrimp and an out-of-this-world vegetarian grit cake with roasted mushrooms.
Outside, a large crescent-shaped infinity pool is ideal for swimming laps, while a 24-hour Harley Pasternack-designed gym features the requiste machines and weights. A serene 8-room spa has facials compliments of cult French brand Biologique Recherche, and an aptly-titled Southern Gentleman massage using a rye whiskey-infused body oil and if you’re so inclined afterwards, a cocktail. Pre-and-post treatment amenities include a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi, or maybe you’ll just sit in the relaxation room, watching the river float downtstream.