City: New Orleans, LA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (504) 362-8211, (800) 362-8213

Address: 1380 Port of New Orleans Place

Description: This is a fun, don’t-miss attraction. Go behind the scenes of Mardi Gras to see the world’s largest fleet of Carnival floats and the artists who create them. Enormous Carnival “dens” are the working studios of international artists and sculptors who form the largest float-building company in the world. Tours allow guests to try on authentic Mardi Gras costumes, eat king cake (the official pastry of Mardi Gras), visit the prop shop where artists create the giant papier-mâché sculptures that adorn floats, watch floats being constructed (get there by 3:30 to see this), and catch a glance at real Mardi Gras floats including those that roll in the Orpheus parade, founded by crooner Harry Connick Jr. Mardi Gras World is open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 45- to 60-minute tours starting every half hour. Last tour begins at 4:30 p.m. There is a free shuttle bus that picks up at most major downtown hotels. Call for schedule.