Garden District Tours in New Orleans

New Orleans offers a wide variety of activities that you can see and do if you are visiting the city and looking for the best guided tours to make it a unique experience. And without a doubt, taking one of these Garden District tours has to be on your bucket list. You will be able to tour the mythical mansions and historic mansions of the area, appreciate its exquisite architecture and beautiful gardens, you will also pass by celebrity homes and learn all about the neighborhood.

All these tours include a walk through the famous Lafayette Cemetery and are led by a guide who will tell you all about its history and even details about burial practices and funerary traditions. Below I tell you all about the best Garden District tours in New Orleans.

The Garden District is a luxurious and dazzling neighborhood in New Orleans and without a doubt, one of the most visited. With this tour you will be able to walk through its streets for a little more than two hours, making some stops that will allow you to know in depth the history that accompanies each of the places in this area.

Throughout this tour, in addition to enjoying learning the history behind the mansions, you will be able to rest in the shade of the centennial trees that will accompany you as you walk along the streets of the neighborhood.

The adventure begins at Gracious Bakery, a renowned neighborhood cafe that delights all visitors with the best pastries. I recommend you try something there before starting the tour.

The architecture of the garden district will dazzle you as you stroll down St. Charles Avenue, one of the main streets of the neighborhood. You will also tour the Lafayette Cemetery along Washington Ave, while the guide recounts historical events and you will visit the mythical Buckner Mansion, which is located on Jackson Ave and is known for appearing in American Horror Story.

Details of Interest

• Price: You can enjoy this experience for a price starting at 18 € per person.
• Duration: Just over 2 hours.
• Maximum number of travelers: This tour has a capacity of up to 28 people.
• Advantages of this tour: You will get a lot of information about the neighborhood for a very affordable price.
• Disadvantages of this tour: It does not include meals, but I will leave you some recommendations as a solution.

With this option you can not only walk along the mythical St. Charles Avenue, get to know the heart of the neighborhood and the cemetery, but also explore in depth the history of the most emblematic historic mansions of the Garden District, as you will pass by each one of them to appreciate their architecture and get to know their past. An experience not to be missed!

Here are some of the mansions you will pass by, which you will undoubtedly want to photograph and will take your breath away.

• Briggs-Staub House: This house burst into the district with its arched windows, becoming the only Gothic style house in the neighborhood. It is located at 2605 Prytania St, New Orleans, just 2 blocks from the Lafayette Cemetery.
• Louise S. McGehee School: Known as the Bradish Johnson House, it was built in 1872. It is located at 2343 Prytania St, New Orleans, 4 blocks from the cemetery.
• Colonel Short's Villa: It was owned by Confederate Colonel Short. It is located at 1448 Fourth St, New Orleans, 3 blocks from the cemetery.

Taking the Warehouse District as a reference point, it will take you about 20 minutes to walk to this area. However, there are also several bus lines available to take you to your destination.

This tour does not include lunch and ends at noon, but being New Orleans, that will be an easy problem to solve. This tour ends at Commander's Palace which is on Washington Ave and is an emblematic restaurant of the neighborhood and the city. I recommend you have a bite to eat there at the end of the tour to get the best taste of the Garden District, you'll thank me!

Details of interest

• Price: You can enjoy this experience for a price starting at 23 € per person.
• Duration: Starts at 10 a.m. and lasts 2 hours.
• Maximum number of travelers: Up to 7 people can participate in this tour.
• Advantages of this tour: It is a very exclusive tour and in a small group, so you will get more out of it.

As I told you, this neighborhood and its cemetery have a rich history to explore and get to know as much as possible. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, I recommend you to take this tour and enjoy this fun and personal experience. It is undoubtedly a great option, as it becomes very exclusive as it is a small group and even gives you the chance to talk more with the guide and get more information.

This tour offers two starting points and at whichever one you choose you can have a coffee and a bite to eat before you start: one is Gracious Bakery, 2854 St Charles Ave, and the other is Starbucks, 2801 Magazine St, New Orleans. If you ask me, I would choose Gracious Bakery which has the traditional flavor of the neighborhood.

Details of interest

• Price: You can enjoy this experience for a price starting at 20 € per person.
• Duration: Approximately 2 hours.
• Maximum number of travelers: Up to 12 people can participate in this tour.
• Advantages of this tour: This tour offers you more exclusivity at a very good price.

New Orleans is synonymous with fun and this tour, in addition to showing you the history of the neighborhood, its legendary mansions and the mythical cemetery, includes recommendations for food, music and fun in general. This plus will make the experience unique and will be accompanied by tips from local experts for you to enjoy the city even more.

Details of interest

• Price: You can enjoy this experience for a price starting at 22 € per person.
• Duration: Approximately 2 hours.
• Maximum number of travelers: Up to 15 people can participate in this tour.
• Advantages of this tour: This tour includes unique recommendations about food, music and fun.

If you plan to spend only a few days in the city or simply don't have enough time to do any of the tours I recommended, this option is for you. You will be able to tour this neighborhood and many other places in the city on a New Orleans tour bus.

Keep in mind that in this case you will not get to know the neighborhood in depth, since the tour will not be centered in the Garden District and you will only be given a superficial view, with a little information about the neighborhood at the stops made there. But it is a good option to get a general idea.

Details of interest

• Price: You can enjoy this experience for a price starting at 30 € per person.
• Duration: The total tour is approximately 2 hours.
• Advantages of this tour: In addition to the Garden District you can visit other sites of the city that are also of interest to you.
• Disadvantages of this tour: You can see a lot in a short time, but nothing too much in depth.

You can purchase any of these tours online and you will receive confirmation of your reservation immediately upon purchase in your email. For this type of tours you will have to choose an exact date when you want to do it. Also, in case you get cold feet or your plans change, don't worry, you can usually cancel the tour for free.

All Garden District tours usually last approximately 2 hours. However, I recommend that you be at the starting point a few minutes before the tour begins so you can grab a bite to eat or a cup of coffee.

In addition, there are usually some highly recommended restaurants in this neighborhood, so consider having something to eat in the area at the end of the tour.

Exclusive tours of this luxurious and emblematic neighborhood are between 18 and 23 euros and in case you decide to take the tourist bus, about 30 euros.

Keep in mind that the main variables will be in the route, the number of people with whom you share the tour and the services included.

When you take a tour of the Garden District you will learn about its history and you will discover many details, myths and truths that are hidden behind this emblematic neighborhood and the company of a local guide will be essential for this.

Keep in mind that this is one of the most exclusive and emblematic neighborhoods of New Orleans and was formed in the late 1840s by the American elite of the city who sought to separate themselves from the Creoles and take refuge from the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter.

These tours will allow you to learn a lot of history and exclusive anecdotes that are hidden behind these mansions and the exuberant architecture of the area making the tour richer and more interesting.

As you will see, none of the tours include food, but that is not a problem when you are walking through one of the best neighborhoods in New Orleans, which also has an incredible gastronomic offer. I'll tell you about the best places to eat in the Garden District.

• Commander's Palace: I already told you a little about it, but I can't stop recommending it. It is undoubtedly one of the best restaurants in the area. They have a variety of dishes that will give you the unmistakable taste of Louisiana.
• Another Broken Egg Café: It is a restaurant with an original proposal for breakfast, brunch and lunch, it has a variety of innovative dishes with southern inspiration.
• Gracious Bakery: I already recommended this place for breakfast before the tour, but they also have delicious lunches. It is a very cozy place with a typical neighborhood touch that you can't miss.
• Sucré: This is a sophisticated and innovative restaurant in the area and is the ideal place to indulge in artisanal sweets of French heritage. You can find a wide variety of unique dishes and flavors.
• Joey K's Restaurant & Bar: Here you will find the perfect place to enjoy typical American food and a very good option to try some delicious seafood.
• Molly's Rise and Shine: Here you will find another great option for breakfast or lunch.

In addition to having a bite to eat in the neighborhood and discovering its flavor, beyond its history, I recommend that you wear comfortable clothes and shoes suitable for walking. These are tours where you will walk around the Garden District for more than 2 hours and there are usually very uneven surfaces in the places visited, so you don't want to be uncomfortable and have a bad time.

It is very important that you check the weather before the tour and wear appropriate clothing, either warm or loose fitting, taking into account the temperature of the day and the date you are going to do it. Also, I recommend that you take into consideration that summer temperatures are usually high and in the winter you will need warm clothes.

It is important to keep in mind that all these tours are conditioned by the weather, since good weather is necessary for them to take place, otherwise they will have to be rescheduled. While it is almost impossible to guess the weather conditions on any particular day, I can tell you which are the best months to visit New Orleans and, therefore, the Garden District.

Generally, there tends to be good weather in the city most of the year, but late July and throughout August tend to bring heavier rainfall to New Orleans. Therefore, I think it can be a good plan to do in the fall, when the temperature is pleasant, but not extreme.

As you may have noticed, taking a guided tour will allow you not only to get to know the neighborhood, but also to appreciate the history behind it.

This neighborhood, its cemetery and each of its corners, tell the history of New Orleans, so there are a number of traditions and events very interesting to know and what better than taking advantage of the knowledge of a local guide to tell you everything!

Anyway, it is also a good option to tour it on your own, but there is something you should take into consideration: although you can walk through the Garden District, visit the cemetery and its luxurious mansions, managing your own time and at your own pace, you would be missing a fundamental spice, which is precisely what is behind each of those houses, streets and basically everything you see on your way.

It also happens that when you go through a neighborhood like the Garden District on your own, you don't really know where to go or what is really important to know. You may waste a lot of time trying to sort yourself out and you may not even see half of the things. On the other hand, if you take a tour, you don't have to worry about anything, the guide will make sure you don't miss anything and make the most of your time.