Travel: Tours & Cruises

There are lots of places to see in New Orleans — Check out the Mississippi aboard a riverboat, take a Park ranger's tour deep into the historical French Quarter or tour the city's historic districts.

Tours and Cruises

Swamp Tours
Discover a wonderful world unique to Southern Louisiana; go on a swamp tour:

• On Captain Nick’s Wildlife Safaris (504-361-3004), book swamp tours and fishing adventures.

• Cypress Swamp Tours, Inc. (504-581-4501) takes you into the bayou on its boat rides and narrated bus tours.

• Dr. Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Tours, Inc. (504-242-5877) features narrated trips of a 70,000-acre swamp.

• See everything from pristine, moss-draped bayous to "jumping gators" and elegant egrets on the Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour (504-592-0560).

• Gray Line Tours (504-587-0861) provides fascinating swamp tours the whole family will enjoy.

• Tours by Isabelle (504-391-3544) takes visitors into the remote beauty of the bayous.

• Park Ranger French Quarter Tour

River Tours and Cruises
In New Orleans, the stern-wheelers offer a very unique view of the city from the river. The paddle wheelers are tied up at the dock, it seems as though you’ve traveled back in time to 1850. Today, authentic replicas of the paddle wheelers once again cruise the Mississippi.

• The authentic steamboat Natchez (Toulouse St. Wharf at JAX Brewery; 504-586-8777) features two-hour narrated cruises with live jazz and nightly dinner/jazz cruises; optional buffet offered seasonally.

• The riverboat John James Audubon (Aquarium of the Americas Dock; 504-586-8777) offers a one-hour Aquarium/Zoo cruise that travels four times daily between the Aquarium of the Americas in Woldenberg Park and the Audubon Zoological Garden in Audubon Park.

• The paddle wheeler Creole Queen and riverboat Cajun Queen (Canal Street Dock/Aquarium Dock; 504-524-0814) cruise the Mississippi daily, passing the French Quarter, plantations, battlefields and other attractions: enjoy nightly dinner/jazz cruises with a Creole buffet.

City Tours
There are a number of intriguing tours awaiting you in the Big Easy:

• Gray Line Tours (504-587-0861) presents riverboat cruise/city tour combinations, in addition to tours of historic antebellum plantations and swamps.

• New Orleans Tours, Inc. (504-592-0560) offers daily city tours, plantation tours, river/city combinations and nightlife tours.

• Tours by Isabelle (504-391-3544) features a number of full- and half-day tours covering the history of the city, plantation homes and more.

• For an up-close and informative look at area cemeteries, contact Charlie’s Tours (504-246-7194). They also offer special tours upon request.

• Magic Walking Tours (504-588-9693) explores the bizarre with entertaining cemetery, voodoo, vampire and Garden District tours.