New Orleans Music Heritage Tour: 300 years of jazz, blues & rock

A record store owner takes you through the streets where the music actually happened.

A 2-hour walking tour through the Marigny, French Quarter and Treme neighborhoods of New Orleans, led by Keith, a Louisiana record expert, with songs and stories spanning 300 years of blues, jazz, gospel and rock n'roll. The tour includes stops at Preservation Hall, Louis Armstrong Park, Congo Square, Bourbon Street and J&M Studios (the birthplace of rock and roll) with Bluetooth speaker accompaniment of the artists and locations you visit.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time at each

1. Runyon Canyon Park1h 30m
2. Preservation Hall5m
3. Bourbon Streetpass by
4. Louis Armstrong Park15m
5. Congo Square5m

Explore New Orleans music heritage

• Meet guide at Louisiana Music Factory
• Walk through Marigny, French Quarter, Treme
• Listen to songs with Bluetooth speaker
• Cross Esplanade and visit Danny Parker's home
• Stop at Place de Armes and Preservation Jazz Hall
• Stroll down Bourbon Street
• Visit J&M Studios
• Visit Preservation Hall gift shop and take photo
• Hear Basin Street Blues on Bourbon Street
• See Louis Armstrong statue in Treme
• Visit Congo Square in Armstrong Park

The experience

You meet Keith at the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street, the most musical street in New Orleans, and spend two hours walking through the neighborhoods where the music was born. Keith brings a record store's depth to the tour. Everything discussed, you can find in the shop behind you. The walk moves through Marigny, the French Quarter and Treme, stopping at the places where Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, James Booker, Mahalia Jackson, Professor Longhair and others lived and worked. A Bluetooth speaker carries the actual songs along with you, so you hear the music in the streets where it was made.

The route takes you to Preservation Hall, where Sandra and Allan Jaffe found their life's work on a honeymoon visit, and to the boyhood home of Danny Parker, whose wife Blue Lu sang the bawdy songs that kept the Brass Band tradition alive. You walk Bourbon Street when it was the most musical street in the world (hearing about Louis Prima, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain blaring jazz through the night), and stand at the Louis Armstrong statue in Treme, America's first African-American neighborhood. Congo Square, where enslaved people gathered to play music on Sundays, sits inside Armstrong Park. J&M Studios, marked as the Home of Rock N' Roll, closes the loop from the earliest African traditions through the genres that changed America.

The tour runs two hours and covers the ground on foot through the French Quarter's narrow streets and the wider avenues of Treme. Keith speaks English and knows the record business inside out, so the stories connect the music to the people who made it, not just the landmarks themselves. The walk is accessible to all fitness levels, and the neighborhoods are flat and manageable for most walkers.

What’s included

• A 2-hour guided walking tour with Keith, a record business expert.
• Bluetooth speaker accompaniment of songs and artists along the route.
• stops at Preservation Hall, Louis Armstrong Park, Congo Square, Bourbon Street and J&M Studios.
• and access to the Louisiana Music Factory before and after the tour.

Options for this experience

3 options

6pm TourGuide in English · 18:00Tour leaves at 6 pm

10am TourGuide in English · 10:00Departure at 10 am for this tour

1pm TourGuide in English · 13:00The tour starts at 1 pm

You see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates & prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00, 13:00 and 18:00

Book up to1d before

AgesAdult (18 and older) · Under 18: can't be included in the booking

GroupUp to 28

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends at a different place from where it starts.

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 yesterday

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by New Orleans Music & Heritage Tour

Is this one for you?Book the 10am or 1pm departure if you want the neighborhoods quieter and the stories easier to hear. The 6pm tour moves through busier streets. All three departures cover the same route and stories. The time you choose depends on whether you prefer walking in daylight or early evening.

Traveler reviews

4.77★★★★★★★★★★

251 verified traveler reviews

5 ★225

4 ★12

3 ★5

2 ★0

1 ★9

Read all the reviews ›

Top questions

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 the connection between Congo Square and New Orleans music?

Congo Square, a stop inside Louis Armstrong Park in Treme, is where enslaved people were permitted to gather and play music on Sundays: the roots of the African traditions that shaped jazz, blues and all the genres the tour covers.

Who is Keith, the guide on this tour?

Keith is the owner of the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street and has spent more than 20 years in the record business, so he knows the artists, the stories and the locations from the inside.

Will I hear the actual music during the walk?

Yes, the tour uses a Bluetooth speaker to play songs by the artists and from the locations you visit, so you hear Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, James Booker and others as you stand in the neighborhoods where they worked.

What is J&M Studios and why does it matter?

J&M Studios is marked as the Home of Rock N' Roll and is one of the stops on the tour, representing the moment when New Orleans music crossed into the rock and roll that changed American popular music.

Can I buy music at the Louisiana Music Factory after the tour?

Yes, the tour starts and ends at the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street, and everything discussed during the walk is available in the shop, so you can take home records by the artists you learned about.

Which neighborhoods does the tour cover?

The tour walks through Marigny, the French Quarter and Treme, three historic neighborhoods that span 300 years of New Orleans music and heritage, from the earliest African traditions through blues, jazz, gospel and rock n'roll.