New Orleans: Black History & Civil Rights Tour with Treme & Congo Square

The Music, the Markets, the Resistance: What New Orleans Really Owes to Black History

You walk through five neighborhoods and two centuries of New Orleans history without arranging transport or navigating the city yourself. The tour includes entry to Studio Be, stops at Congo Square and Treme, views of Hurricane Katrina landmarks, and civil rights sites like the first desegregated school. You get the version of the city that textbooks leave out, delivered by someone who knows why it matters.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each3 stops

1. Congo SquareEntry included5m
2. Runyon Canyon ParkEntry included5m
3. French Quarterpassing by

Explore New Orleans Black history and culture

• Visit Treme historic neighborhood
• Stroll past live music venues
• Learn about Congo Square's cultural role
• Observe New Orleans murals
• See Hurricane Katrina neighborhood aftermath
• Pass through French Quarter historic district

The experience

You walk into Treme and realize you've been taught the wrong version of this city. The oldest Black neighborhood in the United States sits here, and it's where jazz was born, not in some sanitized tourist story, but in the lived resistance of people who turned pain into rhythm. Your guide moves through the streets pointing out the venues where legends played, the corners where culture refused to die, and the weight of what that survival actually cost. Congo Square comes next, and the shift is immediate: this is where enslaved people gathered on Sundays to share African music, dance, and memory when almost everything else was taken. Standing there, you understand why the guide keeps saying "this is where it started", not as a metaphor, but as fact.

The tour doesn't skip the hard parts. You'll see the Lower 9th Ward and what Hurricane Katrina left behind, still visible in the gaps where homes used to be. The guide connects that devastation to older patterns: how the same neighborhoods that survived slavery and Jim Crow were the ones left to flood, how injustice doesn't end, it just changes shape. Then there's the civil rights history: Plessy v. Ferguson, the first desegregated school in America, the young heroes like Ruby Bridges who walked into that building knowing what waited for them. The French Quarter appears at the end, but by then you're reading it differently: seeing the architecture not as postcard scenery but as the backdrop to centuries of cultural collision and creation.

Studio Be art gallery is included, a space that holds contemporary Black art and keeps the conversation moving forward instead of stopping at history. The air-conditioned vehicle means you're not melting between stops, and there's a restroom break built in. The whole thing takes a few hours, moves at a walking pace, and the guide speaks like someone who knows this isn't a performance. It's a correction.

What’s included

Your tour includes a visit to Studio Be art gallery, entry to Congo Square (the birthplace of jazz culture), transport in an air-conditioned vehicle, viewing of Hurricane Katrina landmarks in the Lower 9th Ward, civil rights history instruction covering Plessy v. Ferguson and the first desegregated school in America, a walking tour of Treme (America's oldest Black neighborhood), exploration of the French Quarter, a restroom break with access to a gift shop, and all fees and taxes.

Information

Lasts 2h 45m, runs every day except Tuesday at 11:00 and 14:00, from US$ 55 per person, with a live guide in English and with free cancellation up to 24 h before.

Days and timesEvery day except Tuesday and Sunday: 11:00 and 14:00Sunday: 14:00Another day? ›

GroupUp to 24

Live guideEnglish

Audio guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Book up to1h before

AgesAdult (12 to 90 years) · Youth (2 to 3 years) · Infant (1 year): free

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather or if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 2 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortStroller-friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by 2nd Line Tours/Experience

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to understand New Orleans beyond the surface and don't want to piece together the history yourself: the guide connects slavery, jazz, civil rights, and Hurricane Katrina into one continuous story that explains why the city is the way it is.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (2 to 3 years); Infant (1 year): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What's included in the tour price?

Studio Be art gallery visit, Congo Square entry, all fees and taxes, air-conditioned vehicle transport, Hurricane Katrina landmark viewing, a restroom break, and civil rights history instruction including Plessy v. Ferguson and the first desegregated school in America.

Can I bring a service animal?

Yes, service animals are allowed on the tour.

What neighborhoods does the tour visit?

Treme (the oldest Black neighborhood in the United States), Congo Square, the Lower 9th Ward, the French Quarter, and stops at Studio Be art gallery and civil rights landmarks.

Do I need to arrange my own transportation to the tour?

No. The tour includes air-conditioned vehicle transport between all stops. Public transportation options are also available nearby if you prefer to meet the tour at a specific location.