This has the best Dixieland Jazz in New Orleans, not to mention the cheapest. If you like good music, then this is the place to go. These guys have been playing jazz for a long time, but they still play it flawlessly. For $5 (although the price might have gone up by now...), you can sit in this room all night and listen to great jazz.

You can request songs for an extra fee, including "When The Saints Go Marching In," but that one costs a special fee to request. The only problem with this place is that the seating is a bit uncomfortable, but it doesn't matter since the music is just amazing.

The best deal in the Quarter is Preservation Hall. For a mere $8, you can hear as many sets of the music the Big Easy is known worldwide for - jazz. Do know that there are no beverages or food served at Preservation Hall? They only serve up one thing, jazz. Also keep in mind that seating is very limited and consists of a few benches and cushions. Everyone else stands. A small sign prices requests. Standards are $5, but one in particular will set you back $10. Can you guess which song that is? Yep, Saints. If you’re lucky enough to get a cushion, you'll be so close to the musicians that you will fear that the trombone slide will clock you, but don't worry, it won't.

If you go, be sure to take a doggie bag from your fine New Orleans meal and share with Preservation Hall's resident feline, Jazz Cat. The Hall opens at 8pm, and the jazz sizzles until midnight. It is located on St. Peter between Bourbon and Royal.

The one experience we agreed had to be repeated at least twice the next time we set foot in New Orleans was Preservation Hall. For the uninitiated, this will be your most thrilling Jazz Experience in the crescent city. The building itself is really nothing to look at. 726 Saint Peters St. looks old and run down, but come 8pm it comes alive. Shows are presented every night Monday – Sunday.

If you are planning to go, do not linger over dinner. Make sure you are in line no later than 7:20pm if you want to be close to the front. If you arrive late, the sound is still pretty good in the back – but you will envy those down front and kick yourself. Once the music starts, people line up out front and it becomes next to impossible to get a seat. Once you are inside, the building looks even more run down – except for some instruments and a small wooden stage up front. Around 8:30pm the musicians file in and start playing and the party has started.

The bands are slightly different from night to night, but many of the songs performed are the same. There are a lot of old timers who really sing with flair. My favorite song was "The Saint James Infirmary Blues. After the first couple of sets a hat is usually passed for those who would like to deposit money to request specific songs. The cost for this not to be missed jazz experience at Preservation Hall is $5 per person. A jazz lover can sit till 11pm and listen to some of the best music on the planet. Preservation Hall does not serve any food or drinks. During the heat of summer, this little room can get hot, so I recommend bringing along a bottle of ice cold water.

If you go to New Orleans and you are only going to do three activities – you should go to Preservation Hall three times. I cannot recommend this experience highly enough.

Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall is literally little more than a hole in the wall--walk by too fast, and you'll miss it.

But if you do happen to catch the sign over the tired old doorway, pay the tiny cover charge and make it into the small, crowded, un-air-conditioned, lit-by-a-single-bare-bulb room to hear whoever is fronting the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on that particular night, you are guaranteed to get a sample of authentic New Orleans jazz.

Nowadays, much of the French Quarter is geared towards the college (and post-college) folk, attempting to make it into spring break year-round. As result, much of the music you hear booming from many of the bars and clubs on Bourbon Street is an Allman Brothers cover band or, worse yet, bumping and grinding techno.

Where can you go to get a little true jazz? Preservation Hall. It don't serve no drinks, there ain't many seats, there's barely even any light--but the music that's played in the tiny room is by far superior to anything within a 6-block radius. This is Old Jazz as Louis played it. The band plays a set, then takes a break, and then plays another set, and once you're in, you're free to stay as long as you like.

While you're there, feel free to make a request--it's a dollar for a jazz standard, and five for them to play "When the Saints Go Marching in," presumably because they're tired of playing it.

Just go. It's jazz without frills, and it's more than worth the price of admission.

As anyone will tell you, New Orleans is a jazz town and Preservation Hall is a great place to hear the old standards.

It's literally just a hall--there is no bar, toilets, chairs, or even a stage. Get in early if you can, and sit down on the floor in front of the musicians, but avoid sitting in front of the trombonist and/or saxophonist unless you like saliva dripping on you.

Several bands play during the evening and your ticket is good for the whole night, so you can nip out to get a drink between sets. Still, you won't be allowed back in once the next band starts playing--you'll have to wait until the next interval.

All the bands I saw were fabulous and played all the old jazz favourites--'Sunny Side of the Street' and 'Hello Dolly'--and some bands will play requests for tips.