Top New Orleans Sightseeing Tours

Journey back in time to when New Orleans was a budding port town that dazzled visitors with its colorful Creole culture. Board the historic riverboat for a morning or afternoon float down the mighty Mississippi. Stroll the deck, admire the iconic paddlewheel, enjoy live music, and snap picturesque shots of the beautiful urban shoreline. This family‐friendly excursion offers an optional buffet lunch (additional expense).

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 most eerie sites at night in the safety of a group with a knowledgeable guide. Stop by top attractions such as the LaLaurie Mansion and New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, all while listening to your guide’s detailed stories of the paranormal and beyond.

If you're looking for a no-holds-barred fright in New Orleans, explore the city’s dark history on this adults-only tour from Hottest Hell, one of the top-rated haunted tour operators in town. Storytelling guides save the most grizzly true-crime tales, voodoo legends, and paranormal frights for this one, taking you on the choice of two different routes through the most haunted locations in the French Quarter and beyond.

Get more from the city by exploring New Orleans’ food culture with a guide. Stop by some of the French Quarter’s most famous restaurants for some of the area’s most delicious food. Enjoy tastings that could include seafood gumbo, Creole brisket, and beignets. Learn fun facts from your guide as you walk along the city streets, and if you choose, upgrade to a small-group tour with no more than 13 guests.

Maximize time in New Orleans with a sightseeing bus tour. Explore beyond the beauty of the French Quarter to see other neighborhoods including the Garden District, Treme, and the 9th Ward. Learn about city culture and history as you travel along Frenchmen Street, Esplanade Avenue, and more.

See the spooky side of New Orleans and try out a few drinks while you're at it on this bar-hopping tour, which focuses on the haunted side of the city. You'll visit the Lalaurie Mansion, believed to be the most haunted spot in town, and spend time in Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar, the oldest bar in the US, all with an engaging local guide to regale you with ghost stories.

Experience the civilized and the wild on a plantation tour and educational swamp boat ride from New Orleans. On this full-day journey, visit Oak Alley Plantation or Destrehan Plantation (depending on time chosen) where you'll learn about antebellum life. At Oak Alley, stroll down its iconic tree-lined esplanade. 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.

Journey through time on a paddle-wheel boat ride along the mighty Mississippi. Stroll the deck, cozy up with family and friends, and delight in the sparkle of the urban shoreline at dusk. This excursion includes a Creole‐inspired dinner (if option selected) and live jazz music.

Experience the grandeur of New Orleans’ antebellum south on a half‐day tour of Oak Alley Plantation. Take a 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 expert guides.

Explore New Orleans’ "City of the Dead" on the only ghost tour offering cemetery access after dark. While most haunted history tours stay in the bustling French Quarter, this one takes you into the silent, shadowy realms of one of the city’s oldest and most haunted graveyards. Hear chilling tales of paranormal activity while exploring the curious above-ground burial practices of these famous final resting places.

Save money on your New Orleans adventures with this sightseeing package that includes two walking tours and a 3-day, hop-on hop-off bus ticket for a very affordable price. You’ll get a guided tour of the Garden District and the French Quarter with a 3-day bus ticket that lets you explore the city as you wish.

Take a trip to either Oak Alley or Laura Plantation on this 4-hour tour (including driving time) from New Orleans. Explore the creole Laura Plantation, known for its historic representation of slave plantations. Or head further down to Oak Alley Plantation and stroll around the 300-year old oak trees that cover the plantation grounds with a 40-minute guided tour. See the ‘Big House,’ slave quarters, and beautiful architecture and gardens on either tour.

Immerse yourself in the rich culture and natural splendor of New Orleans’ mystifying swamps and wetlands on a New Orleans swamp tour and wetlands adventure. Relax in the luxurious interior of a New Orleans swamp tour boat as you cruise past cultural highlights like a Cajun cemetery, an Indian burial mound and a traditional fishing village. Scour the scenery for fascinating flora and fauna like snakes, turtles and alligators while listening to interesting commentary from your professional guide.

Step back in time on this historic walking tour of New Orleans’ Garden District with an experienced guide. Learn about life and death in the city and its unique above-ground crypts and gravesites from outside the gates of Lafayette Cemetery. Walk shady avenues lined with antebellum homes, and hear how a small riverside settlement grew into a lavish, wealthy city. See a wide range of architectural styles in the elegant Garden District neighborhood then get local tips on the city’s best places to enjoy New Orleans' finest music, food, and drink.

Experience the Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve on this shaded pontoon excursion. Your tour guide, who was born and raised in the bayou, will teach you about Southern Louisiana’s distinctive ecology as you cruise past magnificent cypress trees and watch for native wildlife like gators and egrets.

Nowhere is Louisiana’s wildlife more abundant than in the swamps and bayous of New Orleans. Take a boat ride through these swamps and bayous and be on the lookout for alligators, raccoons, snakes, turtles and native birds. Hear stories from your guide about local Cajun culture and the mysteries of the swamps and bayous.

Discover the haunted history and culture of New Orleans on a tour that visits cemeteries and other allegedly haunted locations. Whether a skeptic or a believer, it can be creepy to visit cemeteries on your own, but, a group tour offers security. Plus, a guide enhances the experience with historical details, haunted tales, and EMF readers to try and spot the paranormal.

Take a two-wheeled ride through the raucous history and heritage of New Orleans on a bike tour that takes you from the lively streets of the French Quarter to the swampy bayous at the edge of the town. Learn about the city's founding as you follow a flat and leisurely route down oak-lined avenues, through leafy parks, and past creepy cemeteries to reach Bayou St. John. It's a great way to get off the tourist track and see the diverse neighborhoods of the Big Easy.

Although not your typical tour of New Orleans, this expedition through the Big Easy takes in some of the major points of interest, including the French Quarter, Treme, the Esplanade, the Garden District and the Metairie Cemetery. Relax in air-conditioned minibus comfort, and listen as a guide leads you through one of America's most historic cities.

Tour the Oak Alley Plantation, named for the alley of centuries-old oaks leading up to the antebellum Big House. Follow the oak-shaded paths to the blacksmith shop and a souvenir shop during your free time. Alcoholic drinks and lunch are available to purchase at the restaurant on-site, with round-trip hotel transport provided from New Orleans.

Go beyond the French Quarter and discover the unique Cajun and Creole cultures of New Orleans during this full-day swamp and plantation tour. Venture deep into the bayous, with a small group limited to 12, to see Cajun living and spot wildlife like alligators and pelicans on your high-speed airboat ride. Then, admire the beautiful architecture and learn about the history of Houmas House and Laura Plantation. Gourmet, unlimited buffet lunch at Houmas House is included.

Explore the haunted side of New Orleans with this 2-hour ghost tour led by a local historian. Learn about real ghost stories at haunted locations throughout the French Quarter which have been verified by historical research done at each property - this is not about theatrics. This is the only historically accurate tour. This tour is not kid friendly and what you hear may shock you. Not for the faint of heart.

Lose yourself in the atmospheric depths of the New Orleans swamps and wetlands on an exhilarating 2-hour boat tour, led by a professional guide. Cruise past ancient wonders and listen to legends surrounding a 2000-year-old Indian burial mound and an atmospheric Cajun cemetery. Scour the Barataria Swamps for sightings of fascinating wildlife such as snakes, turtles and ferocious alligators, and learn about the area’s history and geology from your knowledgeable guide. Enjoy the convenience of round-trip transportation by luxury vehicle fro your New Orleans hotel.