Plantation Tours
Take a Tour Through New Orleans Plantation Country
Journey beyond the city limits and explore a place where time stands still. Beautiful, authentically restored antebellum mansions await your visit, each with its own unique stories to tell. See extravagant homes overlooking sugarcane fields and ancient avenues of oaks.
To truly understand American history is to know what life was like for both the owners of the “Big Houses” and the enslaved workforce who made them prosperous. Most of the most storied antebellum estates have adapted their tours to tell “the whole story.” The truth is just a short drive from New Orleans. Come discover it. You’ll also learn what life was like for those who lived here before the Civil War – before our nation was truly the land of the free. While a day trip is easy, consider spending the night at the beautiful Inn at Houmas House, a collection of quaint cottages with modern amenities nestled along an alley of ancient oak trees on the mansion grounds.
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Houmas House Estate and Gardens
Houmas House Estate & Gardens is one of those places that’s easy to fall in love with. Set along the Great River Road, the estate invites you to slow down and make a day—or even a night—of it. Wander through 38 acres of gorgeous gardens, tour the beautifully preserved mansion, and explore the Great River Road Museum, which brings the history and culture of the region to life. There’s also a charming gift shop for Louisiana-made finds and souvenirs, plus The Inn at Houmas House if you’d like to stay right on the property. With so much to see and do, it’s easy to understand why Houmas House is one of Louisiana’s most visited historic estates.
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Cajun Pride Southern Estate Tours
Spend a picture-postcard day on the historic Great River Road with tours of Oak Alley, Saint Joseph Plantation, or Destrehan Plantation or combine a tour of Oak Alley or St. Joseph with a Cajun Pride Swamp Tour for a fascinating and insightful Louisiana experience.
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Gray Line Plantation Home Tours
Gray Line makes it easy to explore several of Louisiana’s best-known historic estates without having to drive yourself. Choose from tours of Oak Alley, Laura, or Whitney Plantation, each offering a different perspective on the architecture, culture, and complicated history of life along the Mississippi River. Transportation from New Orleans and knowledgeable guides make it a convenient way to experience Plantation Country in a day.
Book Oak Alley Estate Tour Book Laura Estate tour Book Whitney Estate Tour
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Cajun Encounters Grand Mansions Tours
If you want to experience two very different sides of Louisiana history in one day, this Cajun Encounters tour is a great way to do it. You’ll visit Oak Alley, known for its iconic avenue of towering live oaks, and Whitney Plantation, where the focus is on the lives and experiences of the enslaved people who lived and worked there.
The ride from New Orleans is part of the experience, too. Along the way, your guide points out landmarks and shares stories about the changing scenery as the city gives way to wetlands, waterways, farmland and the distinctive landscape of Louisiana’s River Parishes.
Book Oak Alley and Whitney Plantations
The Great River Road and Beyond
Many of the estates closest to New Orleans are along the Great River Road corridor, a stretch of land that runs for nearly seventy miles along the Mississippi. Beginning with Oak Alley in 1925, the “Big Houses” on the Great River Road began to be restored. In recent years, programs have been put in place to allow visitors to hear the whole story of life in the Old South–not just the glamorized Hollywood version.
Houmas House Estate and Gardens
Houmas House on the Great River Road was built in 1840 by Col. John Smith Preston on land formerly owned by the Houmas tribe. In 1858 the house and 12,000 acres were sold to Irishman John Burnside, one of the nation’s leading sugar producers. What we love about this house is that it feels welcoming, lived in—it’s anything but a dusty old museum. And there’s nothing like a stroll through the gardens, which are breathtaking year-round. The estate is also home to the Inn at Houmas House, several wonderful restaurants, and the Great River Road Museum. It’s only a short drive from New Orleans and well-deserving of a spot on your itinerary.
Destrehan Plantation
Destrehan, built by Jean Noel Destrehan in 1787, is the oldest documented plantation house left intact in the lower Mississippi Valley. It was here that the process of producing granulated sugar was perfected, helping to establish sugar cane as the major crop of the area, replacing indigo. Today, the house is open for guided tours that highlight the lives of the people who lived and worked here. In one of the rooms, the walls and ceiling are unfinished, giving a glimpse into building methods of days gone by.
Oak Alley
This Greek Revival home is supported by 28 columns, each is 8 feet in circumference, with 15-foot high ceilings and 16-inch thick brick walls. The 13-foot wide veranda surrounds the house on all four sides, offering a splendid view, and ample shade and protection from the sun or rain. From the main entrance, two rows of 14 magnificent oak trees (now 250 years old) line the walk to the Mississippi River, a quarter mile away, hence the name “Oak Alley.”
Laura Plantation
Laura was built in the French “Creole” style, rather than in the style of the English or American antebellum homes common throughout the area. While it has the wide veranda that most homes of its kind had, the ceilings were not quite as high, and the architectural style is noticeably different. Upon entering, you see a sign that proclaims Laura to be “The American Home of Br’er Rabbit.” In 1871, Alcee Fortier wrote down the stories he heard the enslaved workers pass down to their children in Creole French.