New Orleans Plantation Historical Homes Guided Tour

The picturesque beauty and architecture of the Louisiana plantations are a “must” for any visitor to New Orleans. Many of these breathtaking homes are within an hour’s drive from the city. Your tour will begin with a comfortable ride out of New Orleans where your guide will share with you the origin of the Louisiana plantations, along with the effect they had on the city of New Orleans, and its residents. Along with discovering beautiful buildings, luscious gardens and historic artifacts, these homes also represent some of the darker chapters of Louisiana history. Many of the plantations will provide a focus on the lives of the slaves that brought these homes to life, and share some of the realities of the rural south during this time in our nation’s history. Upon arrival, each plantation home has its own guide to bring you through the main house, and share its specific story. Following your home tour, we will escort you around the grounds and answer any questions that may arise.

Not included:

• A stop for lunch is optional, cost not included.

What to expect:

Duration: between 5 hours and 6 hours

Oak Alley Plantation

3645 Highway 18, Great River Road, Vacherie, 70090-7079, Louisiana

"The Grand Dame of River Road". Perhaps the most photographed plantation in Louisiana, this home was built in 1839 and was originally named Bon Séjour (pleasant sojourn). Because of the quarter-mile avenue of 28 giant, live oaks leading up to the house, steamboat passengers dubbed it “Oak Alley.”

1 hour, 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Laura Plantation: Louisiana's Creole Heritage Site

2247 Highway 18, , Vacherie, 70090-5409, Louisiana

Laura: A Creole Plantation offers a 70-minute tour that is based on 5,000 pages of documents from the French National Archives related to the free and enslaved families who lived here. Guides will share the compelling, real-life accounts of 7 generations of Laura Plantation’s Creole inhabitants. With 11 structures listed on the National Register, Laura Plantation offers guests the chance to explore its newly restored Manor House, the formal and kitchen gardens, Banana-Land grove, and its authentic Creole cottages and slave cabins. Laura Plantation is best known for the West-African stories the home’s former slaves related to folklorist Alcée Fortier. Recorded at the slave cabins here in the 1870s, they were later popularized in English and became the “Tales of Br’er Rabbit.”

1 hour, 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included