New Orleans Garden District: Anne Rice House & Cemetery Walking Tour

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Free cancellationExcellent qualityLikely to sell out

1/12

Duration2h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Walking past the homes where Anne Rice and Sandra Bullock lived, in the neighborhood that built New Orleans wealth

You walk through New Orleans' Garden District with a local guide, passing the homes of Anne Rice, Sandra Bullock, and other notable residents while learning about the neighborhood's history as the American Sector. The tour includes exterior views of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and the Coven House from American Horror Story, all in a small group over roughly two hours with no separate transportation needed.

Step-by-step itinerary

Garden District and Cemetery Tour

Learn history of Garden District homes
See Buckner Mansion and Anne Rice House
View McGehee School for Girls
Visit Colonel Short's Villa and Dolan House
See Benjamin Button House
Learn about Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
View cemetery from outside (no entry)

The Experience

Someone points to a wrought-iron gate, then traces a finger along the carved details of a Greek Revival porch. It's your guide, and you're standing in front of the Anne Rice House in New Orleans' Garden District, a neighborhood that once was the American Sector—the part of the city where wealthy merchants and plantation owners built their lives separate from the French Quarter. The walking tour moves through these streets slowly, stopping at the Buckner Mansion, Colonel Short's Villa, the McGehee School for Girls, and the Benjamin Button House, each one a story about who lived there and why the architecture matters. You're in a small group, which means you actually hear what's being said instead of straining over someone's shoulder.

The Garden District tour includes a stop at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, the oldest city-owned cemetery in New Orleans. Your guide explains the burial practices—why the tombs are built the way they are, how the cemetery was founded—but you're standing outside the gates; the cemetery itself is closed to the public, so you're learning from the perimeter. That detail matters if you were imagining walking through rows of above-ground tombs. What you do get is the history and context, which sometimes matters more than the photograph. After that, the group moves toward Magazine Street and the Coven House, the building used for American Horror Story filming, which sits in this same neighborhood and carries its own kind of fame.

The whole thing takes around two hours on foot. It's wheelchair accessible, and the guide is local—someone who knows which houses have stories and which ones are just pretty. You don't arrange transportation separately; the tour is the walking itself, and the neighborhood is compact enough that you're not covering miles. Weather doesn't stop it, so bring a jacket if it's cool, sunscreen if it's not.

What’s included

Your tour includes a local guide leading you through the Garden District's historic homes and streets, exterior views of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 with historical context about New Orleans burial practices, and a stop at the Coven House from American Horror Story. The small-group format and two-hour duration are built in; you don't arrange separate transportation.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Unique NOLA

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the Garden District's architecture and celebrity homes explained by someone who knows the neighborhood, without spending half the day or figuring out which houses matter—the guide and the small group size handle both.