Best Plantation Tours in New Orleans

Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, New Orleans is a city that hides in its interior mansions that will make you travel back in time to know the opulent life of the once owners of these vast territories.

They are known as plantations because in their moment of glory in these lands different raw materials were cultivated, leaving a very good profit to their owners. Now they have become one of the things to see and do in New Orleans that you definitely can't miss.

One of the most important plantations on this side of the South is definitely Oak Valley Plantation, and during the five and a half hour tour, you'll have the opportunity to look at its 28 oak trees that welcome you to the driveway.

Being one of the most important, you can find multiple options to visit Oak Alley Plantation from New Orleans. Some of them offer the possibility of combining the tour with a boat ride on the marshes, while others offer a guided tour of the Laura Plantation as well.

A restaurant is available for you to eat for an additional fee. You will also see a large number of objects and agricultural machinery that were used during the golden age of this house.

Details of interest

• Price: The tour can have an approximate price of 56 euros per person.
• Duration: It can last between 5 hours and 30 minutes, to 6 hours approximately- You can stay a little longer if you want to eat in the restaurant or stop at the gift store.
• Transportation: To get to the plantation, a tour bus will pick you up in the city of New Orleans. Once you are inside the plantation, the tour will be completely on foot.
• Advantages of this tour: It includes, along with the entrance to Oak Alley, a professional guide who will tell you all the history of the plantations while taking you to your destination. Pick up and drop off at the hotel is usually included once the plantation tour is over.
• Disadvantages of this tour: It is not a wheelchair accessible tour. This experience may be cancelled if the weather is bad, but in this case you will be offered a full refund or asked to reschedule the tour.

The Houmas House experience is more than a guided tour of the New Orleans plantations. It is a truly privileged journey back in time, where you will have the opportunity to learn firsthand, all the details of slavery in the South before and even after abolition.

One of the most special things about this place is that, from the moment you arrive, the guides of the house welcome you with period costumes that will make you think you are walking through the plantations two centuries ago. In these grounds, whose mansion dates from before the Civil War, enormous quantities of sugar cane were produced.

Details of interest

• Price: You can get this type of guided tour for approximately €25 per person.
• Duration: The entire tour can last approximately 3 hours.
• Means of transportation: You must arrive on your own from the city of New Orleans to the plantation. Once inside, the entire tour is done on foot.
• Advantages of this tour: It is a wheelchair accessible tour and the walks through the grounds are also wheelchair friendly. In case you don't want to walk too far, you can use a golf cart upon request. The mansion has elevators for those who cannot use the stairs. Strollers can also be brought to the experience. It is available in English and Spanish.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Reservation may be cancelled due to bad weather, in which case, you may be able to reschedule your visit for another time. Drinks, meals and snacks are not included, but are available for purchase on site.

Now converted into a kind of resort, this plantation is one of the most remarkable in terms of its exterior design. Inside it also has different objects that have been preserved over time, but its most precious treasure is the architecture of the house.

During this short guided tour you will have the opportunity to learn about the rooms located in the Nottoway mansion, as well as take a tour around the house.

You will see different plaques and commemorative elements of the people who lived in that mansion and spent their days as slaves.

Details of interest

• Price: To take the guided tour, you must pay approximately 20 euros per person. Children could pay up to 12 euros each.
• Duration: This is a short tour that lasts just two hours.
• Means of transportation: To get to the Nottoway plantation you must do it on your own. Once inside, the guided tour is on foot through the interior of the house and the surrounding area.
• Advantages of this tour: The tour guides are very knowledgeable about the history of the house. Children can participate in the tour and can even pay less than adults.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Transportation from New Orleans to the plantation is not included. It has preset visiting hours, only on Fridays and Saturdays at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00.

This is one of the most complete tours of the plantations and one of the best guided tours of New Orleans, as it is a journey back in time to the slavery era in the United States.

It includes a visit to a museum commemorating all the victims who passed through this plantation, where you can also see artifacts from the eighteenth century, works of art and buildings that have been remodeled to offer a more complete experience.

Details of Interest

• Price: A guided tour of the Whitney Plantation can be priced at approximately 62 euros per person.
• Duration: The entire tour can last approximately three hours.
• Transportation: Transportation from New Orleans to the Whitney Plantation is by air-conditioned bus with all amenities. Once inside the plantation, you will make the tour on foot.
• Advantages of this tour: Includes entrance to Whitney Plantation and the three-hour guided tour, where the guide will answer all your questions. Includes transportation from Whitney to New Orleans and back. Transportation can be wheelchair accessible with pre-planning 48 hours prior to the trip. The plantation tour can also be wheelchair accessible.
• Disadvantages of this tour: The mansion is not wheelchair accessible, nor are some places around the plantation. The experience may be cancelled if the weather is bad or if the minimum quota of passengers has not been reached.

Destrehan is the oldest plantation in the entire state of Louisiana, so there is plenty of history to tell. The trip from New Orleans to this plantation is really short, being only 25 minutes from downtown.

In this plantation you will be able to see an original document signed by Thomas Jefferson, as well as multiple and valuable objects from the time of the Civil War that are preserved in perfect condition until today.

In addition, you will be able to enjoy visiting the green areas, and if you want, you can take this tour combined with a boat ride through the surrounding marshes.

Details of interest

• Price: You can do this tour for an approximate price of 24 euros per person.
• Duration: The tour can last approximately two hours, not including the time you take to get to the plantation.
• Means of transportation: The plantation tour is on foot, so bring walking shoes.
• Advantages of this tour: You have the option of doing the tour in Spanish, English or French. It is wheelchair accessible and parking is free, if you use your own vehicle or a rental car.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Tips are not included in the cost of the experience. Pick up and drop off at the hotel is not included, so this is at your own expense. It is not allowed to record videos and the use of scooters inside the plantation is prohibited, out of respect for the care of the heritage.

An expert guide will take you on a guided tour of the entire plantation, once a major producer of sugar cane. The extensive cultural experience here is one of Louisiana's best-kept treasures.

Inside the Laura Plantation mansion you will find objects of great historical value.

At the same time, many elements that belonged to the slaves who inhabited the place are preserved. You will be able to see where and how they lived, slept, ate and spent the day.

Details of interest

• Price: For the entrance and the guided tour you can pay an approximate price of 23 euros per person.
• Duration: This is a short visit that can last between one and a half and two and a half hours.
• Means of transportation: To get to the plantation you will have to get there on your own by bus or cab. Once inside the plantation, you will have the possibility of touring the main mansion, the gardens and the rest of the place on foot.
• Advantages of this tour: You can bring baby carriages, you can also bring assistance animals and children can also attend the experience. It is not cancelled due to bad weather, so you should dress in layers to be prepared for winter and summer.
• Disadvantages of this tour: It is not wheelchair accessible. The guided tour is conducted in French at 1:00 pm, although it is possible to request the tour in Spanish.

This has become one of the best preserved historic homes in South Louisiana and offers tourists a lot of activities to do inside the plantation. One of the activities you can enjoy inside is the tour of the place.

During the guided tour you will have the chance to see both the sugar cane plantation and the mansion that is located in the hacienda.

Madewood also offers the opportunity to stay at the plantation and have breakfast there and enjoy the menu of this restaurant, which could very well be included among the best gastronomic tours in New Orleans.

Details of interest

• Price: For the guided tour, you will have to pay an entrance fee of approximately 20 euros per person. If you want to stay and order breakfast the next day, you will have to check prices when you are at the plantation.
• Duration: The tour can last approximately two hours to get to know the whole place.
• Means of transportation: To get to the plantation, you have to do it on your own. At the plantation the tour is on foot.
• Advantages of this tour: One of the biggest advantages is that you have access to free parking outside the plantation, if you go by private car. It is also an advantage that you can stay at the house for one night and have breakfast the next day at the house. You can do your tour without running out of internet because the place has wifi included.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Entrance is by appointment only, so in order to know the schedule in which this plantation is open, you have to make your reservation first.

In this six-hour tour of both plantations you will visit the most beautiful and best preserved places of the mansions of each one, where history is kept alive.

The visit to St. Joseph Plan tation is reflective and emotional, since the tour is offered by the family members who have retained ownership of this house.

You will be able to see a large number of objects that have been preserved over time to preserve the historical memory of this locality. You can also visit the surroundings of the mansion to see the sugar cane plantation that is maintained in the hacienda.

Details of interest

• Price: You can find these tickets at an approximate price of 117 euros per person.
• Duration: The entire tour from the departure in New Orleans and the entire tour inside the plantations, as well as the return trip, can take about six hours approximately.
• Means of transportation: The trip takes place aboard a properly equipped van with a maximum capacity of 13 passengers.
• Advantages of this tour: It includes the entrance to the Whitney Plantation, the Slave Museum and also to the St. Joseph Plantation. Transportation is included from the city of New Orleans to the plantations and back. Live on-board commentary is also available.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Food and beverages are not included, although they are available for purchase throughout the tour. It is not wheelchair accessible and there must be good weather for the experience to take place, if the weather is bad it is cancelled, but you can ask for a change of date or a full refund. On the other hand, Whitney Plantation is closed on Tuesdays, so it must be changed to Laura Plantation.

Destrehan has a rich history of slavery that was law in the southern United States for many centuries. It is not surprising, therefore, that the place has a dark energy that is very easy to sense.

That's why on this night tour you will have the opportunity to learn about the paranormal happenings that are common on this plantation.

It is an experience not for the faint of heart in which you will visit the plantation during the night to learn about the history of the slaves who participated in the revolt of 1811 and how their spirits still roam the place.

The tour is conducted with a voodoo historian who will tell you in detail everything you need to know about these practices and how they became so famous in the state of Louisiana.

Details of interest

• Price: This experience can be priced at approximately 300 euros per person.
• Duration: The tour will last approximately three hours from the time you arrive at the plantation.
• Transportation: Includes transportation to and from New Orleans and back in a bus suitable for the number of people.
• Advantages of this tour: Transportation is included from your hotel in New Orleans to the plantation and back.
• Disadvantages of this tour: Not wheelchair accessible. Not suitable for children. The experience may be cancelled due to bad weather or failure to fill the minimum quota of passengers, so you may be offered a refund or reschedule.

• Wear comfortable, closed-toed shoes because most of these tours are on foot, so you will have to walk a lot to see most of the plantations.
• Try to include the visit to the plantations among the things to do in New Orleans in summer, because that is the time of the year when the weather is more pleasant and the humidity drops considerably, giving you the possibility of touring the place without problems.
• Include this activity among the things to see and do in New Orleans with kids, especially in the case of historical visits to the plantations. Seeing and experiencing history is the best way to learn about it.
• If you want to go in high season, make your reservations as early as possible so you can get availability to enjoy the tour.

The New Orleans plantation experience is an exciting one as you tour the vast grounds around the mansions and get to know the interior of the mansions. But it is also an enriching cultural and historical experience that will leave a lasting impression as you discover the past of these places.

It is a great adventure to learn about the history of slavery in this place and see with your own eyes objects dating back to the 18th century that have been preserved until today.