Located less than an hour's drive away from New Orleans' French Quarter, Baton Rouge, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Northshore delivers world-class culinary flavours, colourful downtowns, wild places and super-friendly locals.

Here, Senior Features Writer Peter Moore reveals the best things to see and do in Louisiana's most underrated destination…

Back in the day, the Northshore was a popular summer resort, reached by steamers that set out across the vast expanse of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. Today, visitors come over the Causeway, two long, straight 24-mile (38km) ribbons of concrete that form one of the longest continuous bridges over water in the world.

The views are expansive and extraordinary, especially on humid summer nights, when forks of lightning often crackle in the dark clouds ahead.

Like visitors from the olden days, your first port of call on the Northshore will be Mandeville. Founded in 1834 by the Marigny de Mandeville family of New Orleans, the town is redolent with old-world charm, particularly Old Mandeville, leading down to the lakefront.

Today you’ll find colourful antique shops (pictured), an old-fashioned sweet shop set in a former bank and sleepy back streets, shaded by centuries-old trees. A perfectly manicured park stretches along the lakefront, perfect for cycling or taking a sunset stroll.

A couple of blocks back from the lake, nestled under ancient oaks dripping with Spanish moss, you’ll find the Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall. It’s the oldest unaltered rural jazz hall in the world and remains pretty much as it was on the day it opened in 1895.

All the great and the good of jazz have played here, including Louis Armstrong, who snuck in as a kid. Today, concerts are held every spring and autumn, with the ladies from the First Free Mission Baptist Church next door cooking up fried chicken and fish with plenty of fixins (sides and sauces) to sell to raise money for local charities.

A few more blocks up Larmarque Street, you’ll find Birdie & Rascal’s B&B. There are plenty of accommodation options on the Northshore, from waterfront cabanas and boutique hotels. But you’d be hard-pressed to beat the homely charm of this magic place.

Run by a former flight attendant, the titular Birdie, this tastefully decorated place is an oasis of calm, right in the heart of Old Mandeville. Surrounded by nature, the emphasis here is on relaxing and unwinding and settling into the Northshore pace of life.

Tucked beside the 190 in Mandeville, Liz’s Where Ya At diner reflects the infectious optimism of its owner, Liz Munson. Expect bright colours, good vibes and delicious food.

The décor is pure Florida Keys, with a wooden cabana bar right in the middle of the restaurant. But the menu is totally Louisiana. Try their famous Momma’s Grillades & Grits – low-cooked roast and brown gravy with grits and a hot buttery biscuit. Just like momma used to make it!

When it comes to dining, you’re spoilt for choice on the Northshore. Here, in Louisiana’s Tammany Parish, Cajun, Creole and rural cuisine come together to create something unique and very special.

Nan’s New Orleans Café and Poboys (pictured) leans into signature New Orleans-style dishes, but with a Northshore twist. While the Chimes at Covington serves up more easy-going fare, including fried gator, catfish platters and seafood gumbo. Set alongside the Bogue Falaya River, they hire out paddleboards too – best done before your meal!

With the feasting done, it’s time to explore the Northshore. And there’s no better way to see everything this incredible area has to offer than by cycling the Tammany Trace.

Originally a corridor for the Illinois Central Railroad, this gorgeous 31-mile (50km) rails-to-trails conversion winds its way from downtown Covington, through Abita Springs, Mandeville, Fontainebleau State Park and onto Slidell. You can hire a bike from Brooks’ Bikes, who have convenient locations at Covington, Mandeville and Slidell.

Tammany Trace has various access points along the way, located in or near the towns of Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe and Slidell. Known as trailheads, they feature cafés, bars, museums and play areas and are destinations in themselves.

Here we see a band practising in the bandstand at the trailhead in Abita Springs. On most weekends and holidays, the trailheads host free concerts, markets and fun activities for people of all ages.

The freshwater springs that gave Abita Springs its name also spawned the Abita Brewing Company, whose old headquarters sits right beside the trailhead. Now the largest craft brewer in the Southeast, they’ve moved out to Highway 36 in Covington, where you can tour their modern facilities and sample their wares.

Another option for beer lovers is Chafunkta Brewing Company. Halfway along the trace between Abita Springs and Mandeville, this ‘community of hops’ is regarded as the best nano-brewery in the area and hosts live bands, quiz nights and special dog-friendly weekends, called ‘Pups and Pints’.

Push on past Mandeville and the next stop on the Tammany Trace is Fontainebleau State Park. Located right on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, it spans over 2,800 acres of diverse Louisiana landscapes, including vast groves of ancient live oaks draped in Spanish moss.

The park is criss-crossed with scenic trails that are perfect for hiking, biking and birdwatching. And the lakefront offers all kinds of water-based activities, as well as overwater cabanas – perfect for drifting off to while listening to the soundtrack of gently lapping waves.

Fontainebleau State Park is also home to the crumbling brick ruins of a sugar mill built in 1829 by Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, founder of nearby Mandeville. He named it Fontainebleau after a forest near Paris that was a favourite recreation area of the French kings.

Income from the plantation helped support his lavish lifestyle back in New Orleans. All that remains today are the ruins of the old sugar mill (pictured) and an oak alley that once sheltered the quarters for enslaved families.

Tammany Trace ends in Slidell, where you must crown your visit to the Northshore with a tour of Honey Swamp with Cajun Encounters. The dock for their flat-bottomed swamp craft on the somnolent Pearl River sits in the shadow of a bridge that looks straight out of a Bobbie Gentry song.

On this tour, gators and swamp raccoons are promised and delivered, as well as a gnarled ancient cypress tree that inspired Mama Odie’s Wishing Tree in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. Primeval and slightly sinister, this is an area where time feels like it has stood still.

While you’re waiting for your swamp tour to start, make sure to take the opportunity to stroll along the boardwalk trail, built over the swampy waters that butt right up against the Cajun Encounter’s headquarters and gift shop.

Winding its way through towering cypresses and oaks, most dripping in Spanish moss, it’s a great introduction to what lies in wait, including wildlife encounters. This cheeky chap was hiding just a few feet into the walk.

Still buzzing from your adventures on the Tammany Trace? Consider a nightcap or two at Ruby’s Roadhouse, just across the road from Birdie and Rascal’s B&B.

Located on the same street as the Dew Drop Jazz and Social, just further away from the lake, it was bought by Francis ’Buck’ Burrel in 1939 and turned it into a music venue for Black musicians too. It's still a popular music venue today, with bands playing most nights of the week.

Before you head back over the Causeway to New Orleans, make sure to drop by Madisonville. This beautiful riverside town is a boater’s paradise and boasts a wide range of fabulous waterside eateries, like Crabby Shack and Morton’s.

The local gas and bait station on LA 1077 (pictured) is a snapshot in time too, filled with old-school Americana from the 1950s and '60s. You’ll also find a life-size and very realistic statue of a Sasquatch, known in these parts as La Bête Noire, or the Bayou Beast.

The nearest airport to the Northshore is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, not far from the New Orleans side of the Causeway Bridge. It's served by daily direct flights from Europe and major centres across the USA.

Peter visited the Northshore in June 2025 as a guest of Explore Louisiana and Visit The Northshore.

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