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One of New Orleans' many nicknames is "the Crescent City," because of the way it nestles between the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain and a dramatic horseshoe bend in the Mississippi River. This unique location makes the city's layout confusing, with streets curving to follow the river, and shooting off at odd angles to head inland. Compass points are of little use here -- locals refer instead to lakeside (towards the lake) and riverside (towards the river), and, using Canal Street as the dividing line, uptown (or upriver) and downtown (downriver).

Most visitors spend most time in the battered, charming old French Quarter (or Vieux Carré), site of the original settlement. On its fringes, the funky Faubourg Marigny creeps northeast from Esplanade Avenue, while the Quarter's lakeside boundary, Rampart Street, marks the beginning of the historic, run-down African-American neighborhood of Tremé. On the other side of the Quarter, across Canal Street, the CBD (Central Business District), bounded by the river and I-10, spreads upriver to the Pontchartrain Expressway. Dominated by offices, hotels and banks, it also incorporates the revitalizing Warehouse District and, towards the lake, the gargantuan Superdome. A ferry ride across the river from the foot of Canal Street takes you to the suburban west bank and the residential district of old Algiers.

Back on the east bank, it's an easy journey upriver from the CBD to the  Garden District, an area of gorgeous old mansions. The Lower Garden District , creeping between the expressway and Jackson, is quite a different creature, its run-down old houses filled with impoverished artists and musicians. The best way to get to either neighborhood is on the streetcar along swanky St. Charles Avenue, the Garden District's lakeside boundary; you can also approach it from Magazine Street, a six-mile stretch of galleries and antique stores that runs parallel to St. Charles riverside. Entering the Garden District, you've crossed the official boundary into uptown, which spreads upriver to encompass Audubon Park and Zoo.

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