Experience the best of Lafayette

Lafayette sits on the Vermilion River in the flat prairie and bayou country of south Louisiana, the centre of Acadiana, where descendants of French-speaking Acadians exiled from Canada settled in the eighteenth century. French is still spoken in homes and on local radio, and the city is home to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Live oaks line the streets, and the grounds of the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist hold an enormous oak said to be centuries old.

Vermilionville, a living-history village, recreates Acadian and Creole life of the 1700s and 1800s, and the Acadian Cultural Center, part of a national historical park, tells the story of the exiles. Dance halls in nearby towns host Cajun and zydeco bands. Breaux Bridge, the crawfish capital, and Lake Martin, a cypress swamp with nesting egrets and alligators, lie to the east, and the Atchafalaya Basin stretches beyond.

Boudin, gumbo, étouffée and boiled crawfish with corn and potatoes make up the local diet, and cracklins are sold at gas stations. The Festival International de Louisiane fills the streets with music from the French-speaking world each April, and the long, humid summer is hot.