New Orleans Small-Group 3 Plantation Tour with Gourmet Lunch
Recommended by 96% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
New Orleans, USA
- 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
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.
- Full-day tour to antebellum plantations from New Orleans
- Enjoy the antiques, artwork, and gourmet lunch at the Houmas House Plantation
- Hotel pickup and drop-off included
- Small-group tour limited to 12 people for a more intimate experience
What's Included
- Guided tour of Houmas House plantation
- Unlimited gourmet buffet lunch with gratuity (vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free options)
- Guided tour of Destrehan plantation
- Hotel pickup and drop-off, with exact pick up time provided
- Transport by air-conditioned 14-passenger van
- Guided admission to 1811 Slave Revolt Exhibit at Destrehan
- Admission fee and self-guided audio tour to Whitney Plantation & Museum of Slavery
- Beer, wine and cocktail drinks (available for purchase)
- Gratuities for guide
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Please specify hotel at time of purchase. We pick up in New Orleans at any hotel, Bed & Breakfast or select Airbnbs, uptown (close to St. Charles Ave.), in (or close to) the French Quarter, and on the Westbank. We do not pick up by the airport, in New Orleans East, in Slidell, or on the North Shore. Supplier will contact you the day before your tour to give you an exact pick up time.
Start time.8:30 am
Itinerary
Your historic three plantation tour begins with morning pickup from your downtown New Orleans hotel. Once aboard the tour van, settle into a comfortable seat for the ride along the shoreline of Lake Ponchartrain and Great River Road en route to Destrehan Plantation.
At Destrehan Plantation, the oldest documented plantation home in the Mississippi Valley, a costumed guide leads you through the restored antebellum mansion. Hear stories of the estate’s former owners and slaves, and explore a separate exhibit dedicated to the 1811 slave revolt, before taking a self‐guided tour through vibrant gardens and down oak‐lined paths.
Next, head to Whitney Plantation. On your self-guided audio walking tour, you'll hear narratives and see memorials honoring people enslaved on the grounds of a historical sugar, rice and indigo plantation established in 1752. Visit Whitney Plantation's Museum of Slavery, learn about the lives of people held in bondage for over 100 years.
Then, travel to Houmas House and immerse yourself in the story and splendor of the old South as you tour its lavish and traditionally decorated rooms, speckled with artwork and antiques. Indulge in a gourmet, unlimited buffet lunch and relax on the grounds. After lunch, follow your guide and hear the architectural history of the home and see the room where Bette Davis stayed while filming the 1963 movie Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.
Your tour ends with drop-off at your hotel.
At Destrehan Plantation, the oldest documented plantation home in the Mississippi Valley, a costumed guide leads you through the restored antebellum mansion. Hear stories of the estate’s former owners and slaves, and explore a separate exhibit dedicated to the 1811 slave revolt, before taking a self‐guided tour through vibrant gardens and down oak‐lined paths.
Next, head to Whitney Plantation. On your self-guided audio walking tour, you'll hear narratives and see memorials honoring people enslaved on the grounds of a historical sugar, rice and indigo plantation established in 1752. Visit Whitney Plantation's Museum of Slavery, learn about the lives of people held in bondage for over 100 years.
Then, travel to Houmas House and immerse yourself in the story and splendor of the old South as you tour its lavish and traditionally decorated rooms, speckled with artwork and antiques. Indulge in a gourmet, unlimited buffet lunch and relax on the grounds. After lunch, follow your guide and hear the architectural history of the home and see the room where Bette Davis stayed while filming the 1963 movie Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.
Your tour ends with drop-off at your hotel.
1
Destrehan Plantation
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Evergreen Plantation (Pass By)
2
Whitney Plantation
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
St. Joseph & Felicity Plantation (Pass By)
Oak Alley Plantation (Pass By)
3
Houmas House and Gardens
3 hours • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Service animals are permitted. Please advise at time of booking to arrange accommodations
- Child rate applies to all children and infants
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Gluten-free and Vegetarian lunch options available
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 13 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 143 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This is a great tour! Our tour guide, Giselle with Tours by Isabelle, was oustanding. Lots of history and local information during the drive and at the plantations. Visited three plantations, each one was different so we got a wide range of experiences on one tour. The time at each plantations was good; not too long and not too short. The included lunch at Houmas House was very good. Very enjoyable day, I would recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you so much for this detailed and happy review, Lon.
SO happy you enjoyed our all day Plantation tour.
I am sharing it with Gisele.
Cordially,
Isabelle C.
Our lunch was a lovely meal with salad, pasta, gumbo, rice and beans, fried fresh catfish and fresh vegetables—- with warm bread pudding with bourbon sauce. Yummy.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
I am so glad you enjoyed our nice Buffet Cajun lunch at Houmas House Plantation !
Thank you
Isabelle C.
Fantastic experience! What a beautiful property and grounds! Lunch was amazing! Learned a lot about New Orleans.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Well, we are so glad you loved it and I will forward your review to the owner at Houmas House Plantation!
Please come back on your next birthday
Isabelle C.
This was absolutely fantastic.. We did the tour with lunch provided. Delicious. Our tour guides on both plantations were fantastic. They were knowledgeable and open to any questions. Highly recommend this tour!!
Response from Host, Feb 2026
That’s really a nice review. Thank you so much Miss Julianne! It was a pleasure to give you your grand tour, and I hope y’all come back soon to NOLA.
Isabelle C.
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.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you so much Ismael, it was our pleasure to give you your Plantation tour!
I will forward your kind words to Robert
Isabelle
We had a wonderful day enjoying and learning about the history and culture of New Orleans. The two Plantations we visited were very different from each other both which proved interesting. The lunch was delicious and a real taste of the south. Our guide, Rene, made the day complete with his knowledge and guidance.
A wonderful day seeing 2 beautiful plantations, and enjoying a delicious lunch. Gisele is a great guide who shared lots of information about New Orleans in a fun way.
Giselle was a wonderful with interesting history. The house tour guides were Aldo very interesting. They were also very knowledgeable.
Amazing experience did not disappoint
Steve was a great tour guide a wealth of knowledge or the area. Loved I was a smaller group more personal. Both houses were amazing and the meal was delicious.
It’s hard to say what was the most memorable as both home tours were great. Also the Cajun buffet lunch was delicious! This is a tour to take!
Our guide Gizzel was fantastic very knowledgeable and informative. We had a great time. Thank you to Izabella tours!
Memorable...excellent from first to last! Transportation was smooth and lunch was wonderful!
Everything about this trip went smoothly from booking to pickup at B & B, lunch and tours!
In the mansion , lunch and our fabulous tour guide Gisèle knowledge was great. Punctuatly and her leadership and great sense of humour
It was a great tour. Thank you! Our guide was superb. A great way to learn about plantation life all the best
Good to have a chance to see 2 plantations and have lunch as well. Lovely houses and grounds with both.
Destrehan gives some insight to house and slavery whilst Houmas focuses purely on the house and family.
Good communication regarding pick up place and time. Was very punctual.
Gisèle the guide was extremely knowledgeable.
Liked the fact it was a small group tour and transport was very comfortable. Easy to speak to guide and others in the group.
unexpected highlight was seeing the bed Bette Davis had slept in and the props from the film.
The history/story behind the mansions was very informative and the mansions architecture very nice. But 45 minutes was not enough time to eat lunch; the buffet containers were essentially empty of food and the food was not very good at all. I believe you should reimburse me for the food costs I payed
John was such a fantastic guide! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but loved the small group setting, but it was a blast!
The tour was informative and a lot of fun. I would recommend it for a relaxing view of the past. The lunch was tasty and we were not rushed. Everything was a smooth.
Loved the tour! Would definitely go back to the Plantations. Giselle was a wonderful guide! Ann was our tour guide for our tour at Dresden Plantation !
We took the Destrehan & Houmas House With Lunch Tour, and it was the best decision we made on our New Orleans trip. Our guide Giselle was fantastic, she picked us up on time, and the transport was super comfortable - I usually get car sick, but I was totally fine.
From the get-go, we felt so fortunate to get Giselle, and she was so friendly, welcoming, and funny! We were entertained throughout as she provided interesting facts about not only the plantations but New Orleans too - she is super knowledgeable, she answered all our questions, and paced the tour really well, we never felt rushed, and was very accommodating. We were quite fortunate to have a super small group - only 4 of us, it felt like a private tour!
We also loved this tour because we were able to contrast two different plantations types, and admittedly we were also drawn to the tour by the included lunch, which was a nice spread of local food like gumbo, catfish, and bread pudding, all were delicious, don't skip on the bread pudding! Even though we didn't opt for the added Swamp tour, we did get to see some gators on the way as we were driving past the swamps!
Overall, the tour was really worth it as we got to absorb all the stories and history of the plantations (and New Orleans in general) without worrying about the logistics of getting there, timing our arrival for tour sessions, finding lunch. Honestly, it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!
Our tour guide, Rene Brunet was the best part of our plantation tour. He made the Drestrehan and Houma House so interesting plus he gave great background about the area and Louisiana. The plantations were beautiful. I have been wanting to do this for a long time and this was the right time to do it with my sisters.
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Thanks Ms Holly, we are so very happy you and your sisters had a great time yesterday on our tour! I will pass you compliments to René. Please come back soon.
Isabelle
We had a great guide in Rene. Very experienced and helpful. We enjoyed the two plantations and the lunch
The tour guide and driver Steve were very informative, friendly and genuine. The lunch was delicious.
Loved the small group experience. Rene our guide was knowledgeable, personable and had a great sense of humor. Our group enjoyed both of the plantations , the guides and the grounds. Lunch at Houmas House was very good. We appreciated the efficiency and the way that the whole day was organized and we knew ahead of time what was going to happen. All in all , a very enjoyable day!
Great day. Tour guide pickup was promptly at 8:25am. We picked up four more people and the road-trip began. Destrehan Plantation Tour by Beverly, walk the Louisiana Cane estate, gift shop, road trip to Dixie Cafe for Group Buffet Lunch, take an hour tour of the Houmas House with John, gift shop and road-trip back to hotel. Good company. Nice day. I highly recommend this tour because it’s wealthy in war & history, (however, do walk with tissue because learning about slavery ways can make anybody cry).
Great Experience! Rene (Guide) was very knowledgeable about NO/LA and its history, that it kept us engaged and wanting to see and learn more. The Plantations and Lunch Tour along with all the info was definitely worth our Time!
Wonderful tour of two plantations, with local guides at each location. Lunch was buffet style and delicious. Our guide Ellen provided a lot of history of New Orleans and the area. Isabella provided excellent service before the tour. Cannot say enough good about our experience.
The tour guide was a cheerful lady full of Louisiana facts. Houmas House was lovely. The guide there knew his stuff and the gardens were great. The food was a buffet there in a cafeteria and it was fine, not amazing. Destrehan isn't really worth it. The guide was very nice but mostly inarticulate, so I didn't learn much. I'd recommend doing a tour to Houmas and maybe some other plantation, instead. Still, it was a relaxing day out of the city.
Destrehan was just alright but Houmas was great. Renee shared a lot of interesting things with us while getting to the tours. Food was nothing to write home about. Houmas tour guide even let my son play the piano. I’d definitely recommend Houmas and Isabelle tours
Gisele was phenomenal, she is very knowledgeable about Louisiana’s rich history I would highly recommend
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