Top New Orleans Day Trips

(2,521)

from $40

Experience different sides of Louisiana and its complicated history on this plantation tour and swamp boat ride from New Orleans. On this full-day journey, visit Oak Alley Plantation or Destrehan Plantation (depending on the time chosen), where you learn about antebellum life. Next, head into the marshy swampland for a boat ride and some wildlife spotting. Enjoy guided commentary as you snap photos of alligators, raccoons, snakes, and native birds.

Swamp Boat Ride and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans

7 hours 45 minutesFree Cancellation

Discover a different side of New Orleans—and admire a new perspective from the water's edge—on this steamboat tour down the Mississippi River. Board the historic riverboat—either the Steamboat Natchez or her sister vessel—for a morning or afternoon tour. Stroll the deck, admire the iconic paddlewheel, enjoy live music, and snap photos of the picturesque shoreline. This family‐friendly excursion offers an optional lunch (additional expense).

(3,442)

from $131

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Jazz Cruise

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Jazz Cruise

2 hoursFree Cancellation

4.3

(5,738)

from $44

New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat Tour with Transportation

Explore one of Louisiana’s last protected wetlands on a 2-hour boat tour that includes round-trip transport from New Orleans. Depart in the morning or afternoon for Honey Island Swamp, a wildlife preserve teeming with critters such as 'gators, wild boar, snakes and birds. Ride through the swamp dripping with lush foliage and visit a boat-accessible Cajun village with an informative local guide who sheds light on the area’s inhabitants.

New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat Tour with Transportation

5 hoursFree Cancellation

4.9

(6,035)

from $70

Whitney Plantation (Guided Tour) with Bus Ride To & From N. O.

Gain a deeper understanding of American history on this visit to Louisiana’s only museum dedicated to enslaved people. After you are collected from your New Orleans hotel in a luxurious air-conditioned van, your driver will take you westwards towards the Whitney Plantation. On the way, expect to hear an overview on the history of American plantations before arriving to this impactful landmark.

Whitney Plantation (Guided Tour) with Bus Ride To & From N. O.

5 to 6 hoursFree Cancellation

5.0

(99)

from $87

Visit the Whitney Plantation Museum—a former indigo and sugar plantation that is now dedicated to promoting an understanding of enslavement in Louisiana—on this hassle-free trip from New Orleans. Round-trip transit and admission tickets are included for your convenience. Upon arrival, learn about the brutal realities of plantation life through museum exhibits and an audio guide as you explore the site independently. You can also choose to upgrade your experience to include a 90-minute swamp tour.

Whitney Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans

Whitney Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans

5 hours 25 minutesFree Cancellation

4.6

(1,410)

from $89

Enjoy an only-in-New-Orleans experience when you embark on a paddle-wheel boat tour of the mighty Mississippi River. In the evening, hop aboard the Steamboat Natchez or her sister vessel, the Riverboat City of New Orleans, and admire views of the city from the water's edge. This cost-saving package additionally includes a Creole‐inspired dinner (if option selected), plus live jazz music to set the mood.

Captivating views of the New Orleans skyline

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Jazz Cruise with Dinner Option

3 hoursFree Cancellation

4.1

(7,874)

from $58

Adults-Only New Orleans Ghost, Crime, Voodoo, and Vampire Tour

If you're looking for no-holds-barred frights in New Orleans, explore the city’s dark history on this adults-only tour. Set off after nightfall to discover a new perspective on the city, and steel yourself for gruesome tales and fearsome encounters: Your guide saves the most grisly true-crime stories, voodoo legends, and paranormal frights for this tour, and takes you past the French Quarter's most supposedly haunted locations.

Adults-Only New Orleans Ghost, Crime, Voodoo, and Vampire Tour

1 hour 45 minutesFree Cancellation

Experience the rich history and vibrant culture of New Orleans from two perspectives on a city tour and steamboat cruise that lets you escape the land-based crowds. Enjoy a narrated coach tour of historic landmarks, including the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and the Garden District. Then, step aboard Steamboat NATCHEZ (or its sister vessel) for a journey along the mighty Mississippi River, complete with live jazz and optional Creole dining.

(6,907)

from $37

New Orleans City Tour and Steamboat Natchez Harbor Jazz Cruise

New Orleans City Tour and Steamboat Natchez Harbor Jazz Cruise

6 hours 30 minutesFree Cancellation

4.2

(467)

from $88

This tour combines the private Manchac Swamp with Whitney Plantation. A decade ago Whitney Plantation, circa 1752, opened its doors to the public for the first time in its history as the only plantation museum in Louisiana completely dedicated to the history of slavery. The experience at Whitney is a self-paced audio tour. Visitors to Whitney will gain a unique perspective on the enslaved people who lived and worked here through museum exhibits, restored historic outbuildings, and hundreds of first-person narratives. Then it's a short ride to a privately-owned wildlife refuge within the Manchac Swamp, where homegrown Cajun captains will take you on a journey back to the early days of swamp exploration. They'll guide the covered pontoon boat through the mystical cypress swamp while showing off the American Alligator and abundant wildlife. Learn the history of the town of Frenier and the Cajun culture of fishing, hunting, and trapping. Get the camera ready gators leaping up for a snack!

Swamp Boat Ride and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Swamp Boat Ride and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

7 hours 45 minutesFree Cancellation

Experience New Orleans’ wild bayou country first-hand on an exciting, family‐friendly airboat ride. This boat tour winds through the mossy cypress swamp near Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, named for the 19th-century pirate and smuggler. While onboard, enjoy lively commentary from a local guide as you admire lush, forested shoreline and spot local wildlife. Gators appear most commonly in the summer months, so keep your eyes peeled.

(20)

from $131

Travelers cruise through a cypress swamp on a flat-bottomed airboat.

2 to 4 hoursFree Cancellation

New Orleans Airboat Ride

New Orleans Sightseeing City Tour

(5,099)

from $59

2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutesFree Cancellation

Price varies by group size

(3,226)

from $50

New Orleans Premier Ghost, Voodoo and Vampire Walking Tour

Exploring New Orleans in the evening can seem like an intimidating quest on your own, but this ghost, voodoo, and vampire walking tour takes you to the city’s eeriest sights at night in the safety of a group led by a guide. Stop by top attractions such as the LaLaurie Mansion and New Orleans Pharmacy Museum while listening to your guide’s detailed stories of the paranormal and beyond.

New Orleans Premier Ghost, Voodoo and Vampire Walking Tour

1 hour 45 minutesFree Cancellation

4.5

(13,402)

from $36

Experience the grandeur of New Orleans’ antebellum south on a half-day tour of Oak Alley Plantation. Journey through time to the manicured estate and into the gorgeous home, built in 1839. View stunning architecture, oak-lined esplanades, and enduring sugar cane fields while learning about the plantation’s fascinating – and often somber – histories from local guides. Upgrade your experience to include a pontoon swamp tour.

Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans

5 hours 30 minutesFree Cancellation

4.3

(1,801)

from $89

Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Pickup from New Orleans

4 to 5 hoursFree Cancellation

Put New Orleans in context without the self-drive hassles on this enriching full-day tour. First, immerse in the city’s dark history on a self-guided tour of the Whitney Plantation, with time to explore the museum independently. Next, pass by the Evergreen Plantation, where Django Unchained was filmed, and board an airboat for a high-speed swamp adventure. Your package includes small-group transfers from most New Orleans hotels.

(77)

from $87

Whitney Plantation and Airboat Tour from New Orleans

Visit a former plantation and ride through the swamp during this two-in-one tour. Start with a visit to Oak Alley Plantation for a tour of the antebellum mansion. Follow the oak-shaded paths to the blacksmith shop during your free time. Lunch is available to purchase at the restaurant on-site. Next, head to the dock for your swamp tour. Search for alligators and other wildlife and stop for photo ops while aboard an airboat. Round-trip hotel transport provided from New Orleans.

(230)

from $152

Oak Alley Plantation and Large Airboat Swamp Tour from New Orleans

Swap the bustle of New Orleans and gain a deeper understanding of American history on this two-in-one experience, with a visit to the Oak Alley Plantation and a Louisiana swamp tour with round-trip, air-conditioned transportation from your hotel. At the plantation, view exhibits and discover the powerful legacy of enslaved people—the setting offers context and understanding beyond what any guidebook can provide. Then, explore the swamp on a pontoon boat and look out for alligators and other wildlife.

(736)

from $160

Full Day Plantation and Swamp Tour in New Orleans

Full Day Plantation and Swamp Tour in New Orleans

7 to 8 hoursFree Cancellation

5.0

(84)

from $137

Oak Alley Plantation and Swamp Boat Tour from New Orleans

Soak up the atmosphere of the bayou on this 8-hour cultural tour from New Orleans. Visit the Oak Alley Plantation House, dating from 1837, and view the stately row of 28 evenly spaced mature oaks that line the driveway. Follow your guide, dressed in period costume, through the mansion, the blacksmith shop and the onsite restaurant. You'll also learn about life in the bayou's waterways aboard a swamp and wetlands boat tour. See the amazing variety of flora and fauna native to the area and hear about life in the Barataria Swamps from your native guides. Round-trip transportation from New Orleans is included.

Oak Alley Plantation and Swamp Boat Tour from New Orleans

Travel through Cajun Country on this full-day New Orleans city tour and swamp adventure. Journey with your professional guide in a comfortable air-conditioned minibus as you learn about the history, culture and highlights of southern Creoles. You'll see major city highlights, areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, and tour the inside of a cemetery to see the above-ground tombs. Afterward, you'll head to the bayou for your choice of a leisurely pontoon boat ride or thrilling airboat ride.

4.4

(399)

from $130

New Orleans City, Cemetery and Swamp Full-Day Tour

New Orleans City, Cemetery and Swamp Full-Day Tour

7 hours 30 minutesFree Cancellation

Gain deep, meaningful insights into American history on this combination full-day tour. After being collected from your New Orleans hotel in an air-conditioned van, you’ll arrive at the Whitney Plantation and tour Louisiana’s only museum dedicated to enslaved people with an audio guide. Afterwards, head back to the city and join the Soul of New Orleans tour, for a deep dive into the move from plantation to city life, showing how enslaved people turned their struggle into the powerful music, food, and culture that still defines the city today.

(197)

from $110

Witness black history that can’t be erased.

Whitney Plantation and Soul of New Orleans City Tour Combo

8 to 9 hoursFree Cancellation

5.0

(13)

from $129

Whitney Plantation Tour with New Orleans Hotel Pickup

Discover more of Louisiana on a full-day tour to the Whitney Plantation from New Orleans. Ride by minivan past the marshes of Lake Pontchartrain and along River Road, passing filming locations for the popular TV series ‘Queen Sugar’ and other productions. Then, join an audio guided tour of the Whitney Plantation and learn about the history of the enslaved and free people who once lived on the plantation.

Whitney Plantation Tour with New Orleans Hotel Pickup

6 hours 30 minutesFree Cancellation

Oak Alley Plantation and Small Airboat Tour from New Orleans

(242)

from $78

New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat Tour with Transportation

4.6

(187)

from $185

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Top Attractions in New Orleans

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Attractions

What are people saying about New Orleans

NAILAH_O, May 2026

Don't miss this iconic Bayou adventure

We really enjoyed this tour. Saw lots of gators, turtles, a few snakes and even 3 raccoons. A lot of beautiful birds and herons too. Our Captain Scott C was great at showing us the scene as well as sharing history. Our truck driver (both ways), was a firefighter named Kirk. He was very entertaining and shared a lot about the local history and places to eat and visit. Wonderful and jovial. Went out of his way for all of us. The bus ride is about an hour. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing!

Whitney Plantation Tour with New Orleans Hotel Pickup

Anna_S, Apr 2026

The best and most informative tour ever!

First, pick a nice day. You'll be outside 95% of the time. Second, pick your tour package carefully. Some may just be a ride, others, like mine with Crescent City Tours, was fun filled and very informational not only on where we were going but what has happened in the area. Being at the plantation was an amazing experience. To be able to see and walk among where so many had been before and learn what actually happened to them and not some watered down version was very impactful. The last stop in the church was the hardest for me. When I was in there and everyone had left, the weight of the place came down on me and I was not able to stay longer. If you are at all sensitive to the blight of others, this will have a profound affect on you and your outlook on life from thereafter.

Whitney Plantation (Guided Tour) with Bus Ride To & From N. O.

Eli_B, Apr 2026

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Great Tour !

Kin was awesome honestly. He pulled up to our hotel, van was spotless, and just made the whole day feel easy. No rushing, good vibes, funny as hell, and knows NOLA inside and out. Whitney Plantation tour with Kin was a great experience. Honestly just book Kin and go to Whitney. That’s it.

Small-Group Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Christine_C, Apr 2026

Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour

Spending the day touring Laura and Whitney Plantation just outside of New Orleans was both beautiful and deeply moving. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect—warm sunshine and a gentle breeze. Both plantations offer rich, detailed insight into Louisiana’s history, but what stood out most was how thoughtfully the stories were told. Walking through the grounds, listening to the guides, and seeing the preserved structures made the past feel very real. The Whitney Plantation in particular does an incredible job of centering the lives and voices of the enslaved people who lived there, which adds a powerful and necessary perspective. Overall it was a wonderful experience filled with history and knowledge that stays with you long after you leave.

Swamp Boat Ride and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

O_m, Apr 2026

Whitney Plantation/Swamp tour.

Our guide Kimberly and our driver Alton were awesome. Kimberly shared she has a background in education and it shows. She was thorough and interactive and knew how to work a crowd! She was a delight and we followed her protip... I got a muffalata to travel with and it was soooo good! I would recommend the tour based on our experience with your team!

Whitney Plantation & Museum Tour | Pickups from New Orleans

Pamela_H, Mar 2026

Whitney Plantation & Museum

Should not be missed! 2nd Line Tours contacted the day of our tour and gave us an estimated time. They arrived promptly and we had commentary by our driver at times about our surroundings. The tour itself was self- guided with audio cassettes with 14 stops throughout the plantation. Gives life to the subject of slavery and life on a plantation..

Oak Alley Plantation and Swamp Boat Tour from New Orleans

DEBRA_W, Mar 2026

Plantation and swamp tour

The plantation is beautiful! The tour guide, Marcus did a wonderful job explaining the history of the house. Transportation was prompt. The ride to the plantation was long but interesting. It would have been nice to have longer at the plantation so that we could have explored more and had a sit down lunch in the restaurant. The swamp tour was amazing! Captain Be Bop is a true steward of the swamp. His knowledge of the flora and fauna was vast. He put us all at ease and made the tour very enjoyable.

Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans

Robin_P, Mar 2026

Excellent experience....

Excellent experience. Stacy our bus driver shared lots of history with us on the drive. We also watched a video talking about the history of one sugar plantation (not the one we visit) which was full of information. At the plantation we had a guided tour of “the big house” and were able to explore the grounds on our own. Slave cabins (rebuilt renderings) were displayed to show what they would have looked like. Well worth the trip and enjoyable to get out of the city for a few hours.

Airboat and Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans

Donna, Feb 2026

Great tour that I can highly recommend

Great tour which gives you a tour of the swamps and to learn about the history of the sugar plantations. Isabelle was great to communicate with prior to the tour and Robert our tour guide was wonderful. He was full of knowledge and information and really looked after us. I can highly recommend this tour.

New Orleans City, Cemetery and Swamp Full-Day Tour

Samantha_D, Jan 2026

Best alligator tour!

This was the BEST tour. It was so much fun and we learned some fun facts. Our airboat captain, Captain Bebop was awesome. He was funny and nice. We toured end of December so chances of seeing alligators was slim. He found us 2. We also got to hold a baby. It was so exciting. He was personable, polite but damn he was funny. We had the best time.

New Orleans Small-Group 3 Plantation Tour with Gourmet Lunch

Ismael_A, Jun 2025

A glimpse into Louisiana's past.

My wife and I had a wonderful time on the tour our driver Robert was great. He gave us a interesting history on New Orleans and the lower areas of Louisiana. He was friendly and answered all of our questions. The tours themselves were great. Both locations were beautiful and rich with history. And lunch at Houmas Plantation was delicious.