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Louisiana Culture & history

Our most recommended Louisiana Culture & history

New Orleans: Cemetery Bus Tour At Dark with Exclusive Access

1. New Orleans: Cemetery Bus Tour At Dark with Exclusive Access

Experience the spooky side of New Orleans on a tour of the city and one of its most haunted cemeteries. Listen to chilling tales from your local guide and learn about the darker parts of the city's history. See how an EMF reader is used in real life. First, grab a cocktail or beer at your meeting location before the tour. Then your tour guide will lead the way with an EMF Reader and explain how to use them to search for paranormal activity and to help locate any spirits or paranormal phenomena.  Travel to the St. Patrick Cemetery No. 1, Odd Fellows Rest, and the Charity Hospital Cemetery to explore haunted cemeteries at night. Pass by the The Buckner Mansion and the Hurricane Katrina Memorial along the way.  Finally, see the videos of documented ghosts and spirits that haunt several locations from your tour. Conclude your tour by following your guide to a burial ground of spirits who met their unfortunate fate in a tragic pandemic event.

New Orleans: High Speed 16 Passenger Airboat Ride

2. New Orleans: High Speed 16 Passenger Airboat Ride

Embark on a high-speed adventure through the swamps and marshes just 35 minutes from New Orleans and experience the amazing scenery by airboat. Slow down or stop to take pictures and get a personal tour from your local captain. Avail of airboats with stadium-style seating so that the person in front does not obstruct your view. Be amazed as alligators come so close to the boat that you can stare into their reptilian eyes! Encounter magnificent birdlife, including bald eagles, pelicans, ospreys and owls. Every tour is unique and you never know what will be around the next corner! Reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, propelled by a huge fan that blows air from the back of the boat in excess of 200 miles per hour. Ride in shallow water and access areas where traditional boats cannot go.

New Orleans: Haunted French Quarter Carriage Tour at Night

3. New Orleans: Haunted French Quarter Carriage Tour at Night

Explore the iconic French Quarter of New Orleans on a carriage tour at night and get introduced to the ghostly lore and legends. Pass by Bourbon Street, Napoleon House, and more while listening to true stories of ghosts, voodoo, and vampires from your guide. With so much paranormal activity happening in the city, the best way to tour these haunted locations is by carriage ride at night. Historical stories of love and tragedy come to life as the professional tour guides explain the legends and lore, in addition to historical narration detailing all major landmarks throughout the French Quarter. On the haunted tour, expect Voodoo galore, and learn about how Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, applied her magical powers to shift the course of love, luck, and law in New Orleans. Learn about the bevy of haunted restaurants, like Muriel’s, where numerous seances have been held over the years. Witness the site of a 19th-century massacre, said to still hold ghosts of the tragedy.  You may even discover that your hotel is haunted, as the carriage ride rolls past all of the most haunted hotels in the French Quarter. Group carriage tours travel at a leisurely pace and with small groups exceeding no more than 8 passengers per carriage. For a more exclusive experience, you can reserve a private carriage that holds 1 to 4 passengers.

New Orleans: Creole Queen History Cruise with Optional Lunch

4. New Orleans: Creole Queen History Cruise with Optional Lunch

Sit back and enjoy the views or a drink at the bar while journeying down the Mississippi river. Learn about New Orleans' complex, but interesting story, focusing on the critical Battle of New Orleans. Join a cruise narrated by a local guide and embark on a journey into the past as you head downriver to the Chalmette Battlefield at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. As you travel to the battlefield, learn about the settlement of New Orleans, its river, and the historical landmarks that line the banks of the Mississippi River. As you cruise, treat yourself to a traditional lunch on board. (If relevant option selected.) Stop at the battlefield and hear about the legacy of the area on a 1-hour guided tour along the shore with a talk by National Park Rangers. After, return to the starting point where your tour will end. SAMPLE MENU LUNCH: • New Orleans Style Shrimp Pasta • 10” Roast Beef Po-Boy • Creole Jambalaya • Crawfish Bread • Caesar Salad • Red Beans & Rice • Fresh Baked Cookies • Zapps Potato Chips (Menu items are subject to change by season and availability)

New Orleans: Walking Tour Inside St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

5. New Orleans: Walking Tour Inside St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Uncover the history of one of America's oldest and most famous cemeteries that is not open to the general public on this walking tour of the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 cemetery. View interesting burial customs and stroll past facinating above ground tombs.  Check in and meet your guide at the Basin St. Station Visitor Center where you can find an array of exhibits about New Orleans, an interactive map of the Hurricane Katrina floodwaters, a café, restrooms, and a gift shop. Get your tour stickers and depart on time for your adventure into the macabre. Head to the the front gates of the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and listen as you guide takes you back in time with the story of the cemetery. Make your way through New Orleans' most famous tombs and hear about the city's unique burial customs. Get up close to the elaborate above-ground crypts and below-ground sites. Meander among the and find out about the storied pasts of those residing here, including Voodoo Queen Mariel Laveau, the former mayor Homer Plessy and other notable figures from the city's history.

New Orleans: Cemetery Tour

6. New Orleans: Cemetery Tour

This 2-hour walking tour takes you inside the walls of New Orleans’ oldest and most interesting burial grounds. In the company of a local guide, you’ll explore the ancient maze of above-ground tombs and learn about fascinating local burial practices. After meeting your guide at the Morning Call Coffee Shop, you’ll walk to the cemetery to explore curiosities and hear tales of some of the city’s personalities. You’ll see the final resting place of many of New Orleans’ most notable celebrities. On this tour that’s been recommended by the Travel Channel, A&E, and the History Channel, you’ll learn the history of voodoo and its connection to the French Quarter on a journey back through time.

New Orleans: Laura Creole Plantation Guided Tour

7. New Orleans: Laura Creole Plantation Guided Tour

Experience the disappearing world of Creole Louisiana on a 75-minute guided tour of the Laura Plantation main house, gardens and slave quarters. Located on the West bank of the Mississippi in the heart of Plantation Country – the main house dates from 1805 and has been restored to the time when it functioned as both a family home and the office for the sugar plantation. Visit the raised basement and galleries, men's and women's parlors, service rooms and common rooms. Walk through the 200-year-old sugar plantation homestead, including 3 gardens: Jardin Français, the kitchen potager & BananaLand grove. Continue the tour on the grounds with 12 buildings on the National Register, including animal barns, overseers' cottages and the 1829 Maison de Reprise. Hear intimate stories about four generations of free and enslaved members of the Creole families who lived here. Gleaned from handwritten memoirs and archival documents from the United States and France, each story told in the 1805 Maison Principale, on the grounds, and in the original 1840s slave cabins is a true, personal account of the women, children and men who spent their lives on this sugar farm. Spend time touring the onsite museum exhibit on your own after your tour ends. When Laura Plantation opened to the public in 1994, it became the first historic attraction in Louisiana to include stories of enslaved Africans as part of the tour. Today the permanent exhibit "From the Big House to the Quarters: Slavery on Laura Plantation" is dedicated to telling the authentic story of the enslaved community of this Créole farm.

New Orleans: Bayou Tour in Jean Lafitte National Park

8. New Orleans: Bayou Tour in Jean Lafitte National Park

Bring your cameras and adventurous spirits as you explore the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Meet your guide at the meeting point and go to the swamp. Embark on a pontoon boat ride around the waters of the area. Get the chance to spot alligators, local wildlife, and two other friendly creatures, Sunshine the Pig and Patrick the Possum.  Listen to stories and legends told by your informative local guide. Following the tour, enjoy a delicious Cajun lunch (not included) at a local eatery down the street, the perfect way to refuel. After lunch, you’ll be driven back to New Orleans and dropped off at the original meeting point.

From Lafitte: Swamp Tours South of New Orleans by Airboat

9. From Lafitte: Swamp Tours South of New Orleans by Airboat

Climb aboard a unique airboat to explore Louisiana’s wetlands south of New Orleans in a truly unique fashion. Board an airboat just 30 minutes from downtown New Orleans, and listen to informative commentary as you zip through the bayou and squeeze into tiny canals hidden deep in the swamp. For 105 minutes, the captains at Airboat Adventures share some of the most beautiful and secluded areas of Louisiana. Wildlife such as alligators, turtles, and birds are common sights, but you never know what else might come out to visit! Round-trip transfers are available from New Orleans for guests without a car. Upon arrival, check in to the Airboats Adventures facilities, before departing on the airboat to zip across the swamps. Grab a snack at the gift shop, or check out Sugar and Flour, the only albino alligators on the bayou. Picnic tables are available both inside and out, where you can relax before your airboat departure. The boats can hold between 6 and 27 people. Opt for a small boat, with a capacity of 6-8 passengers, for a more personal tour, when the captain can spend more time with each guest. But even the large boats, with capacity for 15-27 passengers allow an up-close experience with the wildlife of the Louisiana swamps. Sit back and enjoy the ride through a unique landscape, and listen as you captain feeds you fascinating bayou facts. You never know; he might haul in a ‘gator if the opportunity arises, or even let you hold a baby ‘gator!

New Orleans: High Speed 6-9 Passenger Airboat Tour

10. New Orleans: High Speed 6-9 Passenger Airboat Tour

Experience the best of both a swamp tour and an airboat ride. Travel at high speeds in the airboat then slow down and stop for pictures. Along the way, enjoy a personal tour by your local captain. The airboats have stadium seating so every airboat seat is great for experiencing the tour and viewing wildlife. Yes, gators will get close, real close. So close that you will be able to look into those reptilian eyes. Alligators do hibernate in the colder months, but your experienced captains know where to look for them. On average, during the winter, you have better than a 50/50 chance of seeing a gator. In the warmer months, you will see a gator. Every New Orleans Airboat Tour is unique and you never know what could be around the next corner. Tour an area that is a combination of swamp, marsh, and lake, spotting anything from a Bald Eagle to a Pelican, from an Osprey to an Owl. The airboats are driven by a 454 Chevy engine that will produce speeds of up to 35 miles an hour. They are propelled by a huge fan that will blow air from the back of the boat in excess of 200 miles an hour. These tours are truly a blast. They ride in inches of water and go where traditional boats can't. The boats were designed to take you to inaccessible areas of the swamp, places that you cannot reach by foot or car, ensuring a unique experience.

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What people are saying about Louisiana

Overall rating

4.6 / 5

based on 3,778 reviews

Our tour guide, Jason, was phenomenal! He’s from the area and gave so much more than a sightseeing tour! He’s so knowledgeable, articulate and passionate about what he does! We learned so much about the area, saw some wildlife and even had the chance to hold Nubby, a rescued alligator! We went during the winter, so we only saw 2 alligators, but still totally worth it! Me and my mom are a little wild, so we were cracking up the entire time we were speed drifting through the water! What a blast! Will definitely book this tour again the next time we travel to New Orleans! Thanks for the great experience!

Jeff was an amazing guide! I came in as a skeptic (and still am somewhat), but after looking at some photos we captured I can tell you that there are things we cannot explain. I learned a lot about the city's history and had a blast. Would do it again for sure!

Carlos, “the vampire”, was absolutely fantastic. Giving good stories and lots of information. I even was able to be his helper by holding his flashlight. He even killed me off. Good times.

It was very informative and exciting. The history is amazing and the guide was very personable and informative. I will be recommending this tour to any one that will head your way.

Every body should see this ahhhmazing Museum. Clear, accurate ,interactive experience with meaningful, authentic and visually appealing displays. Loved it!!