Things to do in New Orleans
French Quarter Ghost Tour27 optionsAirboat New Orleans14 optionsGhost Tour New Orleans51 optionsNew Orleans Air Boat Ride32 optionsPlantations in New Orleans39 optionsOak Alley Plantation Tours21 optionsFood Tour New Orleans39 optionsNew Orleans Garden District Walking Tour29 optionsBus Tour New Orleans6 optionsCity Tour New Orleans10 optionsNew Orleans Cooking Tour6 optionsHaunted Bar Crawl New Orleans5 options
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New Orleans: WWII Museum Campus Pass & 4-D Film EntryYou’ll step right into history at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, exploring at your own pace before settling into a 4-D film that makes battles feel real — vibrating seats, cold mist, Tom Hanks’ voice guiding you through. Expect moving moments, helpful staff, and plenty of time to reflect on what you’ve seen.
New Orleans: French Quarter True Crime Walking TourYou’ll walk New Orleans’ French Quarter with a small group and a sharp local guide, hearing true crime tales at spots like LaLaurie Mansion and Jackson Square. Expect laughter, goosebumps, and maybe a new way of seeing these old streets—even after the tour ends.
New Orleans: French Quarter Ghost Tour & LaLaurie MansionYou walk ninety minutes through New Orleans' French Quarter visiting LaLaurie Mansion, Jackson Square, and haunted restaurants and hotels where documented deaths and unexplained events anchor the stories. Small groups mean you're not lost in a crowd, and all fees are included upfront. Book if you want the ghost history without arranging a private guide.Is it for me?Right for travelers who want New Orleans' ghost stories without booking a private guide or arranging their own route through the Quarter. The ninety-minute length fits an evening without eating into a full day, and small groups mean you're not herded through with crowds.
New Orleans: Vampire Walking Tour French Quarter & Movie SitesYou walk the French Quarter for two hours starting at 8:30pm with a theatrical guide who pulls vampire stories from the city's actual crime archives and folklore. The tour includes a vampire tavern, Interview with a Vampire filming locations, and stops at Royal Street and Jackson Square. You don't arrange your own route or research—the guide handles the narrative and the timing, and you arrive at St. Louis Cathedral ready to go.Is it for me?Book this if you want a guided evening walk through the French Quarter that treats the city's vampire history as something between fact and legend—the guide does the research and storytelling, so you just follow and listen. The fixed 8:30pm departure and 2-hour length fit an evening schedule without eating into your whole night.
Frenchmen Street Live Music Pub Crawl & VIP Club AccessYou meet your musician host at The Rambler with VIP wristbands that skip entry lines at multiple clubs. You hear live jazz, blues, and R&B at venues like Snug Harbor and The Spotted Cat, get two Louisiana cocktails with drink specials, browse the Frenchmen Art Bazaar, and compete in an end-of-night dance contest. The tour is wheelchair accessible and runs three hours total.Is it for me?Book this if you want to hear live music in the right venues without spending the night figuring out which clubs to hit—the VIP wristbands and fixed route mean you skip lines and get the best seats, and the musician host gives you context that makes the night feel like more than just a bar crawl.
New Orleans Cocktail Walking Tour: French Quarter DrinksA guided cocktail walking tour through New Orleans' French Quarter that stops at three iconic bars to taste classic drinks and hear the history behind each one. The tour departs from the Gray Line Lighthouse Ticket Office on the Mississippi River, lasts around two hours, and includes a local guide, three cocktails with tax and gratuity, and access to historic courtyards and colonial-era buildings. Minimum age is 21; a VIP upgrade option adds a fourth drink and ends with live jazz at Fritzel's.Is it for me?Book the standard 4:00pm tour if you want the core history and three signature drinks in a two-hour window that fits a typical evening. Choose the VIP upgrade if you have time for a fourth cocktail and want to end the night with live jazz—it's the option that turns the tour into a full French Quarter evening.
New Orleans Food Tour French Quarter: Five Tastings, SeatedYou walk through the French Quarter with a professional guide, stopping at five local restaurants where your table is reserved and tastings are included. You'll taste gumbo, jambalaya, Cajun specialties, and pralines while learning about the city's French and Creole culinary roots. The whole thing takes three hours, runs in any weather, and costs nothing extra at each stop — everything is in the ticket price.Is it for me?Book this if you want to understand New Orleans through its food without arranging five separate restaurant stops or worrying about timing — the reserved seating and included tastings mean you eat well and learn the story in a single afternoon.
Houmas House New Orleans: Antebellum Mansion & Gardens TourYou get a guided tour of the mansion with costumed interpreters walking you through 250 years of plantation history, then access to 38 acres of self-guided gardens. The whole visit runs 2–3 hours. Your local guide is included, as are entry fees and local taxes. On-site restaurants let you eat without leaving the property, and the entire estate is wheelchair accessible with golf carts available on request.Is it for me?This works well if you want to understand the region's history without spending a full day traveling far from New Orleans, and if you prefer a guided narrative over self-directed reading—the costumed interpreters and the scale of the estate do the heavy lifting of making the past feel present and real.
New Orleans French Quarter: Cocktail History Walking Tour & 4 DrinksYou meet your guide at Patrick's Bar Vin and taste four classic New Orleans cocktails across four historic venues over three hours: a Rum Punch, Sazerac, Brandy Crusta, and Roffignac. You learn the real origins of each drink and walk past St. Louis Cathedral and through Royal Street with someone who knows the French Quarter's bar culture firsthand. The tour ends at Bourbon "O" Jazz Bar, where you can stay for live music or head to Frenchmen Street on your own.Is it for me?Book this if you want to understand New Orleans cocktail culture instead of just drinking your way through Bourbon Street — the guide and the venues do the work of connecting the drinks to the city's actual history, which is what makes three hours feel like you learned something instead of just had a good time (though you'll have that too).
New Orleans Jazz History Walking Tour: Live MusicA 2.5-hour walking tour of New Orleans' jazz history starts at Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square, moves through the French Quarter with a local expert, and ends with live music and a drink at a venue your guide picks for that night's best performance. The route covers roughly 1.5 miles on foot; participants must be 21 or older, and comfortable walking shoes are recommended.Is it for me?Choose the small group tour to share stories with other jazz enthusiasts, or book privately if you want to pause longer at neighborhoods that speak to you and adjust the route based on what interests you most.
New Orleans: 3-Day Hop-On Hop-Off Pass & Guided Walking ToursYou’ll feel New Orleans come alive as you ride open-top buses between neighborhoods, join guided walks in both the French Quarter and Garden District, and catch local stories along the way. Expect jazz in the air, unexpected detours for food or music, and time to wander wherever curiosity pulls you.
Escape Room in New Orleans French Quarter: 4 Themed GamesThe Escape Game New Orleans is a 60-minute escape room activity in the French Quarter where you and up to 8 players (12 in Playground) solve puzzles and follow clues to complete a mission and escape before time runs out. A live guide briefs you beforehand, helps during the game, and debriefs afterward. You choose from four themed adventures: Prison Break, Special Ops: Mysterious Market, The Heist, or Playground. The games are designed to be exciting and immersive rather than scary, and the location sits walkable distance from restaurants and bars for a full night out.Is it for me?Book this if you have a free afternoon or evening and want an activity that works for a group—the games hold up to 8 players (12 for Playground), so it scales from a couple of friends to a small party. The French Quarter location means you can pair it with dinner beforehand or drinks after without leaving the neighborhood.
New Orleans French Quarter: Private Mule Carriage TourYou board a private mule-drawn carriage at 700 St. Louis Street and spend one hour rolling through the French Quarter with a licensed local guide who customizes the route to your interests. You pass St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, the French Market, and historic neighborhoods dating to the 1800s, with no set script and no strangers on board. The carriage holds up to four people and the guide shapes the tour around what you want to see.Is it for me?Book this if you want to see the French Quarter's main landmarks without walking or joining a group tour, and you'd rather have a guide shape the route around what interests you than follow a fixed script.
French Quarter Cocktail and Foodie Crawl: 4 Tastings, 4 StopsA small-group cocktail and food tour through New Orleans' French Quarter, led by a live guide, stopping at four neighborhood bars and restaurants for signature cocktails and local tastings over roughly three hours. The group stays under 15 people, and the stops rotate—you visit four of five venues depending on the night. Guests must be 21 or older with valid ID.Is it for me?Your guide steers you through the French Quarter's best-kept bars and kitchens, stopping to linger over cocktails and bites like you're at a dinner party, not rushing through a checklist.
New Orleans Garden District Walking Tour & Buckner MansionYou walk 1.5 miles through the Garden District with a guide who covers Louisiana history, Greek Revival architecture, and the enslaved labor behind the mansions. You stop at The Rink for refreshments, see the Buckner Mansion from American Horror Story: Coven, and view Lafayette Cemetery from outside its gates. The tour takes two hours and includes a professional guide; everything else — food, drinks, tips — is on you.Is it for me?Right for travelers who want to understand the Garden District's architecture and history without arranging their own route — the guide sets the pace and covers the context. The 1.5-mile walk over two hours is steady but not strenuous, though it's not recommended if you have spinal issues or cardiovascular concerns.
New Orleans Garden District: Mansion Tour & Walking HistoryYou enter a restored 1859 mansion filled with period antiques and art, then walk through the Garden District's tree-lined streets past homes of famous residents, learning how new American money clashed with old Creole wealth in 19th-century New Orleans. A professional guide narrates the whole thing, and the tour takes two to three hours on mostly flat ground with one set of stairs inside the home.Is it for me?Book this if you want to see inside an actual 19th-century mansion and understand the social history behind the neighborhood's architecture, rather than just walking past the houses from the street. The guide's knowledge of the rivalry between new and old money is what transforms a stroll into a real story.
Destrehan Plantation: Guided Tour, Folk-Life Demo & Slave Revolt ExhibitYou’ll walk Destrehan Plantation with a local guide in period dress, hear real stories from both sides of its history, see folk-life crafts in action, and explore exhibits like the 1811 Slave Revolt. Relax under ancient oaks or grab lunch at Indigo Café—the kind of day that lingers long after you’ve left.
New Orleans: Black History & Civil Rights Tour with Treme & Congo SquareYou 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.Is it for me?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.
New Orleans Ghost Hunt: Paranormal Investigation & EquipmentYou'll investigate inside two rotating haunted locations in the French Quarter with real paranormal equipment—SLS cameras, spirit boxes, REM pods, and meters—under the guidance of an experienced investigator. Groups stay small (13 max), you record your own evidence, and a restroom break is included. Meet 30 minutes early at the check-in point to get started.Is it for me?This is for people curious about the paranormal who want to do the investigating themselves rather than listen to ghost stories from the sidewalk—the equipment and the access to actual buildings inside the locations are what set it apart from a standard walking tour.
New Orleans Bayou Airboat Ride & Hotel PickupYou're picked up from your hotel, driven to a remote swamp launch point, and spend 1.5 hours on a small airboat hitting 45 mph through marshes and bayous while watching for wildlife. The captain narrates the whole ride, and the van returns you to your hotel afterward. No separate transport to arrange, no entry fees to buy on the spot.Is it for me?Book this if you want the swamp experience without renting a car or figuring out how to get to a remote launch point—the pickup and return are what make a half-day bayou tour actually fit into a New Orleans visit without logistics eating your morning.
