New Orleans, the big easy, has gone through some more than turbulent times in recent years. Hurricane Katrina completely decimated the city, in particular turning the poorer districts into wreckages of floating flotsam and jetsam, and almost permanently destroying entire communities. The media brouhaha around the event was, for once, deserved, with the government failing its poorer citizens with a ludicrously protracted response to the disaster, leading to mass homelessness, incredibly low hygiene conditions, looting and avoidable deaths. The repercussions of this event will be felt for many years yet - and rightly so - but if there was ever a sense that it would irredeemably destroy New Orleans culture, its people and its future, then that sentiment has been utterly dispelled over the past couple of years.

Firstly, it's worth noting that, for tourists, much of the French Quarter and the Old Town were left completely in tact, preserving a lot of what was already laid on as attractions for visitors. Chief amongst these, the Jazz and Heritage Festival and Mardi gras were never cancelled, standing as recurrent testament to the strength and preserve of the people of New Orleans.

The unique musical history of the city has always been one of its biggest lures, and this remains true today. Jazz and blues - along with idiosyncratic forms of hip-hop and RnB - are to be found everywhere in the city, which is filled with clubs, bars and restaurants all preserving and perpetuating the sounds of Louis Armstrong, Cajun, Zydeco and Delta Blues. Such a living and breathing heart of music goes down particularly well with local cuisine of beignets (square shaped and fried pastries), fried and raw oysters, crawfish, jambalaya and, most deliciously of all, gumbo.

New Orleans is also great for shopping, hotels, and - just outside its borders - some of the most beautiful bayous in Louisiana. Indeed, before the disaster, it was one of the most visited cities in the USA, and it rightly deserves to be returned to those heady days. Tourism will return to its streets, but it's worth remembering that it is the unseen, unvisited New Orleans that suffered the most from the devastation of the hurricane, and that, when you visit, the thanks for such a vibrant, beautiful culture should go to the indigenous, less than wealthy inhabitants too.

DialAFlight offer flights to America, including New Orleans, from as little as £300 - which makes it one of the cheapest destinations in the whole of the USA. And when you arrive, you'll know you've made the most wonderful choice.