Top New Orleans Full-day Tours

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.

Experience the highlights of New Orleans in one comprehensive half-day tour. This itinerary combines a guided walk through the historic French Quarter, time to grab lunch at the famous French Market, a 75-minute cruise along the Mississippi River aboard the Riverboat City of New Orleans, and a narrated bus tour showcasing the city’s top sights. Along the bus tour, you’ll pass by some of New Orleans’ most well-known landmarks, including the National WWII Museum, the charming Garden District, New Orleans City Park, Mardi Gras World, and the Audubon Aquarium. Beginning at Café Beignet, this well-balanced experience is designed to be easy and enjoyable, blending guided exploration with free time. It’s a great option for first-time visitors or anyone looking to see a wide range of the city’s highlights in a single outing.

Explore the best of New Orleans in half a day, guided by a local jazz musician, offering an immersive and fun experience. This half-day private tour covers the French Quarter, Treme, Garden District, City Park, and more, with stops to take stunning photos. Enjoy delicious beignets midway and the personalized attention that larger tours can't offer. Customize your tour to your interests, whether it's food, architecture, history, jazz, or murals.

No visit to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Bourbon Street, and this experience unlocks the party. Meet your local guide to enjoy welcome shots and collect your souvenir cup, which will be filled up as you visit your guide’s top bars and favorite hidden gems. Along the way, hear stories about the city, play some drinking games, and discover why Bourbon Street deserves its legendary reputation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Gain a deeper understanding of American history on this two-in-one visit to Oak Alley Plantation and a Louisiana swamp tour on this day-long trip from New Orleans. You’ll pass other notable sites including Evergreen, Laura, and St. Joseph Plantations before exploring Oak Alley Plantation at your own pace. Afterward, join an airboat swamp tour and pass the site of the 1811 German Coast Uprising of enslaved people.

Discover the natural landscape and history of Southern Louisiana on a combo tour to the Manchac Swamp and Whitney Plantation. In addition to navigating for you, your guide provides more information about the swamp and its ecosystem. Stop at B&C Seafood Restaurant for Cajun food (own expense), then finish off the day with a self-guided tour of the Whitney Plantation.

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.

All ages will enjoy this tour's mix of adventure, storytelling, and history while walking and learning through the heart of New Orleans. Not only is the city's music, culture, architecture, and food explained, but you'll gain an understanding of the French Quarter's layout and how to navigate the remainder of your trip. You'll hear the story of voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau, and walk by places such as Bourbon Street, Congo Square, and Jackson Square.

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.

The Saints and Sinners Walking Tour of New Orleans is not your typical tourist expedition. Lose yourself and a part of your innocence on this adults-only trip through the best and worst of the Big Easy. It's a tour that shines a light on the lurid past, present and future of this historic city. Leave your kids at the hotel and channel your inner sinner for this voyage through the New Orleans' heart of darkness.

Discover several of the New Orleans area’s key natural and historical landmarks—and learn more about the area’s past—on this multi-stop tour. In the morning, meet your guide in New Orleans and set off via air-conditioned vehicle. You’ll stop at highlights like the Louisiana Swamp and Lake Pontchartrain before heading to the Laura Plantation. There, embark on a self-guided tour of the grounds and learn about the enslaved people who lived there.

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.

Explore Louisiana wildlife and culture outside of the Big Easy on this full-day trip from New Orleans. Explore historic Oak Alley Plantation and learn about its history. Then Zoom across a swamp on a an open-air speedboat with ample opportunities for viewing wild animals in their natural habitat.

This half-day trip to Whitney Plantation takes care of the driving and logistics of visiting from New Orleans for you. Listen to an audio guide as you explore original cabins, exhibits, and more at your own pace, learning about what life was like for enslaved people on the plantation.

Experience the elegance of New Orleans’ antebellum south on this full-day historical plantation tour. In a small group, visit Destrehan Plantation, Whitney Plantation, then Houmas House Plantation, where you’ll view stunning architecture, oak‐lined esplanades, and former slave quarters while hearing fascinating – and often somber – pre‐Civil war histories from expert guides. You'll also enjoy a private, unlimited gourmet buffet luncheon, served exclusively for your group at Houmas House.

Soar through the skies of New Orleans—and even have the chance to take the controls yourself—during this private flight and flying lesson. Admire views of the French Quarter, the Mississippi River, and the Superdome from the air, as you fly with a certified FAA instructor. The lesson includes both ground instruction and hands-on flying time, and no prior experience or certification is required.