NOLA Tours Locals Will Love

Get spooked by haunted history

The oldest - run Gallic Quarter walking tour company has outings that focus on ghost , vampires , and voodoo , with guide that know how to mix historical truth with genuinely flighty tale of things that go protuberance – or bite – in the Nox . They also operate a tour that ’ll take you past the manse of the Garden District uptown , including the former residence of vampiregrande dameAnne Elmer Rice .

Cruise through Cajun country swamps

Head out of one of America ’s most cultured and civilized cities and get up close and personal with alligators , snakes , and mosquitoes . gravely , though , the Louisiana wetland are a olympian sight : Spanish moss dripping from cypress Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree creates otherworldly vistas , bustle about with wildlife like owls , racoon and even bald bird of Jove . There are a handful of swampland tour operators in the region , some of which countenance you pet ( jailed , little ) alligators .

Dig deep into NOLA’s jazz history

This 2.5 hr spell happens twice a week and is a malarky lover ’s aspiration . Photojournalist and early - malarky self-assurance John McCusker – who repairs antique Victrolas in his free prison term – spent closely to 15 old age compose a definitive biography of Creole trombonist Edward “ Kid ” Ory , whose routine - of - the - century band featured jazz luminaries like Louis Armstrong and “ King ” Oliver . His walking turn of jazz landmarks are the expert existent deal , full of deep insider - level inquiry and detail on the birth of America ’s most celebrated artwork .

Take a lesser-known Louisiana State Museum tour

expert from the State Museum host a running calendar of one - off walking tour that take you a little deeper than the entrance - level ghost enlistment or swamp tour you probably live on on the first time you came to town ( or the first time your mammy visited ) . Expect to search the story and computer architecture of less - touristed neighborhoods like the Irish Channel or Treme , study the complicated race and class structures of Creole social club , or learn about the multiplex factors at play during the Battle of New Orleans .

Join the Confederacy of Cruisers

New Orleans is almost totally categorical ( though there is a man - made hill in the city ’s Audubon Zoo , built to show kids what one looked like ) which make it a stark city to get to know on two wheels . The Confederacy of Cruisers group – named in tribute to John Kennedy Toole ’s definitive comedic novel , ask reading for any NOLA visitant or resident – offers dull ride on fat tire , and you do n’t have to be in Tour de France shape , either . report let in a drunken tour of the city ’s storied cocktailing history ( bikes come with cupholders ) , a culinary tour ( “ the calories we burn will not even touch the number we consume , ” discourage their internet site ) , and the slightly more physically challenging Pedal to Paddle tour , where the ride connects to a tour of Bayou St. John by kayak .

Hop aboard the Magical Musical Mystery History Tour

uncontrollable local reference Chris Rose shared theTimes - Picayuneteam ’s well - deserved Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the heartrending consequence of Katrina . Before that , Rose , as an entertainment author , encompass the city ’s many outlandish intersections of renown , history , scandal , and the generally strange . His quirky two - 60 minutes French Quarter turn are ramble on yarns of criminal offense , government , rock music ' n ' roll and other only - in - NOLA oddness , delivered by a gifted raconteur who sort of is one himself . Email chrisrose504@gmail.com .

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

There are daily draw tours of this nineteenth - century apothecary , whose original owner was America ’s first certify pill pusher . This museum is also one of New Orleans ’ most pop wedding venues for those who like to pledge their love surround by sometime patent medicines , dread early operative tools , and exhibits about romantic matter like sponger . train the web site to be certain it ’s not close betimes for one of the frequent individual event .

Tour the Laura Plantation

The sprawling , luxurious bushel stop homes that sit on rolling Akko of garden and farmland outside New Orleans are beautiful examples of historic architecture . They ’re also reminder of the awful chronicle of captivity – the engine of Southern agriculture . Laura , a two - hundred - yr - one-time former sugar orchard , faces that headland - on with go that speak the realism of that cruel practice .

Drink up at the NOLA Brewing Company

Craft beer hasexploded in Louisianaover the past few days , and any bar deserving its rap in New Orleans will pop the question brews from charge - state brands like 40 Arpent , Parish , Tin Roof , or the 1986 - founded original , Abita . NOLA Brewing is the only full - on brewery in the metropolis proper ; after a tour , sit out on the windy deck look out over Tchoupitoulas St and enjoy a Hopitoulas ( see what they did ? ) Irish Channel stour , Rebirth pallid ale , or one of many brews served only at the installation .

Take a tour to Save Our Cemeteries

Stroll through New Orleans ’ cities of the utter and learn the write up behinds its rows of elegant , often several - hundred - year - old marble tombs . These mausoleums house generation of local families as well as hoodoo icon Marie Laveau , R&B legend Ernie K - Doe , and Storyville photographer E.J. Bellocq . St. Louis Cemeteries No . 1 and No . 2 – the two close to the Gallic Quarter – were , more infamously , also the sites of the famous LSD freakout scene in the movieEasy Rider , as well as the site where member of the Misfits were arrested , along with a group of young local punks , after a concert in 1982 .

Do it yourself

If you prefer to tour on your own time , local writer and historical companionship have you covered . Booklover ’s Guide To New Orleans , authored by local public radio book critic and former longtimeTimes - Picayunebook editor Susan Larson , will walk you through literary landmark apposite to author include Tennessee Williams , Walker Percy , Kate Chopin , and William Burroughs . walk New Orleansmaps out 30 duty tour pegged to various themes : artwork , nature , architecture , and so on . And if you ferry across the Mississippi from Canal St to Algiers Point – a short but lovely drive – the lobby of the courthouse provides free pamphletsthat map out walksilluminating the neighborhood ’s jazz history and landmarks .

New Orleans