World City Guide

Tours of the City

Walking Tours
There are numerous walking tours available, covering different themes on life in the Big Easy. One of the best options is Historic New Orleans Walking Tours (tel: (504) 947 2120; website: www.tourneworleans.com), often led by knowledgeable local author Robert Florence. Tours include a Cemetery Voodoo Tour and Haunted Tour, as well as architectural and historical tours of the French Quarter or Garden District. The tours take approximately two hours. Departure points vary depending on the tour – the French Quarter tour departs daily from Decatur Caf Beignet, 1031 Decatur Street, while the Haunted Tour sets off from O’Flaherty’s Pub, 508 Toulouse Street. Walkers should check the website for details and arrive 15 minutes before departure time – reservations are not necessary.

Free history tours (limited to 25 persons) of the French Quarter leave daily from the Folklife and Visitor Center of the Jean Lafitte National Park, 419 Decatur Street (tel: (504) 589 2636; website: www.nps.gov/jela). Tickets are distributed on a first-come first-served basis, from 0900. The tour covers approximately 2km (1 mile).

Friends of the Cabildo are volunteers who do French Quarter tours everyday except Monday (tel: (504) 523 3939; website: www.friendsofthecabildo.org). Tours depart from 1850 House Museum Store, 523 St Ann Street, on Jackson Square. Le Monde Creole French Quarter Tours (tel: (504) 568 1801; website: www.lemondecreole.com) concentrates on the Creole history of the city in their two-hour tour, which departs from 624 Royal Street.

Gay Heritage Tour (tel: (504) 945 6789) looks at another notable part of the history of New Orleans, with a two-and-a-half-hour walking tour. Tours depart from 909 Bourbon Street. Call for tour schedule.

Bus Tours
The French Quarter is not really suited to bus tours, however, several companies offer tours of the rest of the city and beyond. Gray Line (tel: (504) 569 1401 or (800) 535 7786; website: www.graylineneworleans.com) has a range of tour options, covering the city and beyond, generally taking two hours. Tours depart from the Gray Line Lighthouse Ticket Office or Information Booth, behind the Jax Brewery in the French Quarter. Tours focusing on the city’s rich African-American history and culture are run by Le Ob’s Tours, 4635 Touro Street (tel. (504) 288 3478; website: www.leobstours.com). Tour themes include Black Heritage, Jazz, Plantation and Voodoo. Tours generally take three and a half hours (reservations are essential). Le Ob’s arranges pick up from major hotels in the central business district and the French Quarter.

Other Tours
Laid Back Tours, 625 Hagan Avenue (tel: (504) 488 8991; website: www.laidbacktours.com), offers kayak and bike tours of the city and the swamps. The tours last from three hours to three days, and prices depend on the duration of the tour and the bicycle chosen (standard or recumbent).

Royal Carriages (tel: (504) 943 8820; website: www.neworleanscarriages.com) offer horse-drawn carriage tours of the French Quarter. The drivers are often great entertainers. It is possible to hail a carriage anywhere but many park and await custom at the south side of Jackson Square.

New Orleans Paddlewheels, 610 South Peters (tel: (504) 529 4567 or (800) 445 4109; website: www.neworleanspaddlewheels.com), operates several boat tours, departing from the Aquarium of the Americas Dock, South Peters. The Cajun Queen Riverboat runs 90-minute harbour cruises, while the Creole Queen Paddlewheeler runs a ‘Battlefield Cruise’ to the spot where Andrew Jackson defeated the British. In the evening, the Creole Queen offers a two-hour dinner and jazz cruise, with or without dinner. The New Orleans Steamboat Company (tel: (504) 586 8777; website: www.neworleanssteamboat.com) is the other main operator, with several harbour cruises during the day and in the evening. Tours depart from the French Quarter, Woldenberg Park.

Cypress Swamp Tours (tel: (504) 581 4501 or (888) 554 8574; website www.cypressswamp.com) leads visitors past a Cajun Fishing Village and estuary on the variety of swamp tours offered. A resident naturalist is available to answer wildlife questions. Tours take from two hours (for the Swamp Tour) to eight hours (for the City, Swamp and Plantation Tour). Hotel pick-up is arranged. Louisiana Swamp Tours (tel: (888) 307 9267; website: www.louisianaswamp.com) runs two-hour tours of a swamp, on a 60-person boat, pointing out the various reptiles living within the bayou. Excursions depart from the dock on Bayou Road, off Highway 301, 37km (23 miles) from the French Quarter.

Gray Line (tel: (504) 569 1401 or (800) 535 7786; website: www.graylineneworleans.com) also offers two very unique excursions. The Southern Comfort Tour explores the history of sippable spirits as it visits famous New Orleans watering holes. The spirits on the new, three-hour Ghost Expeditions Tour are other-worldly. Participants are taken to ‘haunted’ properties and given instruments to study paranormal phenomena. Tours depart nightly from Jax Brewery.