New Orleans City and Cemetery Tour: 2-Hour Bus Route

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/25

Duration2h 15m

GroupUp to 28

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Walk through a cemetery with above-ground tombs, then ride past Garden District mansions.

You ride through five major New Orleans neighborhoods in an air-conditioned bus with a licensed local guide, get out to walk a historic cemetery, and stop for beignets at Café Du Monde. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, and the whole thing takes just over two hours — tight enough to fit into a morning or afternoon, long enough to see why locals are proud of this place.

2h 15m

Step-by-step itinerary

New Orleans city and cemetery tour

Ride air-conditioned bus through neighborhoods
Pass by Treme historic district
Drive through French Quarter and French Market
Pass by Caesars Superdome
View Lake Pontchartrain from bus
Tour Garden District mansions and oak-lined streets
Visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 on foot
Ride through City Park and see wildlife
Break at Cafe DuMonde for beignets and coffee
Pass by Musician's Village in 9th Ward

The Experience

The air conditioning kicks in as you settle into your seat, and the driver — a New Orleans native who actually lives here — is already pointing out the Garden District mansions where Sandra Bullock and John Goodman have homes. You're not walking these neighborhoods in the heat; you're riding through them at a pace that lets you absorb the architecture, the history, and the casual details a local would notice. The tour runs 2 hours and 15 minutes total, which sounds short until you realize you're hitting the Treme (birthplace of jazz), the French Quarter, a cemetery where the dead literally rise above ground, and City Park — a 1,300-acre spread with moss-draped oaks that's bigger than Central Park.

The cemetery stop is where you actually get out and walk. St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 is the part of the New Orleans city and cemetery tour that hits different — your guide explains why the tombs sit above ground here, tells you who's buried where, and you get the kind of close-up view that photographs alone don't give you. After that, there's a break at Café Du Monde for beignets and café au lait if you want them, then you're back on the bus rolling past the Superdome (built on the site of an old cemetery, which the guide will mention), the French Market, and out to Lake Pontchartrain where the New Canal Lighthouse sits. The driver shares where locals actually eat crawfish, where the coldest beer is, and stories about how the city rebuilt after Katrina — the kind of insider detail you don't get from a guidebook.

Hotel pickup is included, though you'll need to call ahead if your hotel isn't in their system; they'll assign you a pickup location close by due to bus zone regulations. Show up 30 minutes early at your assigned spot. The company is small and run by New Orleans locals, so the whole vibe is different from the big tour operators — these are people who love the city and want you to leave loving it too.

What’s included

Your tour includes hotel pickup and drop-off at a designated location, an air-conditioned bus for the entire 2 hours 15 minutes, live commentary from a licensed local guide, a walking tour of St.
Louis Cemetery No. 3, and a break at Café Du Monde where you can buy beignets and café au lait if you'd like.
The guide shares stories about each neighborhood, points out celebrity homes in the Garden District, and explains the history of the Treme, French Quarter, City Park, and the Katrina recovery efforts.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomeInfants must sit on laps

Operated by VIP City Tours

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to see multiple New Orleans neighborhoods without arranging their own transport or navigating the heat on foot. The 2-hour-15-minute window is tight enough to fit into a half-day itinerary, and the local guide's commentary is what makes the difference between a drive-by and actually understanding why people love this city.