Seven Days in Louisiana: The Grand Tour

Why a full week changes the shape of the trip

Most visitors see New Orleans and, if they have a spare afternoon, one plantation on the River Road. A week lets you do something the shorter itineraries on this site cannot: complete a real loop through all four territories this guide covers, ending where you started instead of retracing the same road twice. That loop also happens to correct one of the most common misunderstandings about the region. New Orleans is not the capital of Louisiana.

The capital is Baton Rouge, a working river city roughly 130 km upstream, with an art-deco State Capitol and the retired battleship USS Kidd on its riverfront. Visitors who assume otherwise usually never find out, because a two- or three-day trip never goes near it. This one does, and it makes Baton Rouge the natural hinge between the city and Cajun Country rather than an afterthought.

The route below runs New Orleans, then upriver along the River Road to Baton Rouge, west into Cajun Country around Lafayette, and back to New Orleans through the bayous. Every leg outside the city itself is covered by road only, either a rental car or a booked tour with hotel pickup — there is no rail or transit option linking these regions. If seven days is more than you have, see the shorter five-day city, swamp and River Road itinerary or the six-day New Orleans and Cajun Country plan, both of which have to drop one of the four territories to fit.

Day 1: Landing and the French Quarter

Fly into MSY, roughly 18 km west of downtown, and settle into a hotel near the French Quarter or the Garden District. Spend the afternoon walking the Quarter’s compact grid around Jackson Square, St Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytere, then Royal Street for galleries before the crowds. In the evening, join a guided outing that plays to the Quarter’s after-dark reputation.

a guided haunted pub crawl through the French Quarter’s older bars

Dinner should be simple and local: a po’boy or a bowl of gumbo rather than a formal restaurant on a jet-lagged first night.

Day 2: Uptown, cemeteries and live music

Ride the St Charles streetcar into the Garden District for its antebellum mansions and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, whose above-ground tombs are one of the region’s defining images. In the afternoon, cross to Treme for the Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square, the ground where much of the city’s music began. Note that St Louis Cemetery No. 1, downtown, can only be entered with an authorised guide — there is no independent access. End the day on Frenchmen Street, the strip locals point visitors toward rather than Bourbon Street, for genuine jazz in a small room.

Day 3: The River Road plantations

Pick up a rental car, or a tour with hotel pickup, for the drive upriver along the River Road. This single day covers the plantation country roughly 45 minutes to 1 h 30 from the city, and it deserves the whole day rather than a rushed half. Visit at least two contrasting sites: the Whitney Plantation, built entirely around the history of the enslaved people who lived and worked there, and a second stop such as Oak Alley for its quarter-mile alley of live oaks, or Laura Plantation for its Creole family records.

a guided walk through St Joseph Plantation’s grounds and outbuildings

Overnight in Baton Rouge rather than doubling back to New Orleans, which sets up Day 4 without a repeat drive.

Day 4: Baton Rouge, the actual capital

This is the day the loop earns its shape. Baton Rouge, not New Orleans, is Louisiana’s seat of government, and its 34-storey art-deco State Capitol — the tallest state capitol in the country — makes the point on sight. Tour the Capitol, walk the grounds, and visit the USS Kidd, a retired Fletcher-class destroyer moored on the riverfront. In the evening, an organised outing leans into the city’s own ghost-story tradition.

a Baton Rouge ghost tour through the city’s older streets

For more on the city beyond this one day, see the full Baton Rouge visitor guide.

Day 5: Into Cajun Country

Drive west to Lafayette, the centre of Acadiana and of Cajun and zydeco music, roughly two hours from Baton Rouge. This is a genuinely different culture from New Orleans: Cajun cooking is rural and roux-based, descended from Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia in the 1750s, and it should never be confused with the Creole cooking of the city itself. Spend the afternoon at Vermilionville or the Acadian Village for a grounded introduction, then take a guided walk through the region’s own history.

a walking tour of Lafayette’s Cajun history and folklore

Eat well here: boudin, a crawfish boil in season, and live Cajun music if a dance hall has one on.

Day 6: Breaux Bridge and Avery Island

Base yourself in Lafayette and make a short loop through the surrounding towns. Breaux Bridge styles itself the crawfish capital of the world; St Martinville and New Iberia carry the same Acadian history in smaller form. Avery Island, home to the Tabasco factory and its Jungle Gardens, makes a good half-day stop before heading back toward New Orleans in the late afternoon. Drive back as far as the western edge of the bayou country south and west of the city, or continue straight through to New Orleans depending on how the week is running.

Day 7: Swamp country and the loop closes

Close the loop with the swamps that sit between Cajun Country and New Orleans rather than driving straight past them. The Barataria Preserve, roughly 40 minutes from the city, has boardwalks through cypress swamp and is easy to combine with a return drive. Alligators, egrets and cypress draped in Spanish moss are the draw here, though alligators are far less active in the colder months, so expect more birdlife than reptiles outside spring and summer. Return the car and spend a final evening back in the French Quarter, ideally with dinner somewhere quieter than Bourbon Street.

Planning the loop: distances and pacing

Leg	Approx. drive time	Suggested nights
New Orleans city	—	2
New Orleans to River Road to Baton Rouge	1 h 30–2 h total	1
Baton Rouge to Lafayette	1 h 30	2
Lafayette back to New Orleans via the swamps	2 h 30	back in New Orleans

Because every leg outside the city is road-only, build in slack rather than scheduling back-to-back tours with tight windows between them; Louisiana traffic and summer thunderstorms both cause delays that a packed itinerary cannot absorb.

What this week gets right that a shorter trip can’t

A three- or five-day trip has to choose between the city, the plantations, the swamps and Cajun Country — this one does not. It is also the only itinerary on this site with room to correct the capital question properly: seeing Baton Rouge’s State Capitol in person, a full 130 km upriver from the French Quarter, settles in a way that no explanation on a webpage can.

For food, the week also lets you taste both sides of the Creole-versus-Cajun divide in their own home territory rather than a version of one served in the other’s city. For background on that distinction before you travel, see Creole vs Cajun food explained, and for a side-by-side comparison of the River Road houses, see Plantations along River Road compared.

Practical notes for the loop

Rent the car in New Orleans and keep it for the whole week rather than picking up and dropping off in different cities, which is markedly more expensive one-way. Parking is difficult and metered in the French Quarter itself, so most travellers park once near the hotel and walk the Quarter, only using the car for the days that leave the city. Carry cash for tipping tour guides and street musicians, and expect sales tax to be added at the till rather than shown in the sticker price. Hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November, with a statistical peak in late August and September; it is a real planning risk in those months, not a certainty, and travel insurance is worth having.

FAQ: planning a seven-day Louisiana loop

Is New Orleans the capital of Louisiana?

No. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, roughly 130 km upriver from New Orleans. New Orleans is the state’s largest city and its main visitor destination, but the seat of government, the art-deco State Capitol and the USS Kidd are all in Baton Rouge.

Do I need a rental car for this itinerary?

Yes, or a series of booked tours with hotel pickup. The River Road plantations, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and the swamps are all reached by road only; there is no useful rail or transit link between them. Within New Orleans itself the streetcars and walking cover almost everything.

Can I do this loop without visiting Baton Rouge?

You can, but it turns the week into an out-and-back rather than a loop, and it skips the state capital entirely. The six-day version of this itinerary drops Baton Rouge to spend more time in Cajun Country; this seven-day version is built specifically to include it.

How much driving is actually involved?

Roughly 6 to 7 hours of driving spread across the week, none of it in a single long day. The longest single leg is Lafayette back to New Orleans via the swamps, at around 2 h 30 depending on the route.

Is this itinerary walkable at any point, or is it all driving?

The two days in New Orleans itself are almost entirely on foot or by streetcar. Every other day involves driving to reach the destination, though most stops — the Capitol grounds, plantation houses, Vermilionville, the swamp boardwalks — are then walked once you arrive.

What’s the best time of year to do the full loop?

Spring, roughly March to May, and autumn, roughly October to November, are the most comfortable months for a week that includes outdoor plantation grounds and swamp boardwalks. Summer is long, hot and very humid; hurricane season runs June through November and is a real planning consideration in its second half.

Should I book Whitney Plantation and Baton Rouge tours in advance?

Yes, particularly the Whitney Plantation, which times entry through guided tours, and any Baton Rouge or Lafayette evening tour, which run on fixed schedules with limited capacity. Booking ahead also protects the pacing of a week that has little slack for rebooking mid-trip.

Is this itinerary suitable for a first visit to Louisiana?

It works well as a first visit precisely because it does not require choosing one region over the others. Travellers who want a gentler introduction, or only a long weekend, are better served by the four-day New Orleans and a plantation itinerary or the three-day itinerary, and can save Baton Rouge and Cajun Country for a return trip.