Metairie Cemetery New Orleans: Historic Monuments & Graves Tour

Walking through 127 acres where New Orleans buries its most famous

You walk 127 acres of Metairie Cemetery with a licensed guide who shares the stories of governors, mayors, Carnival royalty, and musicians buried there. The tour is run by Save Our Cemeteries, the nonprofit official operator, and takes two hours. Wheelchair accessible, no prior knowledge needed, and your ticket supports cemetery restoration work.

Step-by-step itinerary

Guided walk through Metairie Cemetery

• Meet expert licensed tour guide
• Explore grand monuments and temples
• Learn about influential citizens
• Discover stories of governors and mayors
• See resting places of musicians and writers

The experience

Hands trace the carved names on marble tombs, fingers following the dates of people who shaped a city. The person doing this is you, moving slowly through Metairie Cemetery with a licensed guide from Save Our Cemeteries, the nonprofit that runs the only official tours here. Two hours, 127 acres, and the stories start the moment you step inside the gates. This isn't a quiet walk past uniform headstones. It's a tour through the final resting places of nine Louisiana governors, seven New Orleans mayors, more than 80 Carnival kings and queens, and musicians like Louis Prima and Al Hirt. The cemetery sits on the National Register of Historic Places, and the monuments themselves (temples, grand structures, iron gates) are the architecture of how New Orleans remembers.

Save Our Cemeteries operates this tour as part of their work restoring and advocating for the city's cemeteries, so you're not just walking. You're supporting that work. The guide knows the names, the dates, the family histories, and the reason a particular tomb looks the way it does. Anne Rice is buried here. So are the people whose names you've never heard but whose lives built the city. The tour moves at a pace that lets you actually read the inscriptions, actually stand in front of the monuments instead of rushing past them. Metairie is famed for its grand design. It's not a grid of graves but a landscape of mausoleums and family vaults, some of them as ornate as small churches.

The whole thing takes two hours, and the cemetery is wheelchair accessible throughout, so the walk itself isn't a barrier. You don't need to know anything about New Orleans history before you go. The guide fills in the context as you move through. What you leave with is a different sense of the city, not the jazz clubs or the food, but the way it honors the people who came before, and the stories that are literally carved into stone.

What’s included

• Your tour includes a two-hour guided walk through Metairie Cemetery with a licensed guide from Save Our Cemeteries.
• Entry to the cemetery and all stories, historical context, and access to the monuments are part of the experience.
• The nonprofit operator uses tour proceeds to support restoration, education, and advocacy work in New Orleans cemeteries.

Information

Lasts 2h, runs every day at 10:00, from US$ 35 per person, with a live guide in English and with free cancellation up to 24 h before.

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 10:00Another time? ›

GroupUp to 16

Live guideEnglish

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

AgesAdult (13 and older) · Child (6 to 12 years) · Under 6: can't be booked

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 effortWheelchair accessibleStroller-friendlyPets welcome

Operated by Save Our Cemeteries

Is this one for you?Right for anyone wanting to understand New Orleans through its history and the people who shaped it, without arranging transport or a separate guide: the official operator and fixed two-hour format handle both.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (6 to 12 years). Children under 6 can't be included in the booking.

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.

How long is the Metairie Cemetery tour?

Two hours.

Who is buried in Metairie Cemetery?

Nine Louisiana governors, seven New Orleans mayors, more than 80 Carnival kings and queens, musicians Louis Prima and Al Hirt, and writer Anne Rice, among more than 100,000 people across the 127 acres.

Is the cemetery tour wheelchair accessible?

Yes. All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible, and infants in prams or strollers are welcome. Service animals are allowed.

Who runs the Metairie Cemetery tours?

Save Our Cemeteries, a nonprofit department of the Preservation Resource Center and the official tour provider for Metairie Cemetery.

Do I need to know New Orleans history before the tour?

No. The licensed guide provides the historical context and stories as you walk.

Is Metairie Cemetery listed as a historic site?

Yes. It's listed in the National Register of Historic Places.